Korean honorifics
Encyclopedia
The Korean language
reflects the important observance of a speaker or writer's relationships with both the subject of the sentence and the audience. Korean grammar
uses an extensive system of honorific
s to reflect the speaker's relationship to the subject of the sentence and speech levels to reflect the speaker's relationship to the audience. Originally, the honorifics expressed the differences in social status between speakers. In contemporary Korean culture
, honorifics are used to differentiate between formal and informal speech based on the level of familiarity between the speaker and the listener.
: 씨, Hanja
: ) is the most commonly used honorific used amongst people of approximately equal speech level. It is attached at the end of the full name,such as Kimcheolsu-ssi (김철수씨) or simply after the first name, Cheolsu-ssi (철수씨) if the speaker is more familiar with someone. Appending -ssi to the surname, for instance Kim-ssi (김씨), can be quite rude, as it indicates the speaker considers himself to be of a higher social status than the person referred to. Ssi is derived from the Chinese character
氏, meaning surname and has its equivalent (and cognate
) in the Japanese
氏(し;shi), pronounced 'shi' or 'uji'.
Previously, higher-ranked individuals used -ssi to address individuals of lower ranks; recently however, -ssi has begun to be used symmetrically, for two individuals of approximate equal standing. This change perhaps indicates towards the leveling out of previously rigid, hierarchical Korean social rankings.
.
This is nearly identical in Japanese with Senpai/Kohai
honorifics.
to refer to people of higher status but below daegam (대감), English equivalent of "His Excellency". The honorific is of native Korean origin.
One way of using honorifics is to use special "honorific" nouns in place of regular ones. A common example is using 진지 (jinji) instead of 밥 (bap) for "food". Often, honorific nouns are used to refer to relatives. The honorific suffix -님 (-nim) is affixed to many kinship terms to make them honorific. Thus, someone may address his own grandmother as 할머니 (halmeoni) but refer to someone else's grandmother as 할머님 (halmeonim).
All verbs and adjectives can be converted into an honorific form by adding the infix -시- (-si-) or -으시- (-eusi-) after the stem
and before the ending. Thus, 가다 (gada, "to go") becomes 가시다 (gasida). A few verbs have special honorific equivalents:
A few verbs have special humble forms, used when the speaker is referring to him/herself in polite situations. These include 드리다 (deurida) and 올리다 (ollida) for 주다 (juda, "give"). 드리다 (deurida) is substituted for 주다 (juda) when the latter is used as an auxiliary verb
, while 올리다 (ollida, literally "raise up") is used for 주다 (juda) in the sense of "offer".
Pronouns in Korean
have their own set of polite equivalents, e.g. 저 (jeo) is the humble form of 나 (na, "I") and 저희 (jeohui) is the humble form of 우리 (uri, "we"). However, Koreans usually avoid using the second person singular pronoun, especially when using honorific forms, and often avoid the third person pronouns as well. So, although honorific form of 너 (neo, singular "you") is 당신 (dangsin, literally, "friend" or "dear"), that term is used only as a form of address in a few specific social contexts, such as between two married couples or in an ironic sense between strangers. Other words are usually substituted where possible, e.g. the person's name, a kinship term
, a professional title, the plural 여러분 yeoreobun, or no word at all, relying on context to supply meaning instead.
s or speech levels in Korean, and each level has its own unique set of verb endings which are used to indicate the level of formality of a situation. Unlike "honorifics" – which are used to show respect towards a subject – speech levels are used to show respect towards a speaker's or writer's audience. The names of the seven levels are derived from the non-honorific imperative
form of the verb hada (하다; "to do") in each level, plus the suffix che ((체), which means "style".
Of the seven listed levels below, the first five use final verb endings and are generally grouped together as "gyeoksikche" (격식체; formal speech level), while the last two levels, "haeyoche" (해요체) and "haeche" (해체) are called "bigyeoksikche" (비격식체; informal speech level) in Korean. In addition, the first six are called "jondaenmal" (존댓말) and the last is called "banmal" (반말).
Taken together, honorifics and speech levels form a cartesian product
of 14 basic verb stems. Here is a table giving the seven levels, the present
indicative form of the verb 하다 (hada, "do" in English) in each level in both its honorific and non-honorific forms, and the situations in which each level is used.
These days, some of these speech levels are disappearing from use in everyday life. hasoseoche, which is used only in movies or dramas set in older eras, is barely used by modern Koreans, and hageche exists almost only in novels. However, haoche is becoming more popular among young people, especially among Internet users. Usually haoche is used in only movies and dramas (similar with hasoseoche). It is now popular among internet users, but not in everyday life. Haoche is usually considered more prevalent among males, though modern, Internet-based haoche is very popular among female university students.
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
reflects the important observance of a speaker or writer's relationships with both the subject of the sentence and the audience. Korean grammar
Korean grammar
This article is a description of the morphology and semantics of Korean. For phonetics and phonology, see Korean phonology. See also Korean honorifics, which play a large role in the grammar.- Nominal Morphology :...
uses an extensive system of honorific
Honorific
An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...
s to reflect the speaker's relationship to the subject of the sentence and speech levels to reflect the speaker's relationship to the audience. Originally, the honorifics expressed the differences in social status between speakers. In contemporary Korean culture
Culture of Korea
The current political separation of North and South Korea has resulted in divergence in modern Korean cultures; nevertheless, the traditional culture of Korea is historically shared by both states.-Dance:...
, honorifics are used to differentiate between formal and informal speech based on the level of familiarity between the speaker and the listener.
Ssi
Ssi (HangulHangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 씨, Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: ) is the most commonly used honorific used amongst people of approximately equal speech level. It is attached at the end of the full name,such as Kimcheolsu-ssi (김철수씨) or simply after the first name, Cheolsu-ssi (철수씨) if the speaker is more familiar with someone. Appending -ssi to the surname, for instance Kim-ssi (김씨), can be quite rude, as it indicates the speaker considers himself to be of a higher social status than the person referred to. Ssi is derived from the Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
氏, meaning surname and has its equivalent (and cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
) in the Japanese
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
氏(し;shi), pronounced 'shi' or 'uji'.
Previously, higher-ranked individuals used -ssi to address individuals of lower ranks; recently however, -ssi has begun to be used symmetrically, for two individuals of approximate equal standing. This change perhaps indicates towards the leveling out of previously rigid, hierarchical Korean social rankings.
Gun/Yang
Gun (군, , Chinese: jun) is used moderately on very formal occasions, such as weddings, to a male only. Yang (양, , Chinese: niang) is the female equivalent of 군. Both are used in a similar fashion to Ssi, succeeding either the whole name or the surname in solitude. 군 is derived from the Chinese character 君, which means 'lord'. Gun is not to be confused with its Japanese cognate 君 (くん;kun) which is used less formally.Seonsaeng
Seonsaeng (선생), commonly translated as "teacher", has much more formality and is used to show respect to the addressee. It is related to the Japanese honorific, sensei (先生(せんせい）)and shares the same pair of Chinese characters, representing 'mister' or 'one born earlier' (literal).Gwiha
Gwiha (귀하) can be seen commonly in formal letters, often used by a company to a client.Gakha
Gakha (각하) is used only in extremely formal occasions, usually when addressing presidents and monarchs.Seonbae/Hubae
Seonbae (선배) is used to address senior colleagues or mentor figures, e.g. students referring to or addressing more senior students in schools, junior athletes more senior ones in a sports club, or a mentor or more experienced or senior colleague in a business environment. As with English titles such as Doctor, Seonbae can be used either by itself or as a title. Hubae (후배) is used to refer to juniors. However, the term is not normally addressed to them directly, and is mainly used in the third personGrammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
.
This is nearly identical in Japanese with Senpai/Kohai
Senpai
and are an essential element of Japanese seniority-based status relationships, similar to the way that family and other relationships are decided based on age, with even twins being divided into elder and younger sibling...
honorifics.
Nari
Nari (나리) or alternatively, Naeuri (나으리), was used by commoners in the Joseon DynastyJoseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
to refer to people of higher status but below daegam (대감), English equivalent of "His Excellency". The honorific is of native Korean origin.
Honorific Speech
When talking about someone superior in status, a speaker or writer must indicate the subject's superiority by using special nouns or verb endings. Generally, someone is superior in status if he or she is an older relative, a stranger of roughly equal or greater age, an employer, a teacher, a customer, or the like. Someone is equal or inferior in status if he or she is a younger stranger, a student, an employee or the like. The use of wrong speech levels or diction is likely to be considered insulting, depending on the degree of difference between the used form and the expected form.One way of using honorifics is to use special "honorific" nouns in place of regular ones. A common example is using 진지 (jinji) instead of 밥 (bap) for "food". Often, honorific nouns are used to refer to relatives. The honorific suffix -님 (-nim) is affixed to many kinship terms to make them honorific. Thus, someone may address his own grandmother as 할머니 (halmeoni) but refer to someone else's grandmother as 할머님 (halmeonim).
| Base noun | Honorific | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 할머니 (halmeoni) | 할머님 (halmeonim) | grandmother |
| 아버지 (abeoji) | 아버님 (abeonim) | father |
| 형 (hyeong) | 형님 (hyeongnim) | a male's older brother |
| 누나 (noona) | 누님 (nunim) | a male's older sister |
| 오빠 (oppa) | 오라버니 (orabeoni) | a female's older brother |
| 언니 (eonni) | a female's older sister | |
| 아들 (adeul) | 아드님 (adeunim) | son |
| 딸 (ddal) | 따님 (ddanim) | daughter |
All verbs and adjectives can be converted into an honorific form by adding the infix -시- (-si-) or -으시- (-eusi-) after the stem
Root (linguistics)
The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
and before the ending. Thus, 가다 (gada, "to go") becomes 가시다 (gasida). A few verbs have special honorific equivalents:
| Base verb/adjective | Regular honorific | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 가다 (gada) | 가시다 (gasida) | "to go" |
| 받다 (batda) | 받으시다 (bad-eusida) | "to receive" |
| 작다 (jakda) | 작으시다 (jag-eusida) | "(to be) small" |
| Base verb/adjective | Special honorific | English translation |
| 있다 (itda) | 계시다 (gyesida) | "to exist" |
| 마시다 (masida) | 드시다 (deusida) | "to drink" |
| 먹다 (meokda) | 드시다 (deusida) | "to eat" |
| 먹다 (meokda) | 잡수시다 (japsusida) | "to eat" |
| 자다 (jada) | 주무시다 (jumusida) | "to sleep" |
| 배고프다 (baegopeuda) | 시장하시다 (sijanghasida) | "to be hungry" |
A few verbs have special humble forms, used when the speaker is referring to him/herself in polite situations. These include 드리다 (deurida) and 올리다 (ollida) for 주다 (juda, "give"). 드리다 (deurida) is substituted for 주다 (juda) when the latter is used as an auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
, while 올리다 (ollida, literally "raise up") is used for 주다 (juda) in the sense of "offer".
Pronouns in Korean
Korean pronouns
Korean pronouns pose some difficulty to speakers of English due to their complexity. The Korean language makes extensive use of speech levels and honorifics in its grammar, and Korean pronouns also change depending on the social distinction between the speaker and the person or persons spoken...
have their own set of polite equivalents, e.g. 저 (jeo) is the humble form of 나 (na, "I") and 저희 (jeohui) is the humble form of 우리 (uri, "we"). However, Koreans usually avoid using the second person singular pronoun, especially when using honorific forms, and often avoid the third person pronouns as well. So, although honorific form of 너 (neo, singular "you") is 당신 (dangsin, literally, "friend" or "dear"), that term is used only as a form of address in a few specific social contexts, such as between two married couples or in an ironic sense between strangers. Other words are usually substituted where possible, e.g. the person's name, a kinship term
Kinship terminology
Kinship terminology refers to the various systems used in languages to refer to the persons to whom an individual is related through kinship. Different societies classify kinship relations differently and therefore use different systems of kinship terminology - for example some languages...
, a professional title, the plural 여러분 yeoreobun, or no word at all, relying on context to supply meaning instead.
Speech levels
There are seven verb paradigmInflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
s or speech levels in Korean, and each level has its own unique set of verb endings which are used to indicate the level of formality of a situation. Unlike "honorifics" – which are used to show respect towards a subject – speech levels are used to show respect towards a speaker's or writer's audience. The names of the seven levels are derived from the non-honorific imperative
Imperative mood
The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
form of the verb hada (하다; "to do") in each level, plus the suffix che ((체), which means "style".
Of the seven listed levels below, the first five use final verb endings and are generally grouped together as "gyeoksikche" (격식체; formal speech level), while the last two levels, "haeyoche" (해요체) and "haeche" (해체) are called "bigyeoksikche" (비격식체; informal speech level) in Korean. In addition, the first six are called "jondaenmal" (존댓말) and the last is called "banmal" (반말).
Taken together, honorifics and speech levels form a cartesian product
Cartesian product
In mathematics, a Cartesian product is a construction to build a new set out of a number of given sets. Each member of the Cartesian product corresponds to the selection of one element each in every one of those sets...
of 14 basic verb stems. Here is a table giving the seven levels, the present
Present tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
indicative form of the verb 하다 (hada, "do" in English) in each level in both its honorific and non-honorific forms, and the situations in which each level is used.
These days, some of these speech levels are disappearing from use in everyday life. hasoseoche, which is used only in movies or dramas set in older eras, is barely used by modern Koreans, and hageche exists almost only in novels. However, haoche is becoming more popular among young people, especially among Internet users. Usually haoche is used in only movies and dramas (similar with hasoseoche). It is now popular among internet users, but not in everyday life. Haoche is usually considered more prevalent among males, though modern, Internet-based haoche is very popular among female university students.
| Speech Level | Sentence Endings | Non-Honorific Present Indicative of "hada" | Honorific Present Indicative of "hada" | Level of Formality | When Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hasoseoche (하소서체) |
hanaida (하나이다) |
hasinaida (하시나이다) |
Extremely formal and polite | Traditionally used when addressing a king, queen, or high official; now used only in historical dramas and the Bible | |
| Hapsyoche (합쇼체) |
hamnida (합니다) |
hasimnida (하십니다) |
Formal and polite | Used commonly between strangers, among male co-workers, by TV announcers, and to customers. | |
| Haoche (하오체) |
hao (하오) |
hasyo (하쇼), hasio (하시오) |
Formal, of neutral politeness | Spoken form used nowadays only among some older people. Young people sometimes use it as an Internet dialect after it was popularized by historical dramas. | |
| Hageche (하게체) |
hane (하네) |
hasine (하시네) |
Formal, of neutral politeness | Generally used only by some older people when addressing younger people, friends, or relatives. | |
| Haerache (해라체) |
handa (한다) |
hasinda (하신다) |
Formal, of neutral politeness or impolite | Used to close friends, relatives of similar age, or younger people; also used almost universally in books, newspapers, and magazines; also used in reported speech ("She said that..."). | |
| Haeyoche (해요체) |
haeyo (해요) |
haseyo (하세요) (common), hasyeoyo (하셔요) (rare) |
Informal and polite | Used mainly between strangers, especially those older or of equal age. Traditionally used more by women than men, though in Seoul Seoul Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world... many men prefer this form to the hapsyoche (see above). |
|
| Haeche (해체) |
|
hae (해) (in speech), hayeo (하여) (in writing) |
hasyeo(하셔) |
Informal, of neutral politeness or impolite | Used most often between close friends and relatives, and when addressing younger people. Rarely used between strangers unless the speaker wishes to start a confrontation, or the listener is a child. |
Further reading
- Sohn, Ho-min. (2006). Korean Language in Culture and Society. University of Hawai‘i Press: KLEAR Textbooks.