Comments | halcyon_morn: Korean Name Suffixes

halcyon_morn

Korean Name Suffixes

Jun 06, 2009 00:17

So I was reading this fic the other day, and it was really good, but I kept finding myself distracted by the author's incorrect usage of Korean name suffixes (-hyung, -ah, -ssi, etc.). I think it's a great idea to use these, as they reveal important relationship dynamics that otherwise remain hidden in English, but if you are going to use them, I ( Read more... )

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Comments 71

happenstanc3 June 6 2009, 06:39:15 UTC

Except, of course, when age is blatantly disregarded in favor of retardry. :Db

halcyon_morn June 6 2009, 06:50:26 UTC

Yes. Except then. XD

hoyah June 6 2009, 06:41:36 UTC

the nerdy ocd-ness continues. xD ilu

halcyon_morn June 6 2009, 06:50:53 UTC

What, you thought it would stop? XD

hoyah June 6 2009, 06:53:28 UTC

no but i never know when it will crop up again!

halcyon_morn June 6 2009, 07:02:47 UTC

It's a lot like this.

Also, happy belated birthday I fail. :(

Thread 9

out_of_words24 June 6 2009, 07:15:30 UTC

and once again i am blown away. i...think i'm going to just leave out suffixes from now on XD

halcyon_morn June 6 2009, 16:41:58 UTC

D: It's not that hard, really! I just had had enough of people being, like, "AND THEN YUNHO-YAH WENT TO THE STUDIO WITH JAEJOONG-AH AND SAID OH HI CHANGMIN-SSI!!!1 :D"

meiface June 6 2009, 08:52:57 UTC

Chris = Awesome, as always.

I think I picked up on most of these through lurking in fandom before starting to write, lol. Then again, in those early days when I was lurking, it was your/Fuu/Prissy/Anna's fics I was reading. So I learned well! :D

meiface June 6 2009, 09:04:41 UTC

But tell me about "seongsaenim"! I get the feeling it's used as "sensei" is in Japan - not just to teachers but to those of esteemed positions/jobs, such as doctors and the like. Y/N? Applied to LSM, y/n? What're the Korean equivalents of "kaichou" and "buchou" and such? OTL SO MUCH TO LEARN!

halcyon_morn June 6 2009, 16:53:34 UTC

Yeah, the Chinese characters are the same (先生 = sensei = seonsaeng (the -nim is just an additional honorofic suffix)), and the usage is pretty similar as well. I actually think seonsaengnim has a slightly wider usage - in very formal speech, it can be used on pretty much anyone to mean "sir."

Since you speak Chinese, handy-dandy Chinese-Japanese-Korean chart 4 u:

先生 = sensei = seonsaeng
氏 = shi (used in Japanese newspaper articles et al. as a less familiar form of san) = ssi
社長 = shachō = sajang
会長 = kaichō = hoejang
課長 = kachō = gwajang
部長 = buchō = bujang
君 = kun = gun (slight usage differences from Korean to Japanese)

halcyon_morn June 6 2009, 16:44:51 UTC

sdkfhsadf Mei we were your training wheels! :D ♥

magicmelodyx June 6 2009, 15:27:34 UTC

As someone who gets twitchy when she sees these terms misused, but is still sometimes unsure when to use them herself, thaaaank you.

halcyon_morn June 6 2009, 16:42:19 UTC

It is, I assure you, my pleasure. =)