Posts under Korean Language

Simple Sentences

Posted by Ginny

Remember the last post on subject marking particles? We’re gonna use them today, so get ready!

Before we do that, let’s review a couple things. First, how do you conjugate verbs into the deferential polite? For regular verbs, just add ㅂ니다 (we’ll do irregular verbs at another time). For the verb ‘to sleep’, which is jada (자다), take away the da (). Then add the ending ㅂ니다. Altogether you get, 잡니다 or jamnida. Normally the letter biup () is pronounced as a b or p, but since the niun () is pronounced right after it, the biup () has a tendency to sound like an ‘m’ sound.

Ok, now we’re ready to form a sentence. Let’s say that you want to say, ‘Minji sleeps’ in the deferential polite. To do this, you need the subject marking particle. Minji (민지) ends with a vowel. Therefore, you’ll need ga () attached to Minji (민지). In Korean the sentence is, Minjiga jamnida (잡니다).

I’ll give you another example. Let’s say that we want to say ‘Youngmin sleeps’ in the deferential polite form. To say that we would use the subject marking particle e () attached to Youngmin (영민이). This is because Youngmin (영민이) ends in a consonant. Altogether this sentence will look like this: Youngmine jamnida (영민이 잡니다).

Not too hard right?

 

Constitution Day

Posted by Ginny

Last month South Korea celebrated Constitution Day. Constitution Day in Korean is Jehunjul (제헌절). This national holiday celebrates the South Korean Constitution. The South Korean constitution was first drafted in 1948, but there have been revisions to the constitution ever since. The South Korean constitution lays out a basic framework for the Korean government and lists the basic freedoms of the people. Chapter 2 of the Constitution is explicitly dedicated to listing the individual rights of the South Korean people. For example chapter two basically states that if someone is accused, they must have a right to an attorney.

Although the rights of individuals are protected, there is an additional bill not part of the constitution that may overwrite the freedoms listed in chapter two. This bill is called the guk ga boan bup (국가 보안법) or the National Security Act. This bill has been controversial. The bill states that anyone that tries to overthrow the government or distribute materials against the South Korean government may have his/her individual rights taken away. Exactly what constitutes an ‘overthrow’ of the government is unclear. Recently the government has come under fire for imprisoning a couple of bloggers for putting up anti-government webpages.

For these reasons, the Constitution of South Korea is held in high esteem. The Constitution clearly states that Korea is a jayu minjujuk gibonjilso (자유민주적 기본질서) or liberal democracy. The Constitution secures the right to form associations and to carry out ‘collective action’. For Koreans, collective action has meant demo (데머) or demonstrations against government policies. These last few years it seems that the citizens of South Korea have brought it upon themselves to put it to frequent use. This is a huge departure from the dictatorship of the 1960s-1980s and the autocratic emperor system where individuals were usually killed or imprisoned for speaking out against the government or king.

 

General Guidelines for Korean Counters

Posted by Ginny

Counters that use Sino Korean numbers tend to be counters that measure a unit of time.

For example, the Korean counter months is wol (). Ex: January is ilwol (일월).

Counters that use Native Korean numbers tend to be counters that measure an amount of time that has passed.

For example, the Native Korean counter for months is dal (). Ex: one month is han dal (한달). Usually for this counter, it’s used in the sense that # number of times has passed. For example, han dal jinettda (한달 지냈다) means one month passed.

Here’s another example of this Sino Korean and Native Korean distinction. The counter for year in Sino Korean numbers is nyun (). Ex: 3 years is sam nyun (삼년). The Native Korean word for year is he (). Ex: 3 years is se he (세해). This is not always the case, but in the case of years, the Sino Korean version is more often used.

I think that it should be mentioned that there are some counters that serve as honorifics. For example, myung () and saram (사람) are counters used to refer to people. However, when you’re talking about people of high status you should use bun (). All three counters for people use the Native Korean numbers.

By the way, the counter for age also has this distinction. However, unlike the example above, the honorific counter for age is in Sino Korean numbers while the humble form is in the Native Korean numbers. The Sino Korean counter is se (). Ex: 2 years old is ese (이세). While the Native Korean counter for age is sal (). Ex: 2 years old is du sal (두살).

By the way, remember when I said that bun () is a Native Korean honorific counter for people? Well, bun () is also a Sino Korean counter that means minutes. Ex: 10 minutes is ship bun (십분). Not to confuse you even more, but the hours are expressed in Native Korean numbers. Ex: 10 o’clock or yul shi (열시). Ok, I promise this will be the last one. Beun () is a Native Korean counter indicating frequency or the number of times you do something. Ex: 10 times is yul beun (열번).

 

Korean Surnames

Posted by Ginny

Have you ever wondered what Korean surnames sound like? You may have see some of them below. Some of them are very common, and some are not. On official documents like birth/marriage/divorce certificates, it’s typical to see the surname in Chinese characters.

How many have you seen before?

Kim () ()

Park/Bak () ()

Lee/Yi () ()

Kang () ()

Kyung () ()

Go () ()

Nam () ()

Noh () ()

Ryu () ()

Moon/Mun () ()

Oh () ()

Woo/Wu () ()

Yun () ()

Jang/Chang () ()

Cho/Jo () ()

Jun () ()

 

Sino Korean Numbers Continued

Posted by Ginny

20 - i ship (이십)

30 - sam ship (삼십)

40 - sa ship (사십)

50 - o ship (오십)

60 - yuk ship (육십)

70 - chil ship (칠십)

80 - pal ship (팔십)

90 - gu ship (구십)

100 - bek ()

200 - i bek (이백)

300 - sam bek (삼백)

For numbers 20 - 90, it’s the # plus 10. Ex: 20 = two () + ten (). To say something like 24 (이십사), it’s 20 (이십) + 4 (). 100 is just bek (). It’s not il bek, but just bek. However from 200 - 900, it’s the # plus 100. For example, 300 (삼백) = 3 () + 100 ().