A Study on Exaggerated Expressions in Korean Sports Articles

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper analyzes the patterns and types of exaggeration in newspaper articles covering the 33rd Paris Olympics to examine the linguistic characteristics of exaggeration in sports articles.
Exaggeration appears across various parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, modifiers, and particles, with noun-based expressions being most prominent for emphasizing athletes, matches, and results. Verb-based exaggerations highlight the course and outcome of matches or emphasize players’ skills, while modifiers and particles intensify descriptions of fierce competition and athletes’ popularity through extreme scales of expression.
Exaggeration types are categorized into “maximization,” “amplification,” “minimization,” “over-generalization,” and “contrast,” with “maximization” being the most frequent. “amplification” emphasizes intensity without reaching the ultimate degree, while “minimization” underrepresents aspects to create an emphasis effect. The use of adjectival phrases of Sino-Korean origin is notable, and both linguistic and contextual exaggerations are observed. However, excessive use of exaggeration can lead to the “ceiling effect” and “basement effect,” diminishing the impact of such expressions.