Countries in the Chinese character cultural sphere share the Chinese Zodiac that assigns twelve animals to each year a person is born based on the order of arrival, so-called Tti. The twelve animals reflect the psychological characteristics of human life and are regarded as more special than other animals. Thus, the animals are used in idiomatic expressions as a vehicle to more properly describe human feelings and thought. This study therefore analyzed the semantic features of the twelve animals to explore the Chinese perception about the animals. The study result can be summarized as below: The representative semantic features of the twelve animals are as follows: [Villain], [Thief], [Misdeed], [Harmful], and [Heinous] for Rat; [Big] for Ox; [Villain], [Ferocious], [Cruel], [Heinous], [Foe], [Causing Fear], [Causing Risk], [Harmful], [Aggressor], and [Predator] for Tiger; [Agile] and [Quick] for Rabbit; [Emperor], [King], [High Status], [Authority], and [General] for Dragon; [Villain], [Aggressor], [Greedy], [Cunning], [Heinous], and [Vicious] for Snake; [War] and [Military] for Horse; [Weak], [Sacrifice], and [Dangerous Situation] for Sheep; [Nominal] for Monkey; [Small], [Slight], [Trifling], and [Useless] for Rooster; [Shabby], [Vulgar], [Bad], and [Foolish] for Dog; and [Shabby], [Vulgar], and [Wicked] for Pig. The negative semantic features were dominant in all animals except the dragon, which is consistent with a tendency that the animals are generally used to emphasize the negative aspects of a person. The semantic features of the animals are also presented in various domains of action, psychology, personality, morality, size, episode, speed, status, position, geographical features, attitude, shape, living, means, situation, etc.

在漢字文化圈的國家會用以十二種動物名字命名的生肖來表示一個人的出生年份。表示生肖的十二種動物與其他動物不同，它們反映了人類生活的精神特徵，更加特殊。由於有這樣的意義，在慣用語中，動物是更恰當地表達感情和思想的手段。因此，本研究通過分析漢語慣用語中出現的十二生肖動物的語義特徵，來考察中國人對十二生肖的認知。本研究考察的主要內容如下。 十二生肖動物具有代表性的語義特徵，老鼠體現為[惡人]、[盜賊]、[惡行]、[害人]、[兇惡]；牛體現為[大]；老虎為[惡人]、[暴戾]、[殘忍]、[兇惡]、[敵人]、[害怕的對象]、[危險的對象]、[危害]、[侵略者]、[掠奪者]；兔子為[敏捷]、[迅速]；龍為[帝王]、[王者]、[高位]、[權勢]、[將軍]；蛇為[惡人]、[侵略者]、[貪婪]、[狡猾]、[兇惡]、[惡毒]；馬為[戰爭]、[軍隊]、羊為[弱者]、[犧牲]、[危險的境地]；猴子為[有名無實]；雞為[渺小]、[瑣碎]、[雞毛蒜皮]、[無用]；狗為[卑賤]、[粗鄙]、[壞]、[拙劣]；豬為[卑賤]、[低俗]、[陰險]。由此可見，負面語義特徵在除了龍以外的所有動物中出現比例最高，一般來說，這可以看作是人們通過選擇動物來表達負面的思想情感。此外，動物的語義特徵還表現在行為、心理、性格、道德、大小、事件、速度、地位、處境、地勢、態度、模樣、生活、手段、狀況等各個方面。

Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Background and Study Method
    2.1 Theoretical Background
    2.2 Study Method
3. Semantic Feature Analysis of Twelve Zodiac Animals
    3.1 Rat
    3.2 Ox 
    3.3 Tiger
    3.4 Rabbit
    3.5 Dragon
    3.6 Snake
    3.7 Horse
    3.8 Sheep
    3.9 Monkey
    3.10. Rooster
    3.11 Dog
    3.12 Pig
4. Conclusion
References

• Sun-hee LEE(Kyunsung University, Korea) | 李善熙