한영사전의 역사와 성격

The history of the Korean-English dictionary and its characteristics

  Although more than a century has passed since foreign missionary, R G. Underwood compiled the first Korean-English dictionary in 1890, there is no historical record of the development of this type of dictionary. It is under these circumstances that this paper traces the history of the Korean-English dictionary from the first to the ones which are on the market today. Characteristic features of the major Korean-English dictionaries are described and according to these characteristics an attempt is made to categorize the dictionaries. A Korean-English dictionary can be a productive dictionary for Korean EFL learners whereas it can be a receptive dictionary for foreign learners of Korean. In light of the dichotomy between productive and receptive bilingual dictionaries, the equivalents of mureup offered in the Korean-English dictionaries are examined. The results show that productive Korean-English dictionaries, compiled with a view to catering for Korean EFL learners" production in English, do not provide enough information for their envisaged users.