이 논문은 19세기부터 20세기 초까지 서양인이 중국 속담을 기록한 문헌과 서지적 특징을 살펴보고, 서양인들이 주목한 중국 속담의 가치와 효용을 분석함으로써 당시 중국 속담이 수행한 역할을 규명한다. 초기 선교사와 외교관, 작가들은 속담을 중국어 학습에 활용할 수 있는 최적 의 제재로 인식하여 중국어 교재에 수록하였으며, 19세기 중반 이후부터 폴 페르니, 윌리엄 스카보로, 브라이언 브라운 등은 속담집을 전문적으로 편찬하면서 중국어 원문과 영어 번역문을 병렬하거나 주음을 덧붙여 학 습 효과를 강화했다. 잡지도 역시 학습의 효과를 함께 고려했기 때문에 동일한 형식으로 출현했다. 반면, 견문록에서의 중국 속담에 대한 기록은 서양에 중국 문화를 알리는데 초점을 두었기 때문에 영어 번역문만 실렸 다는 점이 상이하다. 서양인은 중국 속담의 풍부함, 운율미, 그리고 지혜 에 주목하여 중국인의 문화를 이해하는 통로로 활용했다. 속담집의 상당 수는 선교사에 의해, 그리고 선교 단체를 통해 출판되었으며, 설교에 적 극 활용되었다. 따라서 중국 속담 기록은 단순한 문화적 호기심이나 언 어 학습을 넘어, 기독교적 목적이 투영된, 언어 학습· 문화 이해· 선교가 교차하는 지점에서 형성된 복합적 결과물이라 할 수 있다.
This article explores the different meanings of the number ‘three’ in proverbs. According to the analysis of this article, the number ‘three’ in proverbs, while carrying the basic meaning of quantity, has more expanded meanings in Korean, Chinese and Japanese proverbs, where it may mean ‘many’, ‘all (whole)’, ‘part’, ‘small’, and even more abstracted concepts. In contrast, the number ‘three’ in the English proverbs is largely biased towards negative meanings. At the end of this study, the analysis of the number ‘three’ in proverbs through machine translation shows that machine translation has many limitations on the translation of the many meanings of the number ‘three’.
Idamsokchan (耳談續纂, Additions to an Earful of Conversation) is an early collection of Korean proverbs capturing 418 proverbs from China and Korea with Chinese translation, most of which are social proverbs. Through a contrastive analysis of the formation mechanism of social proverbs in Idamsokchan, this study explores the influence of Chinese and Korean mindsets on language. Specifically, the study analyzes the structure, semantics, and topic of social proverbs from both Chinese and Korean sources in Idamsokchan. The results indicate that the influence of concrete-versus-abstract and practical-versus-theoretical thinking on proverbs varies. Generally, Korean proverbs exhibit a tendency towards abstract thinking, whereas Chinese proverbs are characterized by an emphasis on concrete thinking. The structural characteristics of Korean and Chinese proverbs are distinct. Korean proverbs are typically formed as a single sentence, whereas Chinese proverbs often employ fixed sentence patterns and connectives. In addition, the syntax of Chinese translations of Korean proverbs in Idamsokchan tends to be morphological. Regarding semantics, a greater proportion of Korean proverbs are of a philosophical nature when compared to Chinese proverbs. While Korean proverbs employ a simplex network and extend metaphors through contrast, Chinese proverbs are adept at using the creative double-scope network. In terms of topic selection, both Korean and Chinese proverbs, cover eight types of topics, using interrogative pronouns as subjects. Nonetheless, the contrastive-topic structure is more commonly observed in Chinese proverbs. Moreover, while the first-person singular pronoun is commonly utilized as a topic in Korean proverbs, the equivalent in Chinese proverbs is the third-person pronoun 其 (qi).
This paper attempts to stress the importance of teaching Chinese proverbs by comparing proverbs of Korea and China. The study divides the proverbs into two broad categories: equivalent switch and non-equivalent switch. The equivalent switch refers to the proverbs with various forms but the same meaning. Accordingly, they are divided into four types: 1) the same form and the same meaning, 2) similar form and the same meaning, 3) different form but the same meaning, and 4) those with local names but the same meaning. Likewise, non-equivalent switch, the proverbs with different meanings, are divided into three types: 5) the same form but different meaning, 6) those with strong influence of local names, and finally 7) those with strong influence of food cultures. The paper suggests that Korean leaners should improve their understandings about Chinese proverbs and their abilities to use those proverbs appropriately in real situations of communication.
This study was performed to approach Korean food proverbs from the stance of food ethics. Both modern principles and traditional principles of food ethics were applied to select proverbs. The modern principles include a respect for life, justice, environmental preservation, and the priority of safety. The traditional principles were longevity and good health, poverty (escaping) and wealth (pursuing), eating luck and fortune, priority of food, virtue, and taste and quality (economics). All the principles except environmental preservation and the priority of safety have adequate food proverbs, since environmental disruption and food safety were not serious issues in the past.