| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
partlythere
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
Location: Busan, South Korea
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:50 pm Post subject: What are those Chinese looking characters? |
 |
|
Hi, I'm just asking this because I'm interested, I don't actually need to know.
I've been learning Korean and can recognise or read the characters. So why is there Chinese on the Visa form? Sometimes Korean, sometimes Chinese. Am I going to need to memorise these characters too, or is this just for the benefit of Chinese people?
Cheers |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
mogbert
Joined: 10 May 2004
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| It's Hanja. I believe you need to know it if you want to read the newspaper. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nathanrutledge
Joined: 01 May 2008
Location: Marakesh
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
You don't NEED to know it to read most newspapers. Hanja characters are used when the Hanguel characters would be ambiguous. In English, when we have homophones, we can usually figure out the meaning, but because Korean is a bit more ambiguous as a language, if there is a chance for error, the Chinese character (hanja) will be used.
You'll only see this in certain newspapers, government documents, scientific or technical papers. None of your friends or students will use them in casual notes, etc. It IS handy to learn some hanja if you really want to get into studying Korean and it's etymology, but you don't need it to get around. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Among the youth, people under 30, hanja is barely used. Like us in english, Koreans just use the words they know without really thinking about its origin. But for learning, hanja is good to know and makes it a lot easier to build your vocabulary. You don't need to really need to know how to write it but just being aware of the roots helps a great deal. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
J.D.
Joined: 28 Jun 2010
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 1:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
Disambiguation
and quite a large portion of the people applying for visas are from China... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
furtakk
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
| as others have said it's hanja (chinese characters). you don't need to learn hanja to become fully fluent in korean (despite what others may say). the great majority of my korean friends, many of whom are either in university or have graduated, know only a handful of hanja if that. my girlfriend can't even write her name in hanja and she is quite educated. it's just not really taught anymore. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ebrann
Joined: 18 Jun 2009
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 2:57 am Post subject: Just curious |
|
|
| Koreans send text messages in hangul or English. How do Chinese send text messages? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ebrann
Joined: 18 Jun 2009
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:07 am Post subject: Just curious |
|
|
| Koreans send text messages in hangul or English. How do Chinese send text messages? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
qcat79
Joined: 18 Aug 2006
Location: ROK
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| in pinyin. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Hanja to Korean is analogous to the relationship of Latin to English. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
| schwa wrote: |
| Hanja to Korean is analogous to the relationship of Latin to English. |
I don't think so.
Hanja is entirely relevant, in use, and frequently seen.
How much genuine latin do you see on a daily basis back home?
Yes there is the odd phrase that occasionally gets tossed about and misunderstood. While a lot of English vocabulary comes from Latin roots, the actual latin words aren't used anymore. While in the case of hanja we're simply talking about character for jamo substitution for clarification. Hanja still frequently appears on menus, signs, newspapers, etc. Even the instructions on the bottle of compressed air I have here has Hanja on it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:46 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Koreans send text messages in hangul or English. How do Chinese send text messages? |
Type the word out like normal:
Ni Hao
In this case "ni" will display 你 as an option.
and "hao" will display 好 as an option.
When there are 2 or more of the same spelling, then you have to know which one you need. They often put the most frequently used ones first. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
WadRUG'naDoo
Joined: 15 Jun 2010
Location: Shanghai
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Why do they learn Hanja Korea? It's a course in school, right? Why's it part of the curriculum? Is it a culture thing? What's its use? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 3:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| WadRUG'naDoo wrote: |
| Why do they learn Hanja Korea? It's a course in school, right? Why's it part of the curriculum? Is it a culture thing? What's its use? |
Yes, they learn around 1800 Hanja I think by the time they finish high school.
They learn it because it is still in use, part of their culture, and quite good for understanding the language. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| crossmr wrote: |
| schwa wrote: |
| Hanja to Korean is analogous to the relationship of Latin to English. |
I don't think so.
Hanja is entirely relevant, in use, and frequently seen.
How much genuine latin do you see on a daily basis back home?
Yes there is the odd phrase that occasionally gets tossed about and misunderstood. While a lot of English vocabulary comes from Latin roots, the actual latin words aren't used anymore. While in the case of hanja we're simply talking about character for jamo substitution for clarification. Hanja still frequently appears ... |
You're right, my analogy is imperfect.
But it still seems to me that modern korean has two terms for many everyday concepts, one hanja-based & one "pure korean" & to that extent it is similar to modern english with both its latin & old english roots. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
