Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomato]

Let's see how many foreign derivatives in Korean we can collect.
These are the rules:

1. No Chinese words. That's too easy.
2. English words are okay if they are in turn borrowed from exotic sources.
Germanic, Latin, and Greek derivatives are too easy.
3. Any other language is okay.
4. Proper names are okay if they have been applied with new meaning in Korea. Names of stores or store chains are okay. Names of foreign countries, foreign languages, foreign officials, and foreign media celebrities are too easy.

Here are my contributions:

ARABIC: banana, alcohol, sofa, zero

ARAWAKAN: barbecue

CZECH: robot

DHARUG: koala, boomerang

FINNISH: sauna

FRENCH: hotel, massage, cassette, mansion, cafe, bidet,
coup d'etat, vacance, atelier
Also the bakery chain named Touts les jours.

GERMAN: waltz, gauss
hof (seems to be a shortening of Gasthof, meaning "pub"), �Ƹ�����Ʈ (arbeit)

GUUGU-YIMIDHIRR: kangaroo

HINDI: shampoo

ITALIAN: pizza, spaghetti, radio, opera, sonata, piano, orchestra, camera, tomato, broccoli, cafeteria, arpeggio, a cappella, studio

For some reason, the ��â�� area of û�� abounds with restaurants with Italian names. In just one block, you can see Vivace, Vivaldi, and Cello.

JAPANESE: judo
I saw the word �����縶, meaning "handcart," listed in the dictionary.

MALAY: orangutan

NAHWATL: chocolate

NORWEGIAN: ski

PERSIAN: tulip

POLYNESIAN: kiwi

SANSKRIT: yoga

TAGALOG: yoyo

TAMIL: mango

TURKISH: yogurt

I'm curious about where the word �� (bread) comes from. Does it come from a Romance language, or is this a coincidence?

I have also wondered why �⸰, the word for "giraffe," is similar to the Japanese word. It can't be Japanese, because it is written in katakana in Japanese.

A bonus point for whoever can open up a new language category, explain where �� comes from, or explain where �⸰ comes from.

Sorry, no cash prizes.

[Leslie Cheswyck]

[Pyongshin Sangja]

[Yangkho]

I believe �� comes from the Portuguese pao.

I don't know, though, if it came directly, or through a third language, like Chinese.

[katydid]

I'd say that could be from the French too. Bread in French is "pain" said very nasally.

[J.B. Clamence]

They say "Pijama" for pyjamas here, right? I believe that's Hindi as well.

New language catagory: Latin! For example, visa ("bija"). I'm sure there are probably quite a few more from Latin filtered through English and other Western languages.

I did a quick search for "girin." It turns out that the Somali word for giraffe.

[Yangkho]

[katydid]