2.3 Honorific nouns
A few special nouns, such as 말씀 for 말 and 진지 for 밥, are used to denote things associated with an esteemed person.
Plain noun Honorific counterpart
자 ; 아이들 자제분; 자녀
이름 성 ; 존
집 병
병환 NOTE:
cannot refer to one’s own home, so it cannot be used to refer to your parents’ or grandparents’ residence if you live with them.
저희 집은 서울인데 선생님 은 어디세요?
My place is in Seoul; where is your place? 어제는 친정집에 갔었고 시 에는 다음 주에 가려고요.
I went to my parents’ house yesterday and intend to go to my husband’s parents’ house next week.
할아버지 말씀하시는 동안 아무 말 말고 잠자코 있도록 해. While Grandpa is speaking, make sure you don’t say anything and stay quiet.
제 이름은 김기자인데 그쪽 성 은 어떻게 되세요? My name is Kija Kim; may I have your name?
저는 아이가 둘입니다. 자제분이 몇이세요? I have two children. How many do you have?
강아지가 병이 들었어. 근데 요즘 할아버지 병환은 좀 어떠시니? The puppy got sick. By the way, how is your grandfather’s sickness these days?
아버님 존 이 어떻게 되세요? What is your father’s name, may I ask?
NOTE: To give parents’ or grandparents’ names respectfully, -자 is attached after each syllable:
자 교자 인자이십니다 ‘His name is Kyo-in Pak.’ Special care must be exercised in the use of nouns referring to age. Because
연세 is often treated as the honorific counterpart of 나이 and 생신 as the honorific counterpart of 생일, students often ask their teacher’s 연세 or 생신,
which makes the teacher feel very old For this reason, age-related honorifics are usually reserved for those who can safely be considered old.
However, even this does not ensure that a person will be happy to be asked about his or her 나이 or 생일. We therefore usually resort to various indirect
and euphemistic ways of asking about age, saying 몇 년생이세요? ‘What was your birth year?’ or 몇
번이세요? or 번이 어떻게 되세요? ‘What was
your college-entrance year?’ In addition, we often turn to a formal equivalent
usually found in written documents and ask 생년월일이 어떻게 되세요? ‘In what year, month, date were you born?’ Since it is very important in Korean
language and culture to find out how old the other person is, there is no shortage of indirect ways of finding out someone’s age.
2.4 Honorific particles
Two particles have honorific counterparts. Under the appropriate circumstances, -이가 on a subject is replaced by -께서, while the indirect object markers -한테
and -에게 give way to -께.
The use of the honorific subject marker -께서 is on the decline, and is optional nowadays for many people. Its use is highly honorific, making it
appropriate in formal settings, but it is generally not impolite to use -이가 in most situations. However, some people use -께서 for honorific subjects on all
occasions.
Use of -께 is likewise on the decline, as many people find that -한테 generally sounds fine, regardless of who the indirect object refers to. However,
the honorific -께 must always be employed in personal letters 김교수님께 ‘Dear Professor Kim’ if the recipient is someone who merits deference.
2.5 Use of honorifics in several basic expressions
Formal Semi-formal
Casual Good-bye
안녕히 가세요계세요.
잘 가요있어요. 잘 가라있어라.
안녕. Good night
안녕히 주무세요. 잘 자요.
잘 자라. Have you eaten? 진지 잡수셨어요?
사하셨어요? 사했어요?
밥 먹었어요? 밥 먹었어?
밥 먹었니? How many of
you are there? 몇 분이세요?
몇 명이에요? 몇 명이야?
몇 명이니? What is your
name? 성 이 어떻게
되세요? 이름이 어떻게
돼요? 이름이 뭐예요?
이름이 뭐야? 이름이 뭐니?
Eat; help yourself.
잡수세요. 드세요.
들어요. 먹어요.
먹어라. The expressions in the first column with -시 are reserved for a formal setting
andor for individuals such as your friend’s parents, strangers, your teacher, or your boss. Those in the middle column can be used for someone who you don’t
know well but is younger than you are. And the ones in the last column are for very close friends or children.
2.6 Non-use of honorific expressions in impersonal language
Honorific expressions are not employed in news broadcasts or in impersonal writing as in newspapers and magazines. Because communication of this sort is
intended for a non-specific general audience, there is no place for honorific suffixes -시, -님, for honorific nouns 말씀, 연세, etc., for honorific particles
-께, -께서, or for object-honorific verbs 드리다, 모시고, etc., all of which are used to express
PERSONAL
respect. The following excerpt from a news report illustrates this point.
노무현 대통령은 김대중 전 대통령에게 위로의 말을 전했습니다. President Roh conveyed his sympathetic words to the ex-president Kim.
Certain vocabulary items that are used in personal settings are also avoided in impersonal language. For instance, 선생 or 선생님 is replaced by 교사 or
교원 to refer to school teachers below the college level 교원대 교 ‘University of Teacher Education,’ 교사 연수 ‘teacher training,’ 교사 자격증 ‘teacher’s
certificate’. Similarly, 집 or
is replaced by 자택, …을 데리고모시고
가다 is replaced by …을 동반하고 가다, and so on see 9.1.
3 Address terms and pronouns
As with verb forms, the choice of address terms and pronouns is conditioned by the speaker’s relationship with the person to whom she is speaking or referring,
as well as by the situation. These are highly important matters in Korean society: the wrong choice may negatively affect one’s career as well as personal
relationships.
3.1 Address terms
䢎䃃
Koreans typically address each other by name with an appropriate suffix or by title also with an appropriate suffix; see 10.4.4. The choice of address term is
determined by the gender of the person being addressed, his or her relationship to the speaker, and his or her apparent age relative to the speaker. In general,
address terms tend to be words with elevated or affectionate connotations. Thus ₆㌂┮ ‘technician’ is preferred to the plainer and more literal 㤊㩚㌂
㞚㩖㝾 for driver, and 㠎┞ ‘older sister’ is more welcome than the literal 㢂䅖 for an older sister-in-law.
3.1.1 Addressing an unfamiliar person or a stranger
The most appropriate way to get the attention of someone who you do not know personally a waitress in a restaurant, or a stranger on the street is to use any of
the following hedging expressions:
㩖₆㣪 and 㡂₆㣪, if it’s a restaurant 㩖…
㩖 㔺⪖㰖Ⱒ… 㩖 㬚㏷䞮㰖Ⱒ…
㡂⽊㎎㣪 when you have to shout to be heard
When a specific address term is called for, one of the following is generally appropriate.
Person being addressed Address term
Child ↂⰞ㟒, 㟮㟒
Student younger looking 䞯㌳G
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