A morphological analysis of mono-morphemic Korean onomatopoeic and mimetic words

This paper examines mono-morphemic Korean onomatopoeic and mimetic words (hereafter, OM words) in terms of their morphological characteristics. These words can be classified into six types according to their ability to form reduplicated OM words and/or to derive verbs. The first type, such as kkek1 and kkokko, is used solely as OM words. The second type can derive verbs: for example, kkomkkom can derive kkomkkom-ha(ta) and kwukwu can derive kwukwu-keli(ta) or kwukwu-tay(ta). The third type can form reduplicated OM words, such as kkok becoming kkok-kkok and kkwak becoming kkwak-kkwak. The fourth type can form both verbs and reduplicated OM words, as in kentus becoming kentus-ha(ta) and kentus-kentus. The fifth type can form reduplicated OM words that then derive verbs: kkayng becomes kkayng-kkayng, which can then derive kkayng-kkayng-keli(ta), kkayng-kkayng-tay(ta), or kkayng-kkayng-ha(ta). The sixth type, the most versatile, can form both verbs and reduplicated OM words, and the latter can also derive verbs. For example, katuk becomes katuk-ha(ta) and katuk-katuk, which can then derive katuk-katuk-ha(ta). Most mono-morphemic OM words belong to the sixth type, whereas the fourth type is rare. Both mono-morphemic and reduplicated forms can combine with derivational suffixes such as -keli-, -tay-, -i- or -ha-. The set of compatible suffixes varies: some words take only one, while others accept all. This classification clarifies the lexical properties of Korean OM words and aids in distinguishing polysemous forms from homonyms.