Sino-Korean vocabulary facts for kids
Sino-Korean words, also called hanja-eo (hangul: 한자어, hanja: 漢子語), are words in the Korean language that originally came from Chinese. Even though Korean and Chinese are from different language families, Chinese has greatly influenced Korean. About 60% of Korean words come from Chinese. This is similar to how many English words come from Latin, French, or Greek. However, just like English speakers often use native English words, Koreans tend to use native Korean words more in everyday talk.
Chinese words are one of the three main sources for Korean vocabulary. The other two are native Korean words and words from other foreign languages, especially English. Interestingly, some Chinese words changed their meanings in Japanese. Because Korea was a Japanese colony at that time, these words also took on the new Japanese meanings in Korean. When Koreans were later allowed to speak their own language freely, these new meanings stuck.
After the Korean Peninsula split into North Korea and South Korea, the different ways of speaking (dialects) in each country started to change in their own ways.
Korean Words in South Korea
Today, people in South Korea write using a mix of hangul (the Korean alphabet) and hanja (the Korean version of Chinese characters). They use hanja much less often than people in China or Japan do.
Chinese words often sound very similar to each other, even in Chinese. When these words came into Korean, they became even more alike because Korean doesn't use tones (like Chinese does to tell words apart). These similar-sounding words are called homophones.
South Koreans usually write only in hangul. But sometimes, if a word has many homophones and its meaning isn't clear from the other words around it, Koreans might write the word in hanja. This helps avoid confusion. For example, the Korean word sudo (수도) can mean many things like "spiritual discipline," "prisoner," "city of water," "paddy rice," "drain," "tunnel," or "capital city." To make the meaning clear, these words can be written with their specific hanja: 修道, 囚徒, 水都, 水稻, 水道, 隧道, and 首都.
However, native Korean words are almost never written in hanja. For instance, words like Hananim (하나님, meaning "God"), mul (물, meaning "water"), mal (말, meaning "horse"), nara (나라, meaning "country"), and saram (사람, meaning "person") are almost always written in hangul. This is different from Japanese, where Chinese characters are often used for both native Japanese words and Chinese loanwords.
Korean Words in North Korea
In North Korea, there was a strong feeling of Korean nationalism. Because of this, hanja and many Chinese loanwords were removed from the language. The goal was to "purify" the Korean language by getting rid of words from other languages and using only native Korean words instead. Nowadays, North Koreans write only in hangul.
How Koreans Use Names
Koreans usually have a family name that is one word and comes from Chinese. Their given name (first name) is usually two words, also from Chinese. Traditionally, one part of the given name would be shared by all siblings in a family. The other part would be unique to each person. Famous examples include Park Geun-hye (박근혜, 朴槿惠) and Kim Jong-un (김정은, 金正恩).
Some Koreans have a two-word family name of Chinese origin, like Namgung (남궁, 南宮). Then they might have a one-word given name, like in Namkung Do (남궁도, 南宮道). In other cases, a Korean person might have a one-word given name and a one-word family name, such as Go Soo (고수, 高洙).
Today, it's becoming more common for Koreans to have given names that are native Korean words. Examples include Haneul (하늘, meaning "Heaven" or "Sky"), Areum (아름, meaning "Beauty"), Iseul (이슬, meaning "Dew"), and Seulgi (슬기, meaning "Wisdom"). On official papers, Koreans must write their names in both hanja and hangul. For native Korean names, people choose hanja that simply sound the same as the Korean syllables, not necessarily hanja that have the same meaning.
See also
In Spanish: Vocabulario sinocoreano para niños
