論韓國漢字詞「반지pan.ʦi」、「겨자kje.ʦa」、「우두∅u. tu」、「선비sen.pi」、「매mai」的本字

Abstract

There are plenty of Chinese loan words that have lost connection with their original Chinese characters. Korean speakers may mistake them for native Korean words or connect them with wrong Chinese characters. In this article, the author applies “character-search” methodology and “sound-search” methodology for searching for the original characters of Chinese loan words which have lost connection with their graphic forms in Korean. With “character-search” methodology, this article confirms the origin of “pan-tsi (반지, which means “ring” in Korea)” is “扳指”, and with “sound-search” methodology, this article verifies the origin of Korean words “kje-ʦa (겨자, mustard)”, “∅u.tu (우두, the head)”, “sen.pi (선비, a learned man)”, and “mai (매, a quern)” are “芥子”, “為頭”, “先輩” and “磨” respectively.