CƠ CHẾ HÌNH THÀNH VÀ HIỆN THỰC HÓA CÁC NGHĨA CỦA TỪ TTEOK (BÁNH GẠO - 떡1) TRONG TIẾNG HÀN: PHÂN TÍCH NGỮ LIỆU TỪ ĐIỂN VÀ BÁO CHÍ HÀN QUỐC ĐƯƠNG ĐẠI

Abstract

This study investigates the meanings of Tteok (떡¹) based on data from the Standard Korean Language Dictionary and contemporary Korean newspapers discourse. Adopting a cognitive semantic approach, the study combines literature review, data classification, and schematic modeling to examine how different meanings of Tteok are formed and realized. The analysis shows that starting from its central meaning as a rice-based food, Tteok has developed into multiple related senses. However, these meanings are not homogeneous in terms of their formation and realization mechanisms. Some senses can be explained as direct semantic extensions, grounded in cognitive mechanisms such as perceptual metaphor and metonymy. In contrast, others are realized through lexical processes, such as compounding, or emerge as pragmatic, discourse-driven usages in contemporary communication. In addition, the study proposes a multi-layered semantic network model to capture the structural organization of these meanings and to illustrate their varying degrees of cognitive proximity to the central meaning. This model demonstrates that the development of meaning in Tteok is shaped by the interaction of multiple mechanisms rather than a single uniform process.