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Sino-Korean vocabulary

 
Wikipedia: Sino-Korean vocabulary
Sino-Korean vocabulary
Hangul 한자말 / 한자어
Hanja 漢字말 / 漢字語
Revised Romanization Hanjamal / Hanja-eo
McCune–Reischauer Hanchamal / Hanchaŏ

Sino-Korean or Hanja-eo (Korean: 한자어, Hanja: 漢字語) refers to the set of words in the Korean language vocabulary that originated from or were influenced by hanja. The Sino-Korean lexicon consists of both words coined in the Korean language using hanjas.

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 other languages, mostly from English.[1]

Although Sino-Korean words today make up about 60% of the Korean vocabulary,[1] many Sino-Korean words have been replaced in North Korea with native Korean words. However, there are still a large number of such words in widespread usage in the North.

Sino-Korean vocabulary

The majority of Sino-Korean words were created and coined by Korean scholars. Note, however, that during the Japanese annexation there were a few academic and scientific terms were borrowed from Japanese, which had created a body of Sino-Japanese terms by coining or reusing Chinese words to translate Western terminology (mainly English and German). Under the Japanese annexation, this vocabulary was borrowed into Korean by systematically reading the characters with Korean pronunciations. Most of Sino-Korean words, however, were coined by the Koreans themselves.

Currently, most Sino-Korean meaning is different from the Chinese. This is due to various causes, including borrowing lightly from Japanese, divergence of Korean meanings from Chinese, or Korean coinage of new words. The table below contains some words that are either similar or different between Korean and Japanese and (Mandarin)Chinese

English Korean (in hangul) Korean (in hanja) Japanese Chinese
Weather 일기 (ilgi) 日氣 天気・天氣 天氣・天气
Automobile 자동차 (jadongcha) 自動車 自動車 汽車(汽车)
president 대통령 (daetongnyeong) 大統領 大統領 總統(总统)
letter 편지 (pyeonji) 便紙,片紙 手紙 信/信函
tissue 휴지 (hyuji) 休紙 塵紙 衛生紙(卫生纸)
gift 선물 (seonmul) 膳物 土産 禮物(礼物)
newspaper 신문 (sinmun) 新聞 新聞 報紙(报纸)/報(报)
tab (in a restaurant or bar) 외상 (oesang) 外上 付け 賬單(账单)
dining table 식탁 (siktak) 食卓 食卓 餐桌
cheque 수표 (supyo) 手票 小切手 支票
name card, business card 명함 (myeongham) 名啣 手札 名片
Doctor 의사 ((eu)isa) 医師 医師/医者 醫生(医生)/大夫
maid 식모 (singmo) 食母 下女 女傭(女佣)/女仆
prohibit, cancel 휴지 (hyuji)/해지 (haeji)/취소 (choi-so) 休止/解止 取消 阻止/取消
study 공부 (gongbu) 工夫 勉強/学習 學習(学习)
extremely 대단 (daedan) 大端 凄い 極端(极端)/非常
airport 공항 (gonghang) 空港 空港 機場(机场)/航空港
airplane 비행기 (bihaenggi) 飛行機 飛行機 飛機(飞机)
prisoner 수인 (suin) 囚人 囚人 囚犯/犯人
ICBM 대륙간탄도미사일
(daeryukgan-tando-misail)
大陸間彈道미사일 大陸間弾道ミサイル 洲際彈道飛彈(洲际弹道导弹)
Computer 전산기 (jeonsangi)
(←Rarely used)
電算機 電算機 電腦(电脑)/計算機(计算机)
introduction 소개 (sogae) 紹介 紹介 介紹(介绍)
Case, Situation 경우 (gyeong'u) 境遇 場合 情形/境遇/場合(场合)
Whereabout 행방 (haengbang) 行方 行方 去向
Foreign currency 외환 (oehwan) 外換 為替 兌換(兑换)
Currency exchange 환전 (hwanjeon) 換錢 両替 換錢(换钱)
Promise 약속 (yaksok)/언약 (eonyak) 約束/言約 約束 承諾(承诺)
Bomber (aircraft) 폭격기 (pokgyeokki) 爆擊機 爆撃機 轟炸機(轰炸机)
Company, firm 회사 (hoesa) 會社 会社 公司
faction 파벌 (pabeol) 派閥 派閥 派系
Sunday 일요일 (ilyoil) 日曜日 日曜日 星期天
Monday 월요일 (Wolyoil) 月曜日 月曜日 星期一
The person in charge (of) 담당자 (damdangja) 担當者 担当者 負責人(负责人)
Movie, film 영화 (yeonghwa) 映畵 映画 電影(电影)
Support(computer term) 지원 (jiweon) 支援 対応 支援
Driving the car 운전 (unjeon) 運轉 運転 駕駛(驾驶)

Some Sino-Korean words derive from Japanese kun'yomi words, that is, 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(组合)
kumi-tate jo.rip zǔhé
building 建物 建物 건물 建築物(建筑物)/樓宇(楼宇)
tate-mono geon.mul jiànzhùwù/lóuyǔ
estimate 見積もり 見積 견적 估計(估计)
mi-tsumori gyeon.jeok gūjì
share of stock 株式 株式 주식 股份
kabu-shiki ju.sik gǔfèn
match 試合 試合 시합 比賽(比赛)
shi-ai si.hap bǐsài

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Sohn, Ho-Min. The Korean Language (Section 1.5.3 "Korean vocabulary", p.12-13), Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0521369436



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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sino-Korean vocabulary" Read more