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Konglish
Konglish (Korean: 콩글리시; RR: konggeullisi; [kʰoŋ.ɡɯl.li.ɕi]), more formally Korean-style English (Korean: 한국어식 영어; Hanja: 韓國語式英語; RR: hangugeo-sik yeongeo; [han.ɡu.ɡʌ.ɕik̚ jʌŋ.ʌ]), comprises English and other foreign-language loanwords that have been borrowed into Korean, and includes many that are used in ways that are not readily understandable to native English speakers. A common example is the Korean term "hand phone" for the English "mobile phone". Konglish also has direct English loanwords, mistranslations from English to Korean, or pseudo-English words coined in Japanese that came to Korean usage. Sociolinguistically, South Koreans use English to denote luxury, youth, sophistication, and modernity.
The term is a portmanteau of the names of the two languages and was first recorded in 1975. Other less common terms include: Korlish (recorded from 1988), Korenglish (1992), Korglish (2000) and Kinglish (2000). The use of Konglish is widespread in South Korea as a result of US cultural influence, but it is not familiar to North Koreans.
A possible explanation behind South Korea's acceptance and rapid integration of English into the Korean language and culture may lie in the overall South Korean attitude towards globalization. English-learning has become prevalent in South Korean society, which Joseph Sung-Yul Park, in his 2009 paper, attributes to three primary developments and qualities - necessitation, externalization, and self-deprecation. Park believes necessitation stems from the general Korean belief that learning English is a must to succeed in the globalizing world, whereas externalization refers to treating English as the language of the so-called "other", opposite to the Korean identity. Finally, self-deprecation refers to Park's belief that Koreans think that they are viewed by the world to not be competent in their usage of English.
The English language has become so interpenetrated into the Korean language that English makes up over 90% of the loanwords in the Korean lexicon today, and there continue to be debates among Korean linguists over whether establishing the national language of South Korea as English would be a prudent decision in the globalizing world. In fact, Harkness attributes this development in South Korean society as a sign of South Korean ambivalence towards its engagement with the rest of the world to an extent.
On the contrary, however, North Korea has undergone a systematic purging of its language, eliminating its reliance on foreign influences. In fact, language is viewed not only as a useful tool to further its propaganda, but also as a 'weapon' to reinforce its ideology and the "building of socialism". Today, the North Korean language, which was officially established as "Munhwaŏ", or "cultured language", in 1966, consists of nativized Sino-Korean vocabulary and has eliminated foreign loan words from the North Korean lexicon. These steps first included its decolonization process in an attempt to re-establish a unique "North Korean" identity, eliminating the Japanese language and culture that had deeply penetrated the Korean peninsula during the decades of Japanese annexation. Additionally, it continued to resist adopting loan words from foreign sources, especially when it came to English - thus, there are barely, if any, "Konglish" terms in the North Korean language.
Korea became a colony of Japan between 1910 and 1945. During the colonial period, Japanese was the main language through which English terms of communication were imported into Korea, especially at times when teaching and speaking Korean was prohibited. As Japan actively imported Western culture and technology in the years that followed, the earliest English loanwords evolved gradually through this Japanese influence. For example, one of the well-known words is 커피 which originates from the word "coffee". After the Second World War, U.S. culture and language had a deeper influence on Koreans with the arrival of the U.S. army. The popularity of the use of English in the Korean language also increased. According to data at the time, up to 10% of Korean vocabulary came from and was changed from English. Thus, Konglish was adopted with increasing usage during the years of U.S. presence in Korea.
Konglish is relatively understudied and also varies in definition across individuals. However, some experts would agree that its formation parallels that of pidgins and creoles but that it cannot be defined as those categories because it is not yet its own category of English, but it is rather a subcategory of Korean that is conceptualized in the form of English words and phrases, which have been integrated with Korean.
Konglish is ambiguous in its category of linguistics but is similar to the definition of Platt's "New Englishes", which is distinguished from erroneous or temporary forms of English. Konglish aligns with the standards of "New Englishes" by being developed through the education system in an area in which English is not the native language spoken by most of the population, used for a range of functions among the speakers, and has been localized by adopting some language feature of its own such as intonation patterns and expressions.
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Konglish
Konglish (Korean: 콩글리시; RR: konggeullisi; [kʰoŋ.ɡɯl.li.ɕi]), more formally Korean-style English (Korean: 한국어식 영어; Hanja: 韓國語式英語; RR: hangugeo-sik yeongeo; [han.ɡu.ɡʌ.ɕik̚ jʌŋ.ʌ]), comprises English and other foreign-language loanwords that have been borrowed into Korean, and includes many that are used in ways that are not readily understandable to native English speakers. A common example is the Korean term "hand phone" for the English "mobile phone". Konglish also has direct English loanwords, mistranslations from English to Korean, or pseudo-English words coined in Japanese that came to Korean usage. Sociolinguistically, South Koreans use English to denote luxury, youth, sophistication, and modernity.
The term is a portmanteau of the names of the two languages and was first recorded in 1975. Other less common terms include: Korlish (recorded from 1988), Korenglish (1992), Korglish (2000) and Kinglish (2000). The use of Konglish is widespread in South Korea as a result of US cultural influence, but it is not familiar to North Koreans.
A possible explanation behind South Korea's acceptance and rapid integration of English into the Korean language and culture may lie in the overall South Korean attitude towards globalization. English-learning has become prevalent in South Korean society, which Joseph Sung-Yul Park, in his 2009 paper, attributes to three primary developments and qualities - necessitation, externalization, and self-deprecation. Park believes necessitation stems from the general Korean belief that learning English is a must to succeed in the globalizing world, whereas externalization refers to treating English as the language of the so-called "other", opposite to the Korean identity. Finally, self-deprecation refers to Park's belief that Koreans think that they are viewed by the world to not be competent in their usage of English.
The English language has become so interpenetrated into the Korean language that English makes up over 90% of the loanwords in the Korean lexicon today, and there continue to be debates among Korean linguists over whether establishing the national language of South Korea as English would be a prudent decision in the globalizing world. In fact, Harkness attributes this development in South Korean society as a sign of South Korean ambivalence towards its engagement with the rest of the world to an extent.
On the contrary, however, North Korea has undergone a systematic purging of its language, eliminating its reliance on foreign influences. In fact, language is viewed not only as a useful tool to further its propaganda, but also as a 'weapon' to reinforce its ideology and the "building of socialism". Today, the North Korean language, which was officially established as "Munhwaŏ", or "cultured language", in 1966, consists of nativized Sino-Korean vocabulary and has eliminated foreign loan words from the North Korean lexicon. These steps first included its decolonization process in an attempt to re-establish a unique "North Korean" identity, eliminating the Japanese language and culture that had deeply penetrated the Korean peninsula during the decades of Japanese annexation. Additionally, it continued to resist adopting loan words from foreign sources, especially when it came to English - thus, there are barely, if any, "Konglish" terms in the North Korean language.
Korea became a colony of Japan between 1910 and 1945. During the colonial period, Japanese was the main language through which English terms of communication were imported into Korea, especially at times when teaching and speaking Korean was prohibited. As Japan actively imported Western culture and technology in the years that followed, the earliest English loanwords evolved gradually through this Japanese influence. For example, one of the well-known words is 커피 which originates from the word "coffee". After the Second World War, U.S. culture and language had a deeper influence on Koreans with the arrival of the U.S. army. The popularity of the use of English in the Korean language also increased. According to data at the time, up to 10% of Korean vocabulary came from and was changed from English. Thus, Konglish was adopted with increasing usage during the years of U.S. presence in Korea.
Konglish is relatively understudied and also varies in definition across individuals. However, some experts would agree that its formation parallels that of pidgins and creoles but that it cannot be defined as those categories because it is not yet its own category of English, but it is rather a subcategory of Korean that is conceptualized in the form of English words and phrases, which have been integrated with Korean.
Konglish is ambiguous in its category of linguistics but is similar to the definition of Platt's "New Englishes", which is distinguished from erroneous or temporary forms of English. Konglish aligns with the standards of "New Englishes" by being developed through the education system in an area in which English is not the native language spoken by most of the population, used for a range of functions among the speakers, and has been localized by adopting some language feature of its own such as intonation patterns and expressions.