Sino-Korean vocabulary
Sino-Korean or Hanja-eo (Hangul: 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 loaned from Chinese and words coined in the Korean language using hanja.
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] Roughly speaking, it can be further divided into two layers: traditional Sino-Korean words that are either derived from classical Chinese or invented in Korea before modern times, and words that are imported from Japanese in modern times (especially during Korea under Japanese rule).
Sino-Korean words today make up about 60% of the Korean vocabulary,[1] though in actual speech (especially informally) native words are more common.[2]
Some Korean words are considered "native" even though they are ultimately derived from Sino-Korean words. Examples include 짐승 (jimseung "beast") from 중생 (jungsaeng 衆生: a Buddhist term for the living world), or 사냥 (sanyang "hunt") from 산행 (sanhaeng 山行 "to climb a mountain"). In modern Korean, because their etymology is far from obvious, these words behave as "native" words: for example, they usually don't combine with Sino-Korean affixes, and they're never written using Hanja.
Terms Differences
Sino-Korean words are derived mainly from literary Chinese, and many from modern Sino-Japanese.
| English | Korean (Hangul) | Korean (Hanja) | Japanese (Shinjitai / Kyūjitai) | Mandarin (Traditional / Simplified) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hello / Goodbye | 안녕 (annyeong) | 安寧 | お早う (ohayō) 左様なら (sayōnara) | 你好 (nǐhǎo) 再見 (zàijiàn) | |
| Gunpowder | 화약 (hwayak) | 火藥 | 火薬 (kayaku) | 火藥 / 火药 (huǒyào) | |
| Tofu | 두부 (dubu) | 豆腐 | 豆腐 (tōfu) | 豆腐 (dòufu) | |
| Milk | 우유 (uyu) | 牛乳 | 牛乳 (gyūnyū) | 牛奶 (niúnăi) | |
| Automobile | 자동차 (jadongcha) | 自動車 | 自動車 (jidōsha) | 汽車 / 汽车 qìchē | (自動 means "automatic, moving on its own in Mandarin.") |
| President | 대통령 (daetongnyeong) | 大統領 | 大統領 (daitōryō) | 總統 / 总统 (zǒngtǒng) | |
| Letter | 편지 (pyeonji) | 便紙 片紙 | 手紙 (tegami) | 信 (xìn) 信函 (xìnhán) | (紙/纸 means paper. 函, means "letter" in Classical Chinese.) |
| Tissue | 휴지 (hyuji) | 休紙 | 塵紙 (chirigami, chirishi) | 衛生紙 (wèishēngzhǐ) | |
| Gift | 선물 (seonmul) | 膳物 | 土産 / 土產 (miyage) | 禮物 / 礼物 (lǐwù) | (土產 / 土产 (tǔchǎn) means "domestic products" in Chinese, often used as gifts.) |
| Newspaper | 신문 (sinmun) | 新聞 | 新聞 (shinbun) | 報紙 / 报纸 (bàozhǐ) 報 / 报 (bào) | (新聞 / 新闻 (xīnwén) means simply "news" in modern Chinese.) |
| Tab / bill (in a restaurant or bar) | 외상 (oesang) | 外上 | 勘定 (kanjō) | 賬單 / 账单 (zhàngdān) | |
| Dining table | 식탁 (siktak) | 食卓 | 食卓 (shokutaku) | 餐桌 (cānzhuō) | (食 (shí) only means "food" in Mandarin, in most other dialects which still retains the meaning from Middle Chinese, it still means "eat". 餐 (cān) means "meal(s)" in Modern Chinese. 卓 (zhuō, means "outstanding") and 桌 (zhuō, means "table") are two different words of different meanings in Modern Chinese.) |
| Check / cheque | 수표 (supyo) | 手票 | 小切手 (kogitte) | 支票 (zhīpiào) | |
| Name card, business card | 명함 (myeongham) | 名銜 名啣 | 名刺 (meishi) | 名片 (míngpiàn) | |
| Doctor | 의사 (uisa) | 醫師 | 医師/醫師 (ishi) 医者/醫者 (isha) | 醫生 / 医生 (yīshēng) 西醫 / 西医 (xīyī) 大夫 (dàfū) 醫師 / 医师 (yīshī) 中醫師 / 中医师 (zhōngyī shī) | (西醫 / 西医 This is an alternate term for "doctor" which literally means "a doctor who practices Western medicine"), 大夫 (This is the term used for doctors who practiced Traditional Chinese medicine, and the meaning is transferred into "doctor", for anyone who practices medicine), and 醫師 / 医师 is alternately used in some formal circumstances, stemming from 中醫師 / 中医师, a doctor that practices Traditional Chinese Medicine. |
| Maid | 식모 (singmo < sik-mo) 하녀 (hanyeo) | 食母 下女 | 女中 (jochū) | 女傭 / 女佣 (nǚyōng) 女僕 / 女仆 (nǚpū) | (下女 (xiànǚ) is the word used in Classical Chinese.) |
| Prohibit, cancel | 휴지 (hyuji) 해지 (haeji) 취소 (chwiso) | 休止 解止 取消 | 禁止 (kinshi) 取消 (torikeshi) | 禁止 (jìnzhǐ) 阻止 (zǔzhǐ) 取消 (qǔxiāo) | |
| Study | 공부 (Gongbu) | 工夫 | 勉強 (benkyō) 学習 / 學習 (gak(u)shuu) | 學習 / 学习 (xuéxí) | (勉強 (miǎnqiáng) means "To force someone / oneself do something they're not willing to do" in Chinese) |
| Airport | 공항 (gonghang) | 空港 | 空港 (kūkō) | 機場 / 机场 (jīchǎng) 空港 (kōnggǎng) |
|
| Airplane | 비행기 (bihaenggi) | 飛行機 | 飛行機 (hikōki) | 飛機 / 飞机 (fēijī) | |
| Prisoner | 수인 (suin) | 囚人 | 囚人 (shuujin) | 囚犯 (qiúfàn) 犯人 (fànrén) | |
| Computer | 전산기 (jeonsangi) (←Rarely used) | 電算機 | 電算機 (densanki) | 電腦 / 电脑 (diànnǎo) 計算機 / 计算机 (jìsuànjī) | (only 计算机 is only used in Mainland China to mean "computer": 计算 is a direct translation of French "computer" meaning "To calculate", whereas in Hong Kong, Taiwan and all over the world, 電腦 is used to mean "computer":電 means "Electricity"/ "Power" needed to turn on the computer, and 腦, meaning "brain" is used because the way a computer calculates and memorizes is somewhat similar in function to the human brain.) |
| Introduction | 소개 (sogae) | 紹介 | 紹介(shōkai) | 介紹 / 介绍 (jièshào) | |
| Case, Situation | 경우 (gyeong-u) | 境遇 | 場合 (baai) 境遇 (kyōguu) 状況 / 狀況 (joukyou) 情況 (joukyou) | 情形,境遇,場合 / 场合 | |
| (One's) Whereabouts | 행방 (haengbang) | 行方 | 行方 (yukue) | 行踪,去向 | |
| Foreign currency | 외환 (oehwan) | 外換 | 為替 / 爲替 (kawase) | 兌換 / 兑换 | |
| Currency exchange | 환전 (hwanjeon) | 換錢 | 両替 / 兩替 (ryōgae) | 換錢 / 换钱 | |
| Promise | 약속 (yaksok) 언약 (eonyak) | 約束 言約 | 約束 (yakusoku) | 約定 / 约定,承諾 / 承诺 | (約束 in modern Chinese means "restriction" and when used carries a negative connotation.) |
| Bomber (aircraft) | 폭격기 (pokgyeokki) | 爆擊機 | 爆撃機 / 爆擊機 (bakugek(i)ki) | 轟炸機 / 轰炸机 | |
| Company, firm | 회사 (hoesa) | 會社 | 会社/會社 (kaisha) | 公司 | |
| faction | 파벌 (pabeol) | 派閥 | 派閥 (habatsu) | 派系 | |
| The formulae of (日/月/火/水/木/金/土)+曜日 in Korean and Japanese stem from an ancient Chinese usage in its horoscope, which is now considered obsolete in Modern Chinese. | |||||
| Sunday | 일요일 (iryoil) | 日曜日 | 日曜日 / 日曜日 (nichiyōbi) | 星期日 週日 | （日 means "Day" in Chinese. 太陽, literally translated as "Sun", is the Chinese/Japanese name of Sun.) |
| Monday | 월요일 (woryoil) | 月曜日 | 月曜日 / 月曜日 (getsuyōbi) | 星期一, 週一 | (月 means "Moon" in Chinese.) |
| Tuesday | 화요일 (hwayoil) | 火曜日 | 火曜日 / 火曜日 (kayōbi) | 星期二, 週二 | (火 means "Fire" in Chinese. 火星, literally translated as "Fire star", is the Chinese/Japanese name of Mars.) |
| Wednesday | 수요일 (suyoil) | 水曜日 | 水曜日 / 水曜日 (suiyōbi) | 星期三, 週三 | (水 means "Water" in Chinese. 水星, literally translated as "Water star", is the Chinese/Japanese name of Mercury.) |
| Thursday | 목요일 (mogyoil) | 木曜日 | 木曜日 / 木曜日 (mokuyōbi) | 星期四, 週四 | (木 means "Wood" in Chinese. 木星, literally translated as "Wood star", is the Chinese/Japanese name of Jupiter.) |
| Friday | 금요일 (geumyoil) | 金曜日 | 金曜日 / 金曜日 (kin'yōbi) | 星期五,週五 | (金 means "Gold" in Chinese. 金星, literally translated as "Gold star", is the Chinese name of Venus. As a last name, 金 is romanized as "Kim" from 김 in Korean pronunciation via whereas 金 for Friday undergoes vowel centralization, as is the case in Cantonese.) |
| Saturday | 토요일 (toyoil) | 土曜日 | 土曜日 / 土曜日 (doyōbi) | 星期六, 週六 | (土 means "earth" or "soil" in Chinese. 土星, literally translated as "Soil star", is the Chinese name of Saturn.) |
| The person in charge (of) | 담당자 (damdangja) | 擔當者 | 担当者 / 担當者 (tantōsha) | 負責人 / 负责人 | (担當/担当 is a synonym to 負責 / 负责 in modern Chinese.) |
| Movie, film, cinema | 영화 (yeonghwa) | 映畵 | 映画/映畫 (eiga) | 電影 / 电影 | (Movie in Chinese used to be called 映畵戲 / 映画戏, probably a borrowing from the Japanese term + 戲 / 戏 meaning "theater / theatre" ) |
| Support | 지원 (jiweon) | 支援 | 支援 (shien) | 支援,支持 | |
| Drive | 운전 (unjeon) | 運轉 | 運転/運轉 (unten) |
駕駛 / 驾驶 |
|
| Constitution | 헌법 (heonpeop) | 憲法 | 憲法 (kenpō) | 憲法 / 宪法 (xiànfǎ) | |
| Pacific Ocean | 태평양 (taepyungyang) | 太平洋 | 太平洋 (taihēyō) | 太平洋 (tàipíngyáng) |
Native Japanese Words in Sino-Korean Vocabulary
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.) [3]
| English | Japanese (Kanji) |
Korean (Hanja) |
Korean (Hangul) |
Chinese term (Cantonese Jyutping / Mandarin Pinyin) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| assemble | 組立 組み立て |
組立 | 조립 | 組合 组合 |
| kumi-tate | jo.rip | zou2hap6 / zǔhé | ||
| building | 建物 | 建物 | 건물 | 建築物 建筑物 樓宇 楼宇 |
| tate-mono | geon.mul | gin3zuk1mat6 / jiànzhùwù, lau4jyu5 / lóuyǔ | ||
| discount | 割引 割り引き |
割引 | 할인 | |
| wari-biki | hal.in | |||
| estimate | 見積 見積り |
見積 | 견적 | 估計 估计 |
| mi-tsumori | gyeon.jeok | gu2gai3 / gūjì | ||
| handling | 取扱 取り扱い |
取扱 | 취급 | |
| tori-atsukai | chwi.geup | |||
| package | 小包 | 小包 | 소포 | |
| ko-dutsumi | so.po | |||
| match | 試合 | 試合 | 시합 | 比賽 比赛 |
| shi-ai | si.hap | bei2coi3 / bǐsǎi | ||
| share of stock | 株式 | 株式 | 주식 | 股份 |
| kabu-shiki | ju.sik | gu2fan6 / gǔfèn | ||
| wharf | 船着場 | 船着場 | 선착장 | |
| funa.tsuki.ba | seon.chak.jang | |||
See also
 |
Korean mixed script test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator |
- Sino-Japanese vocabulary
- List of Korea-related topics
- Thousand Character Classic
- Hanja
- Korean mixed script
- Sinoxenic
- Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary
References
- 1 2 Sohn, Ho-Min. The Korean Language (Section 1.5.3 "Korean vocabulary", p.12-13), Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-521-36943-6
- ↑ Writing and Literacy in Chinese, Korean and Japanese; Insup Taylor, Martin M. Taylor, Maurice Martin Taylor; 1995; John Benjamins Publishing; p.195
- ↑ Kuiwon (歸源, 귀원) (26 August 2013). "Japanese Kanji-isms in Sino-Korean Words". —歸源 (Kuiwon). Retrieved 31 May 2016.