A Comparative Study Of The Chinese Characters In Chinese And Korean

The cultural exchange between China and Korea has a long history. With exchange in politics, economy, culture and many other aspects, Chinese characters have also been adopted by the Korean language. Therefore, most of the commonly used vocabulary in the Korean language comes from Chinese and have henceforth become the main body of the Korean vocabulary system. However, in the process of exchange and integration, Korean Hanja (Chinese characters) and its corresponding vocabulary have undergone considerable change. Differences in many of these Hanja have since became a new field of research for Academia.This article uses the method of analysis to research on the similarities and differences of vocabulary of Chinese origin between both languages. Through comparison we can find that there are many differences, and can be differentiated into the five categories of homographic synonyms, homonyms, reverse vocabulary, symographic synonyms, heterographic synonyms. Using the methods from Comparative Linguistics, we shall compare the above five categories in terms of change in definitions and pragmatics. As for the research on the formation of Korean hanja vocabulary, we shall use descriptive linguistic methods to describe and analyze the background of introduction and the categorization of Korean hanja vocabulary into the Korean language, thereafter, we shall analyze the reason for the emergence of homonyms between the Chinese and Korean languages.This type of comparative research not only is significant in the research of etymology in C hinese and Korean languages, but also shall do its part in minimizing the barrier between the t wo languages, thereby increasing the understanding between the two languages, cultures and history.This article is divided into five parts. Chapter I introduces the comparative relationship and research purpose, current condition of Chinese and Korean vocabulary as well as the research method of this article. Chapter II is regarding the forming background characteristics and categories of Korean hanja vocabulary. Chapter III emphasizes on the comparison of Chinese and Korean vocabulary and is the core of this article. They can be categories as homographic synonyms, homonyms, reverse vocabulary, symographic synonyms and heterographic synonyms. Chapter IV briefly talks about the reason for the differences, including linguistic, social, political, cultural, psychological elements. Chapter V is the conclusion.Through comparative analysis between Chinese and Korean hanja vocabulary, we can further understand the cultural exchange and relationship between the two countries, and sincerely wish to provide reference for linguistic education for the two countries.