Use of -㧊 as a name particle
The particle -㧊 is added to a Korean first name that ends in a consonant, usually when the person being referred to is a child or a close friendsibling of a similar age or
younger.
⹎㍶ 㧊Ṗ ㍳䤞㧊⯒ Ⱒ⋮⩂ 㢪㠊.
Miseon came to see Seokhoon. 㡗⹎䞮ἶ ㏢㡗㧊䞮ἶ 㕎㤶╖.
I heard that Youngmee and Soyoung had a fight. A: 㧊Ệ 㰚㍳㧊 ⳾㧦㡞㣪?
B: 㞚┞, ₆㻶㧊Ệ㟒. A: Is this Jinseok’s hat?
B: No, it’s Kichul’s. A: ㍶㡗㧊Ṗ 䡚㰚㝾䞲䎢 㼃䢒䟞┺Ⳇ?
B: 㞚┞㟒. 䡚㰚㝾Ṗ ㍶㡗㧊䞲䎢 㼃䢒㦚 䟞㰖. A: I heard that Sunyoung proposed to Hyunjin, is that true?
B: No, that’s not true. It was Hyunjin who proposed to Sunyoung. NOTE: The name particle is attached only to Korean names, not to foreign names:
Ⱎ㧊䋊㧊 㥢Ⰲ㠚㦚 Ⱒ⋮⩂ 㢪㠊. ‘Michael came to see William.’ The -㧊 in ‘Ⱎ㧊䋊㧊’ is a subject particle.
19.3 -㦖⓪
The particle -㦖⓪ is known to be difficult for English speakers, and perfect mastery cannot be achieved in a short period of time. However, the following
information should be helpful in understanding its fundamentals. Put simply, -㦖⓪ has two basic uses:
• Marking a topic that appears at the beginning of the sentence and that indicates
what the sentence is about. •
Marking an element that is to be contrasted with other elements. When used on a word that is not at the beginning of the sentence, -㦖⓪ is
always contrastive, as in 㡗䧂Ṗ 㠒Ὴ㦖 㡞㊮┺. When it appears on an element at the beginning of a sentence, it can mark a topic or it may signal a contrast –
sometimes both, depending on the context and the content of the sentence. The following interpretations are based on the most likely scenario.
㡺⓮㦖 㩫₆ 䦊㧒㧛┞┺. Today is a regular holiday. topic
㡺⓮㦖 ザ㍲ 㞞 ♒㣪.
TODAY
is not possible because I’m busy. contrast
㠒Ὴ㦖 ☯⁎⧮㣪. Her face is round.
topic or contrast 㠒Ὴ㦖 㡞㊮┺.
Her
FACE
is pretty. contrast ☞㦖 㭧㣪䞮㬶.
Money is important, of course. topic ☞㦖 㧞㠊㣪.
MONEY
, I have. contrast The element marked by -㦖⓪ often corresponds to the subject of the sentence,
but sometimes it occurs in addition to a subject as in: 䞲ῃ㦖 Ṗ㦚㧊 㞚⯚╋┺.
In Korea, autumn is beautiful. ㌆㦖 ㍺㞛㌆㧊 㾲ἶ㡞㣪.
As for the mountains, S ǂrak Mt. is the best.
19.3.1 Uses of -㦖⓪ when it marks a topic
• To set the stage for the rest of the sentence, by indicating what it is to be about
㧊 䅖㧋㦖 㰗㩧 Ⱒ✲㎾㠊㣪? This cake, did you make it yourself?
㥺䢎⓪ 㡺⓮ ⍻䌖㧊⯒ ⱎ㠊. As for Yunho, he was wearing a tie today.
㡂⯚㠦⓪ ⌟Ⳋ㧊Ⳋ ⁎Ⱒ㧊┺. In summer, naengmy ǂn is all you need.
ἶ ⟾㠊㰖ἶ⓪ 㤊㠦 ╂⪎┺. Passing or failing the exam depends on luck. •
To express old information either known to both the speaker and the listener, or part of the shared background
A: ⟷㦖 Ṗ ⲏ㠞㠊? The rice cake, who ate it?
B: ⟷㧊 㧞㠞㠊? ⋮⓪ ⴑ ⽺⓪◆. Was there a rice cake? I didn’t see it.
A: 㓺䌖㤢㯞⓪ 㩫Ⱖ ╖㧧㧊㟒. Star Wars is really a masterpiece.
B: 㓺䌖㤢㯞Ṗ 㠊⟺ 㡗䢪㧎◆? What kind of movie is Star Wars?
NOTE: ‘Rice cake’ and ‘Star Wars’ are
NEW
information to B and therefore don’t appear with -㦖⓪ in his utterances.
㹾⓪ 㠊⟺ Ỏ⪲ ㌂㔺 ㌳ṗ㧊㎎㣪? As for the car, what kind are you planning
to buy?
• To define or make a broad statement
㌂⧢㦖 㧊㎇㩗 ☯ⶒ㧊┺. Men are rational animals.
䞮㢖㧊⓪ 㰖㌗⋯㤦㧊┺. Hawaii is paradise on earth.
䞲ῃ㦖 ㌒Ⳋ㧊 ┺⪲ ⚮⩂㕎㧎 Korea is a peninsula surrounded
☚┺. by the ocean on three sides.
• To change the topic
㦢㔳㧊 㠊➢? Ṩ㦖? 㔳╏ 㥚₆⓪? How’s the food? How about the price? What about the ambience of the
restaurant ?
19.3.2 Uses of -㦖⓪ when it marks a contrast
-㦖⓪ is used to highlight points of contrast. Notice that the two elements marked by -㦖⓪ are being contrasted in the following sentences.
㡺⓮㦖 㑮㠛㠦 Ṗ㰖Ⱒ ⌊㧒㦖 ⴑ Ṟ ộ ṯ┺. I’m going to class
TODAY
, but I don’t think I’ll be able to
TOMORROW
. 㣎㩲㹾⓪ ゚㕎㰖Ⱒ ῃ㌆㹾⓪ ゚㕎㰖 㞠㞚㣪.
IMPORTED CARS
are expensive, but the
KOREAN
-
MADE
ones are not. ↙㦖 ㌖㰖Ⱒ 䅖㧋㦖 ⌊Ṗ ῂ㤶㠊.
I bought
the
FLOWERS
, but I baked the
CAKE
. Sometimes, the elements being contrasted do not appear in the same sentence.
A: ⺇䞿 㡊 ㏷㧊Ⱒ 㭒㎎㣪. B: ⺇䞿㦖 㠜⓪◆㣪. ┺⯎ ↙✺㦖 㧞㰖Ⱒ…
A: Please give me ten lilies. B:
L
ILIES
, I don’t have any. Although I have other flowers… A: 䞲ῃ㠊Ṗ 㠊⩺㤢㣪?
B: 㠊⪋㰖⓪ 㞠㞚㣪. ⁎⩝㰖Ⱒ Ὃ䞶 Ợ ⍞ⶊ Ⱔ㞚㣪. A: Is Korean difficult?
B: It’s not
DIFFICULT
. But there’s a lot to study. In English, this type of information is usually expressed with the help of dramatic
intonation, but in Korean the particle -㦖⓪ is powerful enough to do the job itself although it is often accompanied by high pitch.
Contrastive -㦖⓪ can occur often contracted in many different positions in
the sentence. 㫆⁞㦖 㧊䟊䞶 㑮 㧞㠊.
I can understand
A LITTLE
. 㩲 ㌳ṗ㠪
,… In
MY
opinion,… ⋾䘎Ṧ㦒⪶ ⼚⪲㟒.
He’s not great as a
HUSBAND
. 㣪㌞ ṯ㞚㍶…
If it’s like
THESE
days… ⲏ㠊㍶ 㞞 ♲┺.
You must not
EAT
this. ₾⊭㦖 䟊.
It’s
CLEAN
but…. ☚㢖⓪ 㭚Ợ.
I’ll
HELP
you but…. 㫡₊ 㫡┺.
As for quality, it’s
GOOD
. 㤊☯㦚 ⋶Ⱎ┺ 䞮₆⓪ 㠊⪋┺.
Exercising
EVERY DAY
is tough. 㩚㩗㦒⪲ ⋮㊮┺ἶ⓪ 䞶 㑮 㠜┺.
We can’t say that it’s
TOTALLY
bad.
