This study aims to clarify semantic structures and characteristics in Korean tactile adjectives in terms of cognitive lexical semantics after reviewing them and materializing them to understand how Korean people think unconsciously. To that end, the researcher took a look at the theoretical background of cognitive lexical semantics in Korean tactile adjectives and investigated how to design and practice methodology to approach the meanings of Korean tactile adjectives.
The second chapter deals with what cognitive lexical semantics is all about as the study''s theoretical background. First, the researcher outlines how linguistic experts conducted cognitive semantic research, how traditional and cognitive semantics emerged, and the main theories of cognitive semantics. Then he looked at the fundamental structures of cognitive lexical semantics and critical issues.
Chapter three defines "tactile sensation" as the researcher''s main subject, how important the feelings of touch are in the five senses, and how we can categorize tactile adjectives as a means of expression. Firstly, the tactile sensation is defined literally and scientifically, and how the feeling of touch has something to do with other senses and how it transforms into different substances. Then to figure out mind-mappings in the tactile adjective meanings and their other associations, particularly lexicons about co-occurrence were addressed. In short, the researcher looked at how these lexicons have a stance in conceptual structures and how they have semantic representations in tactile adjectives.
Chapter 4 discusses accessing point settings as a basis of cognitive lexical semantics and how access routes are formed into shape when we express tactile adjectives in words, and how this conception got connected meaningfully and encoded into interpretations of conceptual structures.
In addition, the researcher investigated which elements of tactile adjectives have options to choose semantic values when tactile adjectives have semantic representations by leaping forward through a series of accessing points in context. Then he talked about semantic composition and interpretations of tactile adjectives. Semantic models seldom have a single meaning value and have several different linguistic units interconnected with other contextual structures. He also pointed out how different parts are combined or partially incorporated into each other and formed in structures as meaningful concepts and interpretations.
Chapter 5 suggests the materialization process in meaningful elements in tactile adjectives and lexicons about co-occurrence to establish research methodology. Materialization means ambiguous, abstract, and complex concepts become easy to understand using cognitive models when people express tactile adjectives as visual mappings.
Through this process, the theory of lexical concepts and cognitive models suggests new research alternatives and clarifies how Korean people understand words in cognitive structures. The research has implications for how Korean people conceptualize tactile adjectives from a whole perspective to see their reasoning objectively.