Posted by Ginny
Let’s take a look at the plural marker 들 and how it’s used. The first sentence we’ll take a look at is, 사람들이 많아요. (사람 = person. 들 = plural marker. 이 = subject marking particle. 많아요 = many). Let’s compare this with a second sentence, 사람이 많아요. The difference between the first sentence and the second sentence is that the first sentence has the plural marker 들 and the second sentence lacks the plural marker 들. Just one particle changes the meaning of the sentence. The first sentence that has the plural marker 들 means, “There are a lot of people”. The second sentence without the 들 means “There is a person.”
One other thing that you should keep note is that just because the plural marker is attached doesn’t mean the subject marker disappears. Notice in the first sentence the subject marker comes after the plural marker. Now sometimes 들 can be dropped when it’s clear that the subject is plural. For example, 저희는 학생이 아니에요. (저희 = we. 는 = topic marking particle. 학생 = student. 이 = subject marking particle. 들 = plural marker. 아니에요 = is not.) This sentence means, “We are not students.” This sentence would also be correct if it had the plural marker 들 after the pronoun 저희. Since 저희 means “we”, it is already plural in nature. That’s why it’s ok to drop the 들.
Now let’s look at some pronouns and see if the meaning changes when 들 is added.
저희 = we. 저희들 = also means we.
너희 = you plural casual. 너희들 = you plural casual.
당신 = you singular polite. 당신들 = you plural polite.
그녀 = literally means “that girl”. 그녀들 = those girls.
그들 = can mean “they” as in a mix of boys and girls or just boys.
Posted by Ginny
This Halloween why not spend some time watching scary Korean movies? All these movies have been made within the last couple of years:
불신지옥 - Living Hell/Living Death. About two sisters, one who may possibly be possessed.
여고괴담 5 동반자살 - A Blood Pledge. About a group of high school girls who promise to commit suicide together, but two girls back out of the pact…
고死: 피의 중간고사 - Death Bell. A classroom full of students are taking an exam and are being executed one by one. How do the remaining students stop this mysterious occurence?
해부학교실 - The Cut. A couple of medical students start dying off one by one during a dissection lecture. Could the mysterious new student be involved in the killings?
기담 - Epitaph. The setting of the movie takes place in Korea, under Japanese occupation. Mysterious events start to occur in a hospital. Is there a good explantion for this, or is the place simply haunted?
전설의 고향 - Evil Twin. The spirit of a deceased sister may be taking over the living sister’s body. Does the mother hold the secret to this mystery?
두 사람이다 - It’s Two People/Someone Behind You/Voices. A girl tries to escape a curse haunting her family, but can she even trust her own family?
You can try looking for these movies on Netflix. If that doesn’t work, maybe Blockbuster will have them in the foreign film section. You can also buy them on YESASIA. Keep in mind that some of these movie titles are not translated with the same meaning in Korean. My guess is that some of the titles were changed so that international audiences would find these movies more scary/appealing.
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Posted by Ginny
귀신 is a generic term for a ghost or spirt. A 귀신 is a spirt that has already died but for one reason or another has not passed on to the afterlife. In other words, a Korean 귀신 is a spirit roaming the earth. In Korean ghost stories, the 귀신 is often in the form of a female with long black hair covering the face. The typical reason for the 귀신 to remain on this earth seems to center around carrying out some kind of revenge, or unfinnished business on earth. If you look at some of the rituals performed by Korean shamans, the rituals typically try to appease or release the ghost’s inner torment.
So where do Korean ghost stories come from? They may have formed from an old misconception or perhaps an exaggeration of an ancient Korean practice. The practice stems from old funeral rites. Long ago when a parent died, it was not unusual for an unmarried daughter to untie her hair in a gesture of grief. Nowadays some people in Korea wear black when someone dies, but white was actually the color of mourning in the olden days. Not coincidentally, Korean ghost stories describe the ghosts as wearing a white 한복 with unkempt, untied hair in the form of a female. Perhaps this is where the first Korean ghost stories come from.
A 도깨비 is a goblin. In Korean folklore, the 도깨비 is described as having a large piece of skin dangling from the chin, cheek or anywhere on the face. Sometimes they have warts on the skin. The 도깨비 is described as gullible and easily mislead. They are said to live deep in the woods or in the mountains where nobody lives. The story of the 도깨비 may have originated from real life social outcasts living in the mountains. These outcasts were sometimes disfigured in some way and some may have had mental disabilites. Since there were no sanitoriums back then, perhaps the 도깨비 was based on this group.
The 귀신 stories seem to have some cautionary tale, sometimes directed at children. Some of the messages might be: don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t kill people, etc or you may be visited by a ghost. The 도깨비 stories seem to be comical stories, with less cautionary themes. In fact, the messages for the 도깨비 stories seem to be: use your head, or outrick your enemy. I, myself find it interesting that the ghosts tend to be female. I may be reading too much into this, but what does that say about Korean society and women?
Posted by Ginny
Usually in October, towards the beginning of the month, Korean and American flags are raised in honor of 국군의 날. 국군의 날 is Armed Forces Day. 국군의 날 is not a national holiday and people do not get the day off. Nonetheless it’s a day created to reflect upon the military sacrifices made when the South Korean forces reached the 38th parallel. To put it in an oversimplified way, the miltary forces of South Korea consists of the ROK Armed Forces (ROK = Republic of Korea) or 대한민국 국군 and KATUSA (Korean Augmentation to the US Army) or 카투사.
The history behind the 38th parallel is a source of national regret and sorrow. Before I introduce the history behind the 38th parallel, I’ll just briefly mention what it is. The 38th parallel is a latitudinal boundary set between North and South Korea. South of the 38th parallel lies South Korea and accordingly north of the parallel is North Korea. Sometimes the 38th parallel is referred to as the DMZ or the Demilitarized Zone (한반도 비무장지대).
The DMZ was created in 1953 as an armstice between North and South Korea. Before the armistice, North Korea had formed an alliance with the Soviet Union and South Korea had an alliance with the US. From 1950 to 1953 the two sides fought for territorial gains and political/ideological supremacy. Although the fighting ended with an armistice, there was never a peace treaty that followed afterward. Therefore, technically speaking North and South Korea are still engaged in a type of cold ‘war’. Both sides have agreed not to cross the DMZ, but there were periodic violations of this agreement.
There is a lot more to this story, but since we’re short on time, I’ll just say that it’s been estimated that around 36, 940 US troops were killed, with 245,000 - 415,000 South Korean troops killed and around 2,000,000 civilians who were also the casualities of the war. With these casualties in mind, let us not forget the sacrifices of these lives on 국군의 날.
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Posted by Ginny
Let’s say that you see a painting and you say ‘그 여자는 누구예요’? (그 = that. 여자 = girl. 는 = topic marking particle. 누구 = who. 예요 = copula meaning ‘is’.) In English this sentence would mean, ‘Who is that girl?’ As a response the artist of the painting could reply, ‘여가가 아니에요’ or ‘it’s not a girl’. Take a look at another example, 저는 한국 사람이 아니에요, (저 = I. 는 = topic marking particle. 한국 = Korean. 사람 = person. 이 = subject marking particle. 아니 = not. 에요 = means ‘am’.) which means ‘I am not a Korean person’. In this case, 아니에요 takes on the meaning of ‘am not’.
The word 아니에요 negates things. In the sentence above 아니에요 takes on the meaning of ‘not’. However 아니예요 can also take on the meaning of ‘no’. For instance in this sentence, 아니에요, 저는 미국 사람이에요, the 아니에요 takes on the meaning ‘no’ instead of ‘not’. (아니에요 = no, in the standard polite form. 저 = I. 는 = topic marking particle. 미국 = America. 사람 = person. 이 = subject marking particle. 이에요 = is.) In English the sentence means, ‘No, I am not an American person’. You can also say, 아니에요, 저는 한국 사람이 아니에요. 저는 미국 사람이에요, which emphasizes that you’re not a Korean person even more.
Generally when 아니에요 is placed at the beginning of the sentence, it takes on the meaning of ‘no’. When 아니에요 comes at the end of the sentence, it takes on the meaning of ‘not’. Also, the meaning ‘no’ and ‘not’ can also be expressed as 아닙니다. 아니에요 is the standard polite way of saying ‘no’ or ‘not’, but 아닙니다 is the deferential polite way of saying ‘no’ or ‘not’. For example you could say ‘저는 아닙니다’ or ‘it’s not me’. (저 = polite way to say ‘I’. 는 = topic marking particle after a vowel. 아닙니다 = deferential polite way of saying ‘not’.)
You can also use 아니에요 and 아닙니다 in the interrogative form. For example you could say, 승미 집이 아니에요? or 주나 씨 아닙니까? In English this would mean something like ‘It’s not Sungmi’s house?’ or ‘Are [you] not Mr. Juna?’ (승미 = Sungmi (a person’s name). 지 = house/home. 이 = subject marking particle used after consonants. 아니에요 = ‘not’. 주나 = Juna. 씨 = can mean Mr./Ms. 아닙니까 = deferential interrogative form of ‘not’.) You might have also noticed that 아니에요 is not spelled as 아니예요, the difference being that one has the 에 and the other has 예 even though 아니 ends in a vowel. That’s because 아니 is not a noun, and so it doesn’t follow the normal conventions for vowel and consonant endings.
