Posts in April 2009

Counters

Posted by Ginny
Apr
13
2009

Here are some Korean counters.  Counters are words like “piece of paper” or “year’s old” that you attach to numbers to indicate sets or numbers of items/people/animals, etc.

별 : items of clothing

대 : vehicles, cars, machinery

과 : lessons

권 : volumes of books

장 : piece of paper

마리 : animals

병 : bottles (alcohol)

잔 : glasses/cups (water or non-bottled liquid)

층 : floors

곡 : songs

마디 : words, phrases

통 : containers, buckets

사람 : people (informal)

분 : people (formal)

Of course there are more counters that I haven’t listed, but these are one of the most commonly used.

 
Posted under Grammar
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Korean Dialects

Posted by Ginny
Apr
10
2009

The standard South Korean dialect is based on the Seoul (서울) dialect, while the North Korean dialect is based on the Pyongyang (평양) dialect.  Seoul (서울) and Pyongyang (평양) are the capital cities of the two respective countries.  Although the standard North Korean dialect uses a different intonation and has a slightly different pronunciation system than the standard South Korean dialect, it’s not so different as to cause call the two dialects a separate language.

For example, the South Korean word for practice is 연습, while the North Korean word for practice is 련습.  In this case, the two words for practice is similar and when you hear it in context, you may not even realize that the two words are different in pronunciation.  The same goes for the word “cold water”.  In the standard South Korean dialect it’s 냉수, while in the standard North Korean dialect it’s 랭수.  For native speakers of both the South and North, it’s not a big deal.  In other words, the pronunciation difference is not that wide enough to cause a miscommunication meltdown.

Of course there are times when the vocabulary is vastly different between the two dialects.  The South Korean word for friend is 친구, while the North Korean word for friend is 동무.  The South Korean word for friend has much of the same meaning as “friend” does in English.  친구 means buddy, pal that kind of thing.  However the North Korean word for friend has a slightly different meaning.  The North Korean word for friend is similar to the Russian word for comrade or collegue.  In other words, the North Korean word for friend has communist implications and means something like “brotherhood” much like in the Marxist sense.

In some ways I think the North Korean dialect might be easier for English speakers.  For example the word for chopsticks in the South Korean dialect is 젓가락, but in the North Korean dialect it’s 저가락.  The same goes for the word tree leaf.  In South Korean it means 나뭇잎.  In North Korean it’s 나무잎.  I think it’s harder for English speakers to juxtapose their tongue to pronounce the ㅅ in 젓가락 and 나뭇잎. 

Ok, I’ll leave you to ponder the differences.  See ya!

 
Posted under Pronunciation
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Country + Language

Posted by Ginny
Apr
7
2009

We’re going to take a look at how to form words like “the Korean language” or “the Japanese language”.  One way to do this is to add 어 with the name of the country:

Korea : 한국.  Korean language : 한국어.

Japan : 일본.  Japanese language : 일본어.

China : 중국.  Chinese language : 중국어.

Italy : 이탈리아.  Italian language : 이탈리아어.

Spain : 스페인.  Spanish language : 스페인어.

Here’s the exception: 영어.  영어 is the Korean word for the English language.  Unfortunately, adding the country America with 어 will not work.  If you were to say 미국어, (미국 = America) you’ll be understood, but nonetheless it’s not correct.  The 영 actually comes from the word England, which is 영국.  That being said, it’s also wrong to say 영국어.  Whether it’s British English, American English, Australian English, etc. it doesn’t matter.  It’s all 영어.

Here’s another way to say “_______ language”.  Add the country with the word 말.

Korea : 한국.  Korean language : 한국 말.

Japan : 일본.  Japanese language : 일본 말.

China : 중국.  Chinese language : 중국 말.

Italy : 이탈리아.  Italian language : 이탈리아 말.

Spain : 스페인.  Spanish language : 스페인 말.

And of course if you want to know how to say “English language” just use 영어.  Don’t use 미국 말 because it sounds uneducated to Korean ears.

 
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Korean Baseball Players

Posted by Ginny
Apr
5
2009

Did you know that the major leagues currently retain Korean-born ball players? 

Take Shin Soo Choo (추신수).  He played as an outfielder for the Seattle Mariners in 2005-2006 and now he plays for the Cleveland Indians.  He’s only 26 years old and he makes about $1.35 million a year.  I know that’s not a lot compared to what A-rod gets, but compared to what South Korean ball players make in Korea, this is a ton of money.  He suffered an injury and had to undergo surgery for it, but now he’s up and running.  His nickname is “The Train”.  It comes from his last name Choo, which sounds a lot like the sounds trains make.

Cha Seung Bek (백차승) used to be the pitcher for the Seattle Mariners in 2004 and from 2006 to 2008.  Then he was traded to the San Diego Padres in 2008.  His first MLB debut was on August 8th, 2008 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  He pitched seven games, winning two and losing four.  His career has been pretty rocky.  His win-loss is 16-18.  Earned run average is 4.83 and he has a total of 184 strikeouts.  His first home run was in 2008 off Jaime Garcia.

Jae Kuk Ryu (류제국) currently pitches for the San Diego Padres.  He made news back in 2003 for killing an osprey with his ball.  Ospreys are protected by the state of Florida.  He was fined for the dead bird and that’s pretty much the only notorioty he has ever received in the press.  His win-loss is 1-3.  Earned run average is 7.49 and his total number of strikeouts is 32.  He bats and throws with his right hand.

Chan Ho Park (박찬호) is a celebrity among Koreans.  He’s the first Korean born ball player in the U.S. major leagues and he currently pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies.  He’s known for his fastballs and curveballs.  He makes $2.5 million a year.  This being a recession, I don’t think it’s really appropriate to say that’s a small amount of money.  There are people in this world who are making a lot less and doing a lot more for this country, so let’s just leave it at that.

Alright, so now you have a brief idea of who the Korean yagu sunsoo (야구 선수) or baseball players are in the major leagues.  If they’re in your area, please go to their games and support them!

 
Posted under Culture
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Countries and People

Posted by Ginny
Apr
3
2009

If you want to name a person’s nationality, you take the country’s name + in (인).  Here are some examples:

Germany : 독일.  German person : 독일인.

France : 프랑스.  French person : 프랑스인.

Korea : 한국.  Korean person : 한국인.

China : 중국.  Chinese person : 중국인.

America : 미국.  American person : 미국인.

Another way to name someone’s nationality is to add the country + saram (사람).

Germany : 독일.  German person : 독일 사람.

France : 프랑스.  French person : 프랑스 사람.

Korea : 한국.  Korean person : 한국 사람.

China : 중국.  Chinese person : 중국 사람.

America : 미국.  American person : 미국 사람.

If you want to know how to name other nationalities that are not mentioned here, just look up the country in a Korean dictionary and attach either the 인 or 사람 at the end of it.

 
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