Sino-Korean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sino-Korean | |
|---|---|
| Hangul: | 한자말 / 한자어 |
| Hanja: | 漢字말 / 漢字語 |
| Revised Romanization: | Hanjamal / Hanja-eo |
| McCune-Reischauer: | Hanchamal / Hanchaŏ |
Sino-Korean or Hanja-eo refers to Korean language vocabulary composed of hanja (Chinese characters used in Korea). Although traditionally written in hanja, today Sino-Korean is mostly written in the native Korean script hangul.
Sino-Korean words are one of the three main types of vocabulary in Korean. The other two are native Korean words, and foreign words imported from English and other Western languages.
Although Sino-Korean words today make up over 50% (and by some estimates up to 70%) of the Korean vocabulary, in practice many of them are too formal or archaic for ordinary speech, and many young people do not bother to learn the characters they are derived from. Some Koreans also wish to de-emphasize the use of characters as an expression of national pride, while others wish to see them used more often.[1][2][3]
In North Korea, many Sino-Korean words have been replaced with "pure" Korean words. However, there are still a large number of such words in widespread usage in the North (although written in hangul).
[edit] Sino-Korean vocabulary
Much like Japanese, a great deal of Sino-Korean vocabulary was directly borrowed from Chinese. However, a small number of Sino-Korean words were coined by the Koreans themselves. Furthermore, many academic and scientific terms were borrowed from Japanese. The Japanese translated numerous Western words (mainly English and German) into Sino-Japanese terms by coining or reusing words. Under the Japanese annexation, this vocabulary was borrowed into Korean by systematically reading the characters with Korean pronunciations.
Although the meaning of most hanja-eo is the same as that of their Chinese cognates, there are cases where the Korean meaning is different from the Chinese. This is due to various causes, including divergence of Korean meanings from Chinese, Korean coinage of new words, or borrowing from Japanese. The table below contains some words that are different between Chinese and Korean, although speakers of either language might be able to guess at the meanings from the written form:
| English | Korean (in Hanja) | Chinese | Korean (in Hangul) |
|---|---|---|---|
| letter | 便紙, 片紙 | 信/信函/書箋/信箋/信件/便條/便信 | 편지 (pyeonji) |
| tissue | 休紙 | 草紙/棉紙/手紙/紙巾/衛生紙 | 휴지 (hyuji) |
| gift | 膳物 | 禮物/贈品 | 선물 (seonmul) |
| tab | 外上 | 賬單/小報/標簽 | 외상 (oesang) |
| dining table | 食卓 | 餐桌/飯桌 | 식탁 (siktak) |
| cheque | 手票 | 支票 | 수표 (supyo) |
| name card, business card | 名啣 | 名片 | 명함 (myeongham) |
| maid | 食母 | 女傭/女僕 | 식모 (singmo) |
| prohibit, cancel | 休止 | 取締/阻止/禁止/取消 | 휴지 (hyuji) |
| study | 工夫 | 學習 | 공부 (gongbu) |
| extremely | 大端 | 非常/十分/忒 | 대단 (daedan) |
| airport | 空港 | 機場/空港/航空港 | 공항 (gonghang) |
| airplane | 飛行機 | 飛機 | 비행기 (bihaenggi) |
| president | 大統領 | 總統 | 대통령 (daetongnyeong) |
| prisoner | 囚徒 | 囚犯/囚徒 | 수도 (sudo) |
| side room | 舍廊, 斜廊 | 側房/側廳/旁廳/側廊 | 사랑 (sarang) |
Sometimes the Chinese and Korean words are composed of the same characters, but in reversed order.
| English | Korean (in Hanja) | Chinese | Korean (in Hangul) |
|---|---|---|---|
| compass | 羅針盤 | 羅盤針/羅盤/羅盤儀/指南針/司南 | 나침반 (nachimban) |
Some Sino-Korean words derive from Japanese Kunyomi words, i.e., native Japanese words written in Chinese characters. When borrowed into Korean, the characters are given Sino-Korean pronunciations. (Note that in Japanese, these words are not considered to belong to the Sino-Japanese part of the vocabulary as they are native Japanese words.)
| English | Japanese | Korean (in Hanja) |
Korean (in Hangul) |
Chinese term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| assemble | 組み立て | 組立 | 조립 | 組合 |
| ku.mi.ta.te | jo.rip | |||
| big sale | 大売出し | 大賣出 | 대매출 | 大特賣 |
| ō.uri.da.shi | dae.mae.chul | |||
| building | 建物 | 建物 | 건물 | 建築物/樓宇 |
| tate.mono | geon.mul | |||
| estimate | 見積もり | 見積 | 견적 | 估計 |
| mi.tsu.mo.ri | gyeon.jeok | |||
| share of stock | 株式 | 株式 | 주식 | 股份 |
| kabu.shiki | ju.sik | |||
| match | 試合 | 試合 | 시합 | 比賽 |
| shi.ai | si.hap | |||
| procedure | 手続き | 手續 | 수속 | 程序 / 手續 |
| te.tsuzu.ki | su.sok | |||
