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bangnangja
Joined: 13 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:48 pm Post subject: Half of Korean vocabulary is from China?! |
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I know Koreans have alot of words from Chinese but is it actually half!?
I came across this and wonder how true it is:
"Modern Korean still reflects China's deep influence over centuries. Roughly half the Korean vocabulary consists of words derived from Chinese"
http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=62 |
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billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Probably. Maybe more. But that stat probably isn't weighted for frequency of use. Often there will be two words for a concept: a chinese one that only pretentious people use and a korean one that most people use. |
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Zoidberg
Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Location: Somewhere too hot for my delicate marine constitution
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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It somewhat analogous to Latin or Latin derived words in English. Chinese words tend to be used for more technical or abstract concepts, but the Korean base remains for more everyday sort of stuff. So "president" or "democracy" are Chinese, while "meat" or "friend" is Korean.
As billy said, the stat has nothing to do with frequency. |
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doggyji
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Location: Toronto - Hamilton - Vineland - St. Catherines
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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| That sounds like a fair estimation. Even though you can carry your daily conversations with sino-Korean words less than 10% of the total words you use, most academic writings are just full of them. |
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Gwangjuboy
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Location: England
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| While it is generally true that words derived from Chinese are considered more technical it's not always the case. There are cases where the opposite is true. If one eliminated Chinese words from conversation things would get tricky. |
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bangnangja
Joined: 13 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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Interesting. I was always under the impression that Korean was a very pure language of it's own,...but I never did learn much of it.
One of the words I found to be the same after going to Taiwan was ..umbrella. I think bank is very similar also. |
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billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Gwangjuboy wrote: |
| While it is generally true that words derived from Chinese are considered more technical it's not always the case. There are cases where the opposite is true. If one eliminated Chinese words from conversation things would get tricky. |
For sure. Things would get downright impossible. Even 안녕 is derived from Chinese characters, I believe. I'm curious what the frequency-weighted number would be. I imagine it would be quite different between conversational Korean and Korean that is written in a formal context. |
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Zoidberg
Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Location: Somewhere too hot for my delicate marine constitution
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| Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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| billybrobby wrote: |
| Gwangjuboy wrote: |
| While it is generally true that words derived from Chinese are considered more technical it's not always the case. There are cases where the opposite is true. If one eliminated Chinese words from conversation things would get tricky. |
For sure. Things would get downright impossible. Even 안녕 is derived from Chinese characters, I believe. I'm curious what the frequency-weighted number would be. I imagine it would be quite different between conversational Korean and Korean that is written in a formal context. |
The Latin/Chinese analogy I made isn't perfect, though you could argue that words from French are ultimately from Latin...
안녕 is derived from Chinese, the reason being, I think, is that "peace" is a rather abstract concept that Korean either had no word for, or the original word was lost.
I think I have the frequency in a book somewhere at home. I'll check later. |
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Jack_Sarang
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Keep in mind that the vast majority of Korean names are derived from chinese characters. Kim for instance is Gold. Although it has become a recent trend to name children with purely korean names which have no chinese character.
Pick up a copy of the children's series "Ma Bup Chun Ja Moon" (마법천자문). For a good lesson on the two korean words for each chinese character. Here are some examples (first word is the pure korean word):
Sky: haneul (하늘), chun (천)
Month: dal (달), wol (월)
Fire: bul (불), hwa (화)
Water: mool (물), soo (수)
Tree: namu (나무), mok(목)
Wind: baram (바람), poong (풍)
In some cases both words are the same as is the case with Door (Moon/문). |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:09 am Post subject: |
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Only 50%?
Not so.
My K-husband says it's roughly around 80%. |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:35 am Post subject: yes |
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Actually, friend is also from Chinese.
친구 = 親耉
I have also heard the 80% number being quoted before. If you ever plan to read a Korean newspaper, there is barely a Korean word in sight.
| Zoidberg wrote: |
It somewhat analogous to Latin or Latin derived words in English. Chinese words tend to be used for more technical or abstract concepts, but the Korean base remains for more everyday sort of stuff. So "president" or "democracy" are Chinese, while "meat" or "friend" is Korean.
As billy said, the stat has nothing to do with frequency. |
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jeffkim1972
Joined: 10 Jan 2007
Location: Mokpo
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:45 am Post subject: |
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| If you have one of those electronic dictionaries, they display whether it's of chinese origin (with the chinese character in parentheses) and there are tons of them, nearly everyone one of them. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:06 am Post subject: |
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| doggyji wrote: |
| That sounds like a fair estimation. Even though you can carry your daily conversations with sino-Korean words less than 10% of the total words you use, most academic writings are just full of them. |
And, from what I understand.. most legalese is too. |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:10 am Post subject: |
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This reminds me of something I was reading under Wikipedia's 'English Language' entry the other day:
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Germanic words (generally words of German or to a lesser extent Scandinavian origin) which include all the basics such as pronouns and conjunctions tend to be shorter than the Latinate words of English, and more common in ordinary speech. The longer Latinate words are regarded by many as more elegant or educated. However, the excessive use of Latinate or Romance words is considered by some to be either pretentious (as in the stereotypical policeman's talk of "apprehending the suspect") or an attempt to obfuscate an issue. George Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" gives a thorough treatment of this feature of English.
An English speaker is often able to choose between Germanic and Latinate synonyms: "come" or "arrive"; "sight" or "vision"; "freedom" or "liberty." Often there is a choice between a Germanic word (oversee), a Latin word (supervise), and a French word derived from the same Latin word (survey). The richness of the language arises from the variety of different meanings and nuances such synonyms have from each other, enabling the speaker to express fine variations or shades of thought. Familiarity with the etymology of groups of synonyms can give English speakers greater control over their linguistic register. See: List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents.
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In everyday speech, the majority of words will normally be Germanic. If a speaker wishes to make a forceful point in an argument in a very blunt way, Germanic words will usually be chosen. A majority of Latinate words (or at least a majority of content words) will normally be used in more formal speech and writing, such as a courtroom or an encyclopedia article. However, there are other Latinate words that are used normally in everyday speech and do not sound formal; these are mainly words for concepts that no longer have Germanic words, and are generally assimilated better and in many cases do not appear Latinate. For instance, the words mountain, valley, river, aunt, uncle, push and stay are all Latinate. |
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billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| tzechuk wrote: |
Only 50%?
Not so.
My K-husband says it's roughly around 80%. |
Oh, I didn't know you were married to the King of the Korean Language. Please, let us know more of his wisdom. |
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