The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in language patterns in the linguistic circles of Korean and Japanese languages, based on the Romans of the Bibles that had been published since 1910s. For the Bibles to be compared in this study, ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in language patterns in the linguistic circles of Korean and Japanese languages, based on the Romans of the Bibles that had been published since 1910s. For the Bibles to be compared in this study, ‘Guyeok', the 1911 Old translation version, ‘Gaeyeok', the Modified Translation version, and the 1997 Standard New Translation version were selected for Korean texts, whereas the 1917 Written Translation version, the 1954 Spoken Translation version, and the 1987 New Collaborated Translation were chosen for Japanese ones. The results of this study are as follows. The content of this study was divided into three different chapters.
In chapter 2, the lexical characteristics of each translated version were examined. Comparing ‘Guyeok' in 1910s with the Ross version, the number of Chinese words had been remarkably increased in former one. In comparison the Written Translation version with the Meiji Translation version in Japanese, on the other hand, it was characterized that Japanese reading system for Chinese vocabulary had been used in both translated versions. Comparing Korean ‘Gaeyeok' in 1950s with ‘Guyeok', there had been some changes in native words to Chinese ones in terms of their language patterns. However, there had not been significant differences in them, except that a total number and its individual number of words had been little shown in terms of its quantity. On the other hand, there was a significant difference in Japanese colloquially translated versions and written translated versions in terms of expression style as well as vocabularies in them. Further, as the reading form of Chinese characters changed into the reading-aloud form, there had been great changes in distribution of language patterns.
Comparing the Standard New Translation version in 1990s with ‘Gaeyeok' in Korean language , the number of vocabulary was shown to be greatly increased in the former one. It could be interpreted that the translation policy had been moved from the word-by-word translation policy to a policy of taking the content more seriously, leading to a great change in quantity and the distribution of language patterns as well. On the other hand, any remarkable change did not appear between the New Joint Translation version and the Colloquial Translation version in Japanese, though a little change was shown in the amount of vocabulary.
In chapter 3, a comparison was performed between the classes for independent words and the types of nouns and verbs. First, the results of a comparison of word classes are as follows. In Korean versions, the amount of verb increased between 1950s and 1990s, which could be attributed to that the texts adopted spoken language and the translation policy shifted from word-to-word translation to emphasis on the meaning of the text, leading to a total number of sentences was increased. Meanwhile, in Japanese versions, the proportions of noun, verb, and attributive adjective were increased slightly, while the ratio of conjunction decreased dramatically. In terms of ratio of word class, there was a high ratio of nouns in Japanese Bibles, whereas there was a high ratio of adjectives in Korean Bibles, regardless of the period of translation.
Next, the results of comparing language patterns are as follows. A comparison of language patterns in noun comes first. In 1910s, the ratio of Chinese words and other mixed words in Korean versions was found to be very high, while the ratio of native words was quite high in Japanese versions. It was also shown that in 1950s, the difference between the amount of native words and Chinese words had been significantly decreased . It was assumed that the use of Chinese words became widespread in Japanese Bibles. In 1990s, a comparison of the Standard New Translation version in Korean and the New Collaborated Translation version in Japanese showed that the ratio of language patterns in noun came to be quite similar, except for mixed words. According to the results of examining language patterns of nouns in Romans through the translation versions of the Bible, there were a great number of Chinese words in Korean versions in early period, while there were a lot of native words in Japanese versions. As repetitive revisions were performed, however, the distribution of language patterns came to be very similar between Korean and Japanese Bibles.
A comparison of language patterns in verbs follows. In 1910s, there were a high rate of native works in Japanese Bibles, while there were a great amount of mixed words in Korean Bibles. By the 1950s, interestingly, Japanese revised version contained substantially amount of mixed words, while Korean version did not show much change. In 1990s, Japanese Bible still had greater proportion of native words, but Korean Bible contained many mixed words. And yet, the difference of language use between two languages had been narrowed significantly.
In chapter 4, an investigation was performed on the use of Chinese words in that both Korea and Japan belonged to the linguistic circle of Chinese. Taking a look at Chinese words by the translation period of 1910s, 1950s, and 1990s, there were 411 words in the Old Translation version, 457 words in the Modified Translation version, and 492 words in the Standard New Translation version. Meanwhile, there were 137 words in Written Translation version, 330 words in the Spoken Translation version, and 329 words in the New Collaborated Translation version of the Bible in Japanese.
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