The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of discourse theory, focusing on the Four Gospels. It compares and contrasts the New Korean Translation (2024) with existing versions, the New Korean Revised Version (1998) and the Revised New Korean Standard Version (2004), to elucidate key characteristics appearing in the discourse context. Since the New Korean Translation was published for the next generation and aims to be a translation faithful to the original text, this study carefully analyzed the Four Gospels, which deal with Jesus’ ministry, to examine major characteristics of discourse theory. First, the study revealed the characteristics of subtitles in discourse units that reflect elements of the speaker, listener, and scene. Compared to the existing NKRV and RNKSV, NKT consists of specific explanations to increase readability and appears in sentence forms to facilitate a quick understanding of the narrative discourse. Furthermore, it subdivides subtitles to enhance the understanding of discourse scenes and discourse analysis abilities. Second, regarding the characteristics of discourse theory in name titles, NKRV was passive in adapting to changes in discourse context by using traditionally fixed name titles. While RNKSV accepted some discourse scenes, it still revealed traditional authority. In contrast, NKT used name titles reflecting the intention of the original text so that the character’s faith status could be identified according to the type of name title. Additionally, various name titles used by Jesus can be cited. These go beyond general references; they are a proclamation of becoming a member of society from being a marginalized and isolated existence, and a declaration of a community of love within God, which are appropriate name titles for the discourse context. Third, NKT improved the clarity of discourse through cohesive devices. Accordingly, it used short sentences rather than long ones to be familiar to the next generation. It also properly utilized discourse markers, such as demonstratives and conjunctions, by segmenting long sentences or discourses to easily convey the meaning of the utterance context. Moreover, by rearranging the information structure of the discourse, it placed new information and emphasized information at the front of the discourse using word order inversion or independent words. It also employed a discourse strategy of describing past events in the present tense to maximize discourse effects, thereby making important events present and drawing the listener into the story. Fourth, the setting of the scale of politeness as a discourse strategy of honorifics is appropriate. NKRV and RNKSV established a uniform scale of politeness based on a fixed framework according to age and social status between the speaker and the listener. While the NKRV used traditional styles such as Hara-che, the archaic Haera-che, or Hasoseo-che, and the RNKSV did not use archaic styles, it still did not deviate significantly from the uniform framework. On the other hand, NKT used a complex scale of politeness that utilizes informal styles giving a sense of friendliness, breaking away from the framework of formal styles. While based on the social relationship of age and status between the speaker and listener, it reflected the actual linguistic sense used by young people through a spoken-style scale of politeness that considers the discourse context, such as the scene and situation of conversation and the speaker’s psychological attitude.
Deok-yu Park (Fri,) studied this question.