Lexicalization patterns in color naming in Korean
Korean has a large inventory of color terms lexicalized
through diverse strategies. Sound symbolism is one of the most
determinative factors. Sound symbolism operative in color naming
includes vowel polarity, consonant tensing and aspiration,
prefixation of intensifiers, phonetic extension, and reduplicative
suffixation, through which diverse aspects of color perception,
e.g., intensity, luminosity, extent, solidity and pleasurability,
are encoded. Color naming patterns in Korean reveals an iconic
relationship between the perceived state of affairs in the world and
the linguistic forms in an intricate application of elaborate sound
symbolism, which suggests synesthesia with other related perceptual
domains such as auditory perception, distance perception, opacity
perception, and value judgment.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Preliminaries: Sound symbolism
- 2.1Vowel polarity
- 2.2Consonant tensing and aspiration
- 2.3Reduplication: Iconicity of multiplicity
- 3.Lexicalization patterns
- 3.1Nominal category
- 3.2Adjectival/adverbial categories
- 3.2.1Prefixation
- 3.2.2Vowel polarity modulation
- 3.2.3Consonant tensing/de-tensing
- 3.2.4Reduplication
- 3.2.5Phonetic extension
- 3.3Verbal category
- 4.Semantics-morphology interface
- 4.1Iconicity
- 4.2Synesthesia of multiple senses
- 4.3Color and evaluation (attitude)
- 4.4Productivity and novel coinage
- 5.Summary and conclusion
-
Acknowledgment
-
Notes
-
References
-
Appendix
References
Ahn, B. -H.
(
1968)
Cwungseykwuke sokkyekemi s-ey
tayhaye [On the genitive -
s in Middle
Korean].
Iswungnyengpaksa songswu kinyemnonchong [Festschrift for Dr. Lee, Sung-Nyong] (pp. 3–11). Seoul: Eulyoo Moonhwasa.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Baek, M. -S.
(
2012)
Wulimal hyengthayso sacen [Korean morphology dictionary]. Seoul: Pagijong Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chang, S. -J.
(
1996)
Korean. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cytowic, R. E.
(
1989)
Synesthesia: A union of the senses. New York: Springer-Verlag.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Hong, S. -J.
(
2015)
A lexico-morphological study on color adjectives
in the Korean language. Ph.D. dissertation, Seoul National University, Korea.
Jung, I. S.
(
1938)
Moum sangtay pepchikkwa caum kasey
pepchik [Principles of vowel relativity and consonant
reinforcement].
Hangeul, 60, 10–25.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kim, J. -I.
(
2017)
Some issues regarding sai-siot
of ‘N1+s+N2’ in the 15th century Korean.
Journal of Korean Linguistics 83, 183–219.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kim, K. -O.
(
1976)
Sound symbolism in Korean.
Journal of Linguistics, 13, 67–75.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kim, Y. -C.
(
1994)
Kwukeuy koyuekyey saykchayeey kwanhan
yenkwu [A study on native Korean color terms]. MA thesis, Kunsan National University, Korea.
Kim-Renaud, Y. -E.
(
1976)
Semantic features in phonology: Evidence from
vowel harmony in Korean. In
S. A. Mufwene,
C. A. Walker, &
S. B. Steever (Eds.)
Papers from the Twelfth Regional Meeting of the Chicago
Linguistic Society (pp. 397–412). Chicago, IL: Chicago Linguistic Society.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Koo, B. -K.
(
2009)
A study on meaning of color-complex words in
Korean – concentrating on definitions in the
dictionary.
Journal of Korean Linguistics, 55, 173–211.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Koo, H. -J.
(
1987)
Ssikkuth {−a, −key, −ci, −ko}-uy
ssuimkwa uymi [The usage and semantics of suffixes,
−a, −key, −ci, and
-ko].
Konkuk Emwunhak, 11
/
12
, 167–188.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Koo, H. -J.
(
2007)
Force dynamics as a variational factor: A case in
Korean.
LACUS Forum, 33, 201–210.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kroeger, R.
(
2016)
Folk definitions of Korean
ideophones.
San Diego Linguistic Papers, 6, 66–121.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kwon, N
(
2018)
Iconicity correlated with vowel harmony in Korean
ideophones.
Laboratory Phonology: Journal of the Association for
Laboratory Phonology, 9(
1
), 1–18.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kwon, Y. -K.
(
2001)
A historical study of insert ‑s
in Korean. Ph.D. dissertation,
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Larsen, D, & Heinz, J
(
2012)
Neutral vowels in sound-symbolic vowel harmony in
Korean.
Phonology, 29, 433–464.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lee, S. -Y.
(
2006)
Lexical characteristics and meaning of color
terms in the Late Middle Korean.
Journal of Korean Linguistics, 47, 235–263.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lee, Y.
(
1993)
Topics in the vowel phonology of
Korean. Ph.D. dissertation,
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Martin, S. E.
(
1962)
Phonetic symbolism in Korean. In
N. Poppe (Ed.),
American studies in Altaic linguistics (
Uralic and Altaic Series 13) (pp. 177–189). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Publications.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Martin, S. E.
(
1992)
A reference grammar of Korean. Rutland & Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
McCarthy, J. J.
(
1983)
Phonological features and morphological
structures. In
J. Richardson,
M. Marks, &
A. Chukerman (Eds.),
Papers from the parasession on the interplay of
phonology, morphology, and syntax (pp. 135–161). Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Nam, Y.
(
1992)
Wulimal pwunlyu sacen [Korean lexicon by semantic categories]. 4 vols. Seoul: Hangang Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
(The) National Institute of the Korean Language
(
1999)
Phyocwun kwuke taysacen [A comprehensive standard Korean dictionary]. Seoul: Doosan Dong-A Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Park, Y.
(
1989)
Wulimal kallay sacen [Korean lexicon by semantic categories]. Seoul: Hankil Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ramstedt, G. J.
(
1939)
A Korean grammar. Helsinki:
Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rhee, S.
(
1996)
Semantics of verbs and grammaticalization: The
development of Korean from a crosslinguistic
perspective. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, Seoul: Hankook Publisher.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rhee, S.
(
2001a)
Forms and functions of
diminutives.
The Journal of Linguistic Science, 19, 115–146.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rhee, S.
(
2001b)
Grammaticalization of diminutives in
Korean.
Language and Linguistics, 28, 133–149.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rhee, S., & Koo, H. J.
(
2014)
Grammaticalization of causatives and passives and
their recent development into stance markers in
Korean.
Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics 50(3), 309–337.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Safran, A. B., & Sanda, N.
(
2015)
Color synesthesia: Insight into perception,
emotion, and consciousness.
Current Opinions in Neurology, 38, 36–44.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sampson, G.
(
1985)
Writing systems: A linguistic introduction. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Shin, J.
(
2015)
Vowels and consonants. In
Lucien Brown &
Jaehoon Yeon (Eds.),
The handbook of Korean linguistics (pp. 3–21). Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Shin, J., Kiaer, J., & Cha, J.
(
2013)
The sounds of Korean. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sohn, H.-M.
(
1999)
The Korean language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Song, J. J.
(
2005)
The Korean language: Structure, use and context. London: Routledge.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Suh, C. S.
(
2003[2000])
Kwuke ewen sacen [Korean etymological dictionary]. Seoul: Bogosa Books.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Tyson, R. E.
(
1994)
Korean color naming and Korean-English language
contact: A study in linguistic variation and semantic
change. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
Yeon, J., & Brown, L.
(
2011)
Korean: A comprehensive grammar. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yoo, C. D.
(
1978)
Ehwisa yenkwu [Study of historical lexicology]. Seoul: Iwoo Publishing.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by
Cited by 3 other publications
Heine, Bernd
2023.
The Grammar of Interactives,
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
JOHANSSON, NIKLAS, ANDREY ANIKIN & NIKOLAY ASEYEV
2020.
Color sound symbolism in natural languages.
Language and Cognition 12:1
► pp. 56 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Rhee, Seongha
2023.
Politeness and impoliteness in social network service communication in Korea.
Russian Journal of Linguistics 27:1
► pp. 39 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.