Adjectives expressing pain are lexical items formed based on
human physical experiences and sensations. Due to their strong
subjectivity and finely differentiated semantic ranges, foreign
language learners often encounter difficulties in acquiring the...
Adjectives expressing pain are lexical items formed based on
human physical experiences and sensations. Due to their strong
subjectivity and finely differentiated semantic ranges, foreign
language learners often encounter difficulties in acquiring them.
Particularly, given the cross-linguistic differences in how pain is
perceived and expressed, it is necessary to systematically analyze
the semantic structure of pain adjectives and clarify the patterns of
correspondence between languages. From the perspective of
structural semantics, this study aims to contrastively analyze the
semantic structures and usage patterns of monomorphemic
adjectives expressing [+pricking] pain in Korean and Vietnamese by
applying component analysis.
In this study, the concept of pain was first reviewed. Based on
this, pain adjectives were defined as words denoting abnormal
physical sensations and unpleasant emotions experienced through
external or internal stimuli. Following this definition, six Korean
monomorphemic adjectives expressing [+pricking] pain—따갑다, 시리
다, 쓰리다, 쓰라리다, 아리다, and 저리다—and five corresponding
Vietnamese adjectives—rát, buốt, xót, nhói, and tê—were selected for analysis. Additionally, five semantic features—pain site, cause of
pain, pain range, directionality of pain, and degree of persistence—
were established as the common criteria for analysis.
The results of the contrastive analysis based on these semantic
features showed that [+pricking] pain adjectives in both languages
express localized and irritating pain caused by external stimuli
or internal factors. They were found to share the common
semantic features of [-totality], [±inwardness], and [+persistence].
This suggests that the basic cognitive structure of pain sensation is
shared to some extent between the two languages. However,
differences were identified in the scope of application and patterns
of semantic differentiation for individual words. Within the scope of
the analyzed vocabulary, Korean tended to express the patterns
and intensity of pain in a relatively subdivided manner, whereas
Vietnamese exhibited a pattern of conveying pain meanings more
comprehensively through monomorphemic or compound words.
Through these results, it was confirmed that while Korean and
Vietnamese [+pricking] pain adjectives share commonalities in basic
pain concepts and semantic structures, differences arisein their
scope of application, methods of semantic differentiation, and
patterns of emotional semantic expansion. By systematically
contrasting Korean and Vietnamese pain adjectives within a
structural semantic framework, this study holds significance in
presenting foundational data for contrastive linguistics research
and providing implications for Korean and Vietnamese language
education, translation, and medical communication.