Cognitive Interpretation and Metonymic Meaning Extension of the Korean ‘-go iss-’ Construction: A Comparison with Corresponding Expressions in Chinese

This paper explores the cognitive differences in aspectual meanings between the Korean progressive construction ‘-go iss-’ and its corresponding expressions in Chinese, namely ‘zai’ and ‘zhe’. It specifically analyzes the metonymic meaning extension process inherent in the Korean construction. The research reveals that the Korean construction transcends its existing aspectual meaning, extending the meaning of immediate events through a conceptual metonymic process. In contrast, the Chinese language utilizes proximity markers (kuai/yao…le) instead of progressive markers to express this immediacy. This difference reflects the varying ways in which Korean and Chinese conceptualize aspectual meanings and illustrates the difficulties faced by Korean learners when acquiring the language due to their distinct cognitive structures. By understanding these cognitive differences, this study aims to provide educational implications for helping Korean language learners more effectively acquire the meaning structure of progressive constructions. It will also be beneficial for systematically teaching the cognitive structure of Korean progressive constructions to second language learners.