한글의 자소론적 분석

Abstract

Meletis(2019)에서는 자소를 분석하기 위한 기준으로 어휘적 변별력, 언어적 가치, 최소성을 제시했으며, 이 세 가지 기준 외에 공간성을 추가했다. 본고에서는 이 분석 기준을 가지고 한글의 자소를 분석해 보았다. 이들 기준을 한글의 자소 분석에 도입하면 초성자 <ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅍ ㅌ ㅎ>은 하나의 자소로 분석된다. 각자병서의 구성 글자들은 단독으로 사용된 자소와 모양은 같지만 크기가 축소되고 기능도 유지되지 않아 각자병서 그 자체가 별개의 자소로 분석된다. 합용병서의 구성 글자는 단독으로 사용된 자소와 모양은 같고 크기가 축소되나 기능은 동일하므로 합용병서는 두 개의 자소의 결합으로 분석된다. 중성자인 <ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ>는 단독으로 자소로 분석된다. 나머지 중성자는 세 가지 분석 기준을 만족하지 못하므로 모두 두 개 이상의 자소의 결합으로 간주된다.

In this paper, it was examined whether Hangeul can be described by using the term ‘grapheme’. There have not been many discussions that clearly suggested the analysis criteria for the grapheme. In this paper, the graphemes of Hangeul were analyzed by using the analysis criteria which were suggested in Meletis(2019). Meletis(2019) presented three criteria for analyzing graphemes: (1) lexical distinctiveness, (2) linguistic value, (3) minimality. According to these criteria, German and English writing systems, Abugidas, Abjads, Chinese characters, and Korean alphabets were analyzed. However, the analysis of the Korean alphabet was brief, so in this paper, the criteria of Meletis (2019) were specifically applied to the analysis of the Korean alphabet, hangeul. Grapheme analysis was not smooth with only lexical distinctiveness, linguistic value, and minimality. In fact, Meletis(2019) noted that the size of the Chinese characters which were the constituents of other Chinese Characters became smaller than when they appeared alone. Although the Chinese character <請> can be analyzed as a grapheme cluster composed of <言> and <靑>, both <言> and <靑> are reduced in size compared to when they appear alone. They fit into the square of the Chinese character and lose their function. Therefore <請> was considered as a single grapheme. This can be said to be a different analysis from the analysis of <ng> of the alphabet which is analyzed into two graphemes. When these criteria are introduced into the analysis of the Korean alphabet, the consonant letters <ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍㅎ> are analyzed as one grapheme respectively. Letters <ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ>, the doublings of <ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ ㅅ ㅈ>, have the same shape as the graphemes used alone, but their size is reduced and their function is not maintained, so they are analyzed as separate graphemes. The combined graphemes like <ㄳ ㄵ ㄶ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅄ> have the same shape as the graphemes used alone. Though their size is reduced, their function is the same, so they are analyzed as a combination of two graphemes. The vowel letters <ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ> are analyzed as a grapheme respectively. The vowel letters which look like combinations of these graphemes in the shape of letters are not easy to analyze. This is because their size is not reduced as clearly as the consonant letters. Then, they can all be regarded as a combination of two or more graphemes because they do not satisfy three criteria of Meletis(2019).