This study focused on the first meaning of verb 'Sik-' in the dictionary, "hot energy is getting lost," and reviewed its exact meaning to figure out whether it would start at hot high temperature and reach a "state of no more hot energy." Most Korean education institutions advocate communicative language teaching, which is to convey meanings for real communication. The delivery of meanings starts with vocabulary study. It is difficult to advance to the stage of smooth communication without the right understanding of vocabulary's meanings. There are elements that make learners confused with meanings in the lexical meanings of verb 'Sik-.'
The present study thus compared "prototype meanings" and "extended meanings" and examined whether the meaning with the qualification of a prototype in lexical meanings would represent prototype meanings in real meanings, as well. After reviewing previous studies on the prototype meanings of sense words in a cognitive linguistic approach, the study discussed its objectives and methodologies. It also examined the theory of cognitive linguistics as its central theory and introduced a method of connecting prototype theories and sense networks with schemas and extension relations.
The study then established the basic meaning of verb 'Sik-' and summarized its prototype and extended meanings. It also examined relations between its "prototype meanings" and "extended meanings," looked into their schematized and extended meanings through a sense network, and traced its prototype. In addition to the lexical meanings of verb 'Sik-,' the investigator searched its corpus and examined the patterns of its actual use. The study examined what was in a co-occurrence relation by searching verb 'Sik-,' compared its lexical definition and actual use to understand differences, and shed light on its real meaning.
Based on its corpus search results, the investigator analyzed closely its grammatical form and the vocabulary in co-occurrence relations with it in the viewpoint of cognitive linguistics. A sense network was reorganized based on the search results of actual use patterns of verb 'Sik-.' Lastly, the study arranged the content and discussed its significance and conclusions. Based on this composition, the study developed discussions about the Korean verb 'Sik-' from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. The study holds its significance in the following aspects:
First, verb 'Sik-' has tactile information as its prototype meaning, and it comes before any other senses. The findings of the study will provide materials for the research of linguistic development in the developmental stages of communication. Secondly, verb 'Sik-' undergoes the process of "moving" upward and downward not dealt with by the temperature sense words. The findings of the study will offer a mechanism to show the changing pattern of each temperature in temperature sense words in a cognitive linguistic approach. Thirdly, verb 'Sik-' turned out to have new meanings including "social interest" and "extinction" along with its idiomatic expressions not revealed so far. Finally, the study provided Korean learners with useful information about verb 'Sik-' including its real meanings, grammatical forms, semantic categories, and antonyms.
The present study on the topic of Korean verb 'Sik- will provide an important mechanism in temperature sense words in addition to researches on causative verb 'Sikida' based on spoken language materials and the developmental stages of language. Its findings about verb 'Sik-' and its antonym relations will offer learners a foundation for follow-up study and provide information about Korean education.