As swift logistics and distribution are urgently asked now to cope with the expansion of cities by urbanization and industrialization, a more simplified and effective street addressing system is necessary for the sake of traffic flow and road networks...
As swift logistics and distribution are urgently asked now to cope with the expansion of cities by urbanization and industrialization, a more simplified and effective street addressing system is necessary for the sake of traffic flow and road networks. A new street addressing system will take full effect from January 1st, 2014. The present study tried to examine the road names of Jaechun city, the Northern Chungcheon Province from the perspective of Korean linguistics. The collected data showed that there are 1,285 street names in the city. Among them, 142 street names were selected for the analysis of the study. Analysis was done on the front parts of the street names (of new addressing system) for phoneme, form, word type and meaning; possible problems were sought for; and some improvements were proposed.
It turned out that the rear parts of the street names consist of expresswa(1, 0.7%), daero(4, 2.8%), ro(98, 68.5%) and gil(40, 28.0%). The rear parts played a role of defining the size of road and street.
Phonemes of the front parts of the street names are categorized by the number of syllable into 2 syllables(97, 67.8%), 3 syllables(31, 14.4%), 4 syllables(16, 11.2%), 5 syllables(2, 1.4%) and 7 syllables (1, 0.7%). Of them, it was confirmed that 2-syllable phoneme is the most productive for the front part.
By the form of the front parts of the street names, they are divided into simple word (3, 2.1%), derivative word(6, 4.2%) and compound word(134, 83.7%). Therefore, it was demonstrated that a compound word is the most productive for the front part.
Looking into the word types of the street names, it is known that Korean native words take(23, 16.1%), Chinese characters take(109, 76.2%), mixed words take(9, 6.3%), and foreign words take(2, 1.4%). Therefore, Chinese characters are the most productive.
In analyzing the meanings of the front parts, it was found that those names adopt external references (administrative and jurisdictional districts, natural sites, historic and local distinction, notional expressions) and internal references (location and property). Therefore, naming flexibility is classified into names of administrative and jurisdictional districts-location(6, 4.2%), names of administrative and jurisdictional districts-property(57, 39.8%), names of natural sights-location(3, 2.1%), names of natural sights-property(45, 31.5%), names of historic and local distinction-location(∅), names of historic and local distinction-property(26, 18.2%), names of notional expressions-location(∅) and names of notional expressions-property(6, 4.2%).
The present study examined the current status of street names and tried to find out problems in the new street addressing system.
It was turned out in the analysis of sound system that a word of 2-syllables is the most productive. However, it is mostly made by division or addition of administrative, jurisdictional or geographical name. Therefore it is not sufficient to satisfy validity. It is necessary to consider names that reflect the characteristics of Jecheon-si and are easy to catch attention, rather than adhering to the rules and number of syllables.
While analyzing the meanings of the front parts of the street names, a problem is suggested that since the meanings are not clear, it is hard to comprehend them at a glance. The ultimate goal of street addressing is to maximize the convenience in finding location. Here, the convenience can be maximized by clear and easy understanding of the meaning of a street name. Therefore, the area of meaning should be more clarified.
The present study has a limitation that it took street names from only one city Jaecheon. But it is expected to be a basic data for ensuing studies that will expand the scope of research subjects to the entire nation.