The purpose of this study is to seek some characteristics of Korean translation of Chinese idiomatic expressions. The paper uses an intermediate-level Chinese conversational textbook titled New Speaking Chinese. The data consist of 90 Chinese idiomatic expressions. Whether a Chinese expression is replaced with a Korean idiom, Chinese idioms can be classified into the two major types: 1) mutable idioms, and 2) immutable idioms. Then mutable idioms are further divided into two subtypes: 1A) identical/similar images, and 1B) substitutional images. Likewise, immutable idioms can be divided into two subtypes: 2A) idioms with general explanations requiring no ethnic information about China, and 2B) idioms with special explanations requiring special background knowledge about Chinese cultures and history. The results show that type 1 is only responsible for 39% of all the Korean translations. Type 2 is responsible for 61% of the translations. For further analysis, type 2A has been most frequently used, with 55% of all data, and type 2B has been least used, with 6% only, but draws particular attentions of translators. For the other two types, there were type 1A with 26% and type 1B with 13%, respectively. Pedagogical skills for appropriate translation of Chinese idioms along with classroom activities are suggested.

With the expanding wave of globalization, foreign languages have gradually become extremely significant in communication and exchange of information, the ability of using foreign languages has become the essential condition and the primary means to boost the national economy. Therefore, a great upsurge in learning foreign languages has been seen throughout the world, especially learning idiomatic phrases has received serious attention. However, in actual fact, because of the difficulty of idiomatic phrases themselves, yet the comparative research of them has not started extensively. Both of idiomatic phrases and proverbs evolve from the terms we utilize in our daily life. The true meaning of an idiom is not its denotation but the connotation that commonly recognized by the masses. For instance, the idiom ‘국수를 먹다(喝喜酒)’ is difficult for people form other countries to understand because of its hidden language background. In order to learn idiomatic phrases better, it is necessary to study the cause and the development process of them from the source. This thesis will divided the research of idiomatic phrases into four parts, container metaphor, space metaphor, event metonymy and states metonymy from the aspects of linguistics, history, sociality, psychology and cognitive linguistics. Since it is difficult to comprehend idiomatic phrases from their literal meanings, the thesis aims at investigating the cause and the development process of idiomatic phrases from diversified perspectives, and providing reference to the future teaching and research of idiomatic phrases.

This paper proposes a syntactic account on interpretations of idioms, which vary depending on voice alternations in Korean. There exist asymmetries on whether an idiom maintains its idiomatic interpretation despite its voice alternation. This paper shows that the principle of idiomatic interpretations (Marantz 2008, Bruening 2010) directly accounts for the asymmetries of idiomatic interpretations, coupled with the syntactic structures of two types of passives and causatives proposed in this paper. The discussions in this paper support the theory of Distributed Morphology, which holds that idiomatic interpretations are post-syntactically added from the Encyclopedia.

Heung-Su Im. 2000. Russian Idioms as Reflection of the Characteristics of National Mentality. Studies in Modern Grammar 21, 87-114. The primary purpose of this article is to examine the relationships between language and spiritual culture, language and national mentality, with special reference to the process of embodiment of national culture in the idioms and the semantic im portance of cultural connotations realized in them which reflect the characteristics of national mentality. Analyzing various types of idioms, we will show that the cultural and the anthropological factors work on the formation of the idioms, and that the idioms functions as paradigm of national mentality and cultural code. We will also reveal that not only the national identity but also the certain collective self-consciousness resulting from the definite cultural or temporal sphere in society can be reflected in the formation of the idioms.