A Comparative Study Of Idioms Of Limbs In Chinese And Korean

Idiom is a kind of idiomatic phrases, which is the product of the specific culture of a nation. Different language idioms reflect their different ethnic national characteristics and habits of life and cultural backgrounds. The idioms with these features have a very peculiar power of expression. Idiom is different from the general lexicon, because its semantic meaning is different from its own meaning, with the phenomena of polysemy, meaning transferring and meaning extending. Native people can use these idioms in their mother tongue to put what they want to say in a more straightforward and simpler way. However, this is a difficulty for the learner of a foreign language. Thus, in foreign language teaching and learning, correct understanding and using of idioms is very important.Human terms are the lexicon used to refer to the "head, abdomen, arms and feet" and other body parts of human beings, which can be easily found in Chinese and Korean. Among these words, there are a lot words referring to "limbs", their usages and meanings are very flexible. This thesis takes the lexicon containing the meaning of "the four limbs" as the study object. First, the concept and the classification of the human idioms are defined, and then the idioms of human terms in these two languages are compared one by one with the method of comparison. Finally, based on these comparisons, the characteristics and differences and similarities in Chinese and Korean are summarized, and then the reasons leading to these differences and similarities are analyzed, which reflect the different cultural background and way of thinking in these two languages.It has a very important significance to study the differences and similarities of these idioms and their different cultural meaning and way of thinking. On one hand, it can deepen our understanding of both languages, and the way of thinking in these two languages and two cultures; On the other hand, it is helpful to the teaching and learning of Chinese and Korean. Furthermore, it has great significance to the translation between these two languages and the compilation of Chinese-Korean and Korean-Chinese dictionaries.