Konglish
Konglish is the use of English words (or words derived from English words) in a Korean context. It also includes the use of words that are perceived to be English, but are in fact not English words. These could be words that have a different meaning in Konglish than they have in English, words that merely look or sound English, or words that are a mixture of Korean and English. Koreans usually use the word exclusively in the latter sense.
Words such as chan-seu (찬스; "chance," "opportunity") and hom-reon (홈런; "home run") are adoptions of English words that are fairly faithful to their original meanings. In most cases, however, they are not exact counterparts to the original English words. For example, chan-seu is not used in the sense of "chance" as in "luck", but has an expanded meaning that covers bargain sales and other promotions.
Some words derive from regional or unusual varieties of English. For example, hat-ke-i-keu (핫케이크; "hotcake") is the Korean word for the dish more familiar as the "pancake". A haen-deu-pon (핸드폰 ("handphone") is more familiar as a "cell phone" or a "mobile phone" to most speakers of the language. "Hotcake" is more popular in some regional varieties of English, and indeed is used in the popular expression "to sell like hotcakes". "Handphone" is used, noteably, in Singaporean English.
In the 20th Century, A large class of Konglish words came into Korean usage by way of Japanese. These include words that originate from English and other languages, were modified or transformed in meaning from the original language as they were adopted into Japanese, and then were adopted into Korean usage. Because of this, many of these words were made to conform to Japanese phonological features, and therefore can be unrecognisable.
- wa-i-sha-sseu (와이샤쓰; "Y-shirts") in standard usage, "wa-i-sheo-cheu"—a form closer to the English pronunciation—is preferred
- ppa-kku (빠꾸; "back up") not standard usage
As longer English words were often abridged when they were adopted into Japanese, many words of English origin show up in Korean as follows:
- a-pa-teu (아파트; "apartment")
- mi-sing (미싱; "sewing machine") in standard usage, "jae-bong-teul", a Sino-Korean word, is preferred
- te-re-bi (테레비; "television") in standard usage, "tel-le-bi-jeon" is preferred
Some words came from other European languages, but are generally classified as Konglish as well.
a-reu-ba-i-teu (아르바이트; "part-time job", from German Arbeit, work)
The non-standard expression o-ke-ba-ri (rough synonym for "OK", "That's good") most probably came from a combination of English "OK" and Japanese "okimari (おきまり; to decide)".
Konglish is commonly mistaken as the term for Korean Romanization.
See also
