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What’s my dong mean?

elcanguro76 — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 08:43:54 +0000

I like to find out the meanings of the areas, places and suburbs (or dongs [동 | 洞] as the Korean equivalent of suburbs are called) that I live in. Often there’s an interesting cultural or historical reference attached to the name of the place you’re living in or visiting.

Such as my childhood suburb of West Pymble - did you know Mel Gibson lived there in his youth? I didn’t know this nor meet him, must have been before my time! – was named after Robert Pymble, an influential early settler in the Sydney region. Whereas, the local council of Ku-ring-gai was named after the Kuringgai people who were the original inhabitants of the Central coastal region of New South Wales on which Sydney now sits. In my youth, I went to high school in Turramurra, which was the local Kuringgai peoples’ name for ‘big hill’ – my high school had a great view of downtown Sydney 18 kilometres away, overlooking extensive bushland of the Lane Cover River valley.

One thing I like about Korea is that seemingly every locality name has some cultural and/or historical reference to it with the majority of words being of Sino-Korean origin, ie. being derived from Chinese characters, such as Suncheon (순천 | 順天) which roughly translates as ‘orderly heaven’ – I’m still trying figure out just what exactly that means four years on! Whilst, many are also indigenous Korean words such as Seoul (서울) which means ‘capital’ in ‘Pure’ Korean.

Last year, I searched out some place names of relevance to me – having either lived, worked or traveled there extensively in the last few years – and came with the results below.

My favourites are Yeonhyang-dong which comes out ‘lotus fragrence’ village, Haeryong-myeon which comes out as ‘sea dragon’ township and Jorye-dong which comes out as ‘reflective courtesy’ whatever the hell that means! Though, sometimes place names may be the amalgamate of the first letters of two localities merged together at point in history, resulting in somewhat odd literal meanings, as Jorye-dong may be an example of. The dong (or suburb) I currently live in is Dongoe-dong which literally means ‘east outside’ village, which no doubt is a reference to its location just outside the old city walls of Suncheon.

Jeollanam-do & Jeollabuk-do place names

全羅南道와 全羅北道의 地名

전라남도와 전라북도 지명

Suncheon-si 순천시 [順天市] orderly.heaven.city ‘Orderly heaven’

Jangcheon-dong 장천동 [長泉洞] long.spring.village ‘Long spring’

Yeonhyang-dong 연향동 [蓮香洞] lotus.fragrance.village ‘Lotus fragrance’

Jeojeon-dong 저전동 [楮田洞] mulberry.field.village ‘Mulberry fields’

Jogok-dong 조곡동 [稠谷洞] dense.ravine.village ‘Dense ravine’

Jungang-dong 중앙동 [中央洞] middle.centre.village ‘Central’

Dongoe-dong 동외동 [東外洞] east.outside.village ‘Eastside’

Haeryong-myeon 해룡면 [海龍面] sea.dragon.township ‘Sea dragon’

Jorye-dong 조례동 [照禮洞] reflective.courtesy.village ‘Reflective courtesy’

Wangjo-dong 왕조동 [旺照洞] prosperous.reflective.village ‘Reflective prosperity’

Wangji-dong 왕지동 [旺之洞] prosperous.this.village ‘Prosperous village’

Geumdang-jigu 금당지구 [金塘地區] golden.pond.area ‘Golden pond’

Sangsa-myeon 상사면 [上沙面] above.sand.township ‘By the sand’

Buddhist temples

Seonamsa 선암사 [仙巖寺] transcendent.cliff.temple ‘Zen precipice’

Songgwangsa 송광사 [松廣寺] pine.wide ‘Expanse of pines’

Gwangju gwangyeok-si 광주광역시 [光州廣域市] bright.province.wide.district.city ‘City of light’ metropolitan city

Hwajeong-dong 화정동 [花亭洞] flower.pavilion.village ‘Flower pavilion’

Yang-dong 양동 [良洞] gentle.village ‘Gentle village’

Jeonju-si 전주시 [全州市] whole.province.city ‘Whole province’

Hyoja-dong 효자동 [孝子洞] obedient.child.village ‘Obedient child’

Seosin-dong 서신동 [西新洞] west.new.village ‘New west’

Deokjin-dong 덕진동 [德津洞] virtue.ford.village ‘Virtuous ford’

Pyeonghwa-dong 평화동 [平和洞] peaceful.harmony.village ‘Harmonious peace’

Gwangyang-si 광양시 [光陽市] bright.sun.city ‘Sunshine’

Jungma-dong 중마동 [中馬洞] centre.horse.village ‘Central horse’

If you’re interested yourself in finding out more about place names in Korea, there’s a few sites that can help. The Naver encyclopedia is helpful in finding out the Chinese characters of local place names if you are unaware of them, you just type the place name in Hangeul and a page should come up with information on the locality, though you do need some Korean knowledge for that site. Another good site is the Galbijim Wiki site which has quite extensive information on all matter of things Korean and has the advantage of being in English. And, a good site to find out the etymology of place names in Chinese characters is the Wiktionary site, where you just enter the character whose meaning you are unaware of and it will come up with its meaning, spelling and pronunciation in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and even Vietnamese. Or, you can’t be arsed finding out yourself but are keen to know the meaning of your locality, send us a message and I’ll look her up for you!

Dregs of Heaven

elcanguro76 — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:27:27 +0000

The ‘Dregs of Heaven’ – odd name for a person, don’t you think? Well, it happens to be the rough English translation of my Korean name and I’ll tell you the story why and how I came to get that name. But, first a little Korean lesson and some background info …

Korean names are typically three syllables long. Typically the first syllable is the Family name – or Surname – (such as Kim, Lee, Park, etc.) and the two remaining syllables are the individuals Given name (or first name, which is kinda ironic as its second but don’t worry about that!). There are, of course, exceptions such as rare family names consisting of two syllables and some individuals only possessing a one syllable given name but 98% of the time this holds true. Bear in mind, that there are only just over 100 family names circulating in South Korea and that the surnames Kim, Lee and Park themselves account for over 45% of the whole population.

Another facet of Korean names is that all family names are derived from a Hanja (Chinese character) base, each with a specific meaning or value. People are then also divided into regional family clans (much like Scottish clans) depending on the location of their family name – the largest group in Korea being the Gimhae Kim clan with over 3,700,000 descendants. Whereas most (over 90%) of given names are derived from a Hanja base, though it can be trendy to have ‘pure-Korean’ given names these days such as 단비 : Dan-bi (sweet rain), 이슬 : I-seul (dew), 하늘 : Ha-neul (heaven); or even transliterised foreign given names, commonly Biblical names, such as 샤론 – (Sha-ron) Sharon or 하늬 (Ha-nui) Honey. Apart from the rare examples of foreign names transliterated into Korean, all Korean given names have a specific meaning and often a lot of time and thought is taken into considering the name of a child, so much so that part of a fortune-teller’s trade is in calculating a suitable given name of a client’s child taking into account their birth date and numerous other factors.

So, with that little Korean cultural lesson over for the day, now let’s get onto my story …

Come 2004 and my return to Korea, the fair city of Gwangju to be precise, after a brief sojourn in Australia I was desperate to delve myself deep into Korea, its language and culture from the onset of my second stint in the ‘Land of the Morning Clam Calm’. One of my main hopes in this voyage of Korean discovery was to acquire a Korean name. Perhaps with a Korean name I could feel more belonging and feel more accepted in this alien culture – yes I was a naive fuck back then!

Anyways, I spoke to students about prospective names and happened to randomly meet a group of friendly young dudes and dudettes one night and spoke with them about a prospective Korean name. The most suitable name that came up from these discussions was 백지민 (Baek Ji-min) with 백 (白) Baek, being the family name and 지민 Ji-min (I can’t remember the Hanja form) being the given name. This was deemed suitable as Baek Ji-min sounded quite similar to Benjamin – my real first name.

Come 2006 and becoming quite bored of being told by Koreans that Ji-min was a girly or effeminate name and that only girls or poofters have it – or something of that like, I decided to venture on the quest for a new Korean name. To help in my Korean name acquisition was my former girlfriend’s father. He was – and still is no doubt – a strong, stoic, stocky and friendly 70 year-old descended from the Gaeseong Kim clan in North Korea. Whilst possessing the typically gruff and staid exterior of a Korean 아저씨 ‘ajusshi’ (married man), deep down he was a friendly, considerate, wise and decent man who always accepted me despite being gasp, horror – a foreigner dating his daughter. I think maybe his personal history had something to do with his somewhat more enlightened approach to having a foreign devil date his daughter. He was born in pre-War (both Korean and WWII) Japanese-occupied Haeju, in North Korea. At the age of 10, I think just after WWII and Korea’s liberation from Japan, his immediate family decided to head south for a better life and not long after all shit hit the fan. He never said too much and I never asked him too much out of respect but I think he always, rightfully, considered himself very lucky and was quite accommodating towards Westerners as he viewed them and South Koreans for that matter as that much better than the alternatives he either grew up with or could have grown up with (that being Japanese and North Koreans).

He was a former Korean language high school teacher and a learned scholar, who took up the challenge of finding me a Korean name with relish. First cut was the surname Baek, meaning ‘white’, my reasoning for that surname was pointing at my skin colour but he deemed that may be viewed as arrogant by other Koreans .. ok, whatever … so he came up with the third most common surname Bak, more commonly seen as ‘Park’ : 박 (朴) – happens to also mean any of ‘a tree’, ‘simple, unadorned’, or ‘sincere’.

He also wanted to have a name that sounded somewhat similar to my real first name, you know the one on the Birth Certificate and all, so he went for ‘Jae-min’ : 재민 (滓旻) as my given name, whereby the ‘Jae’ (재|滓) part means ‘sediment, lees’, or my favourite ‘dregs’!; and the ‘Min’ (민”旻) part means ‘heaven’ or ‘sky’.

So, there you have it, my Korean name - Park Jae-min : 박재민 : 朴滓旻 – literally means ‘sincere dregs of heaven’. I still get a chuckle when I think of my Korean name, though I barely use it these days – not that it was ever official in any sense, or on any documents. As you noticed earlier in this piece, I did mention that my name giver was my former girlfriend’s father. As such, he may at that time have thought that my Korean name meaning ‘sincere dregs of heaven’ was appropriate though I’m sure if you asked him now – I can’t he doesn’t talk to me no more! – I’ve sure he’d refer to me as ‘dregs of (something not quite as flattering)’!

Cheers!

Korean Proverbs in Hanja

elcanguro76 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:19:36 +0000

OK, this will be the last posting on Hanja for the meantime as I’m sure you are – as I am – bored batshit over seeing so much Hanja. I thought this might be interesting for some, though. It is a collection of traditional Korean sayings as written in Hanja:

漢字成語 : 한자성어 : Korean Proverbs in Hanja

漢字 : 한글 : English

外柔內剛 : 외유내강 (형이다) : Being gentle in appearance, but sturdy in spirit.
七顚八起 : 칠전팔기 : To fall down seven times and get up eight.
三寒四溫 : 삼한사온 (이다) : Three days cold and four days warm.
張三李四 : 장삼이사 : Three Jangs, Four Lees (lit.); Common people.
十中八九 : 십중팔구 : In nine cases out of ten; The great majority (of).
馬耳東風 : 마이동풍 (이다) : The east wind in a horse’s ear; Utter indifference.
一口二言 : 일구이언 (하다) : A double-tongue.
八方美人 : 팔방미인 (이다) : A person who excels in everything.
竹馬故友 : 죽마고우 (이다) : My childhood friends.
父傳子傳 : 부전자전 (이다) : Like father, like son; The acorn nevers lands far from the tree.
一長一短 : 일장일단 (이 있다) : Merits and demerits.
言中有骨 : 언중유골 (이다) : Bone in a talk (lit.); More is meant than said.
有口無言 : 유구무언 (이다) : There are no words to say in excuse.
白衣民族 : 백의민족 : White-clad folk; the Korean people.
雪上加霜 : 설상가상 : Frost on top of the snow (lit.): To matters worse.
龍頭蛇尾 : 용두사미 (가 되다) : Dragon head, snake tail; Starts off with a bang and ends with a whimper.
群鷄一鶴 : 군계일학 (이다) : In many chickens, one crane (lit.); Stands out in the crowd.
天高馬肥 : 천고마비 (의 계절이다) : The sky is high and the horse is fat.
南男北女 : 남남북녀 : South for men, North for women. Ladies head south for good-looking blokes. Young men head north for good-looking women!
一石二鳥 : 일석이조 (이다) : Killing two birds with one stone.
靑山流水 : 청산유수 (처림) : A running stream in a blue mountain (lit.); A fluent tongue.
百戰百勝 : 백전백승 (이다, 하다) : A hundred battles, a hundred victories; Winning every battle.
以心傳心 : 이심전심 (이다) : Speak heart to heart; Telepathy.
弱肉强食 : 약육강식 (이다) : The strong devour the weak; The law of the jungle.
同床異夢 : 동상이뭉 (이다) : In the same bed, but having different dreams.
人山人海 : 인사인해 (이다, 를 이루다) : Hordes of people.
年中無休 : 연중무휴 (이다) : Open year round.
門前成市 : 문전성시 (를 이루다) : Having a constant stream of callers.
三三五五 : 삼삼오오 : By two and threes; In groups.
博學多識 : 박학다식 (하다) : Broad learning and wide knowledge;Well-informed.
自手成家 : 자수성가 (하다) : To make their own fortune.
同苦同樂 : 동고동락 (하다) : Share the pains and pleasures of life with.
多多益善 : 다다익선 (이다) : The more, the better.
山川草木 : 산천초목 : Mother nature.
百聞不如一見 : 백문불여일견 (이다) : Hearing one hundred times is not likeseeing once; Seeing is believing.
甘言利說 : 감언이설 (하다) : Flattery; Soft and seductive language.
天生緣分 : 천생연분 (이다) : A match made in heaven.
有名無實 : 유명무실 (하다) : In name only.
大器晩成 : 대기만성 (형이다) : Great talents mature late; Soon ripe, soon rotten.
千萬多幸 : 천만다행 (이다) : Being extremely fortunate.
內憂外患 : 내우외환 (이다) : Internal and external troubles.
東芬西走 : 동부서주 (하다) : Busy oneself about something.
語不成說 : 어불성설 (이다) : Lack of logic.

Jeollabuk-do and Jeollanam-do place names

elcanguro76 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:47:28 +0000

Following on from my previous post. Here are several Jeollabuk-do and Jeollanam-do place names and locations written in Hanja, Hangeul and Roman characters. I have also included a rough translation of what these place names mean. Most of these places have some kind of significance to me where I have either lived in, worked in, or visited at one stage or another. Hence, the interest on my part to discover their Hanja name and meaning.

During my stay in Korea, I have so far managed to have lived in:

Dongoe-dong 동외동, Jorye-dong 조례동, Hwajeong-dong 화정동, and Hyoja-dong 효자동.

And worked (at one point of another) in:

Hyoja-dong 효자동, Seosin-dong 서신동, Deokjin-dong 덕진동, Pyeonghwa-dong 평화동, Yang-dong 양동, Jangcheon-dong 장천동,Yeonhyang-dong 연향동, Jeojeon-dong 저전동, and Jogok-dong 조곡동.

The reason I worked at so many locations in my first year in Jeonju was because my wonderful hagwon, which still exists by the way, had the highly dubious and highly illegal practice of sending us foreign lackeys teachers to outside classes, such as kindergartens, public schools and private businesses, whenever possible for extra profit whilst paying us teachers the ordinary wage unless we went into overtime hours where we’d receive extra, hey they weren’t total arseholes!

If Immigration ever caught wind of this, the big boss – who was well known in town – would go down to Immigration and presumably fork over some money or buy a household appliance for the investigating Immigration officer and life would continue as before. Fun times indeed …

Anyway, here’s the Hanja as promised:

Jeollanam-do & Jeollabuk-do place names

全羅南道와 全羅北道의 地名

전라남도와 전라북도 지명

Suncheon-si 순천시 [順天市] orderly.heaven.city ‘Orderly heaven’

Jangcheon-dong 장천동 [長泉洞] long.spring.village ‘Long spring’

Yeonhyang-dong 연향동 [蓮香洞] lotus.fragrance.village ‘Lotus fragrance’

Jeojeon-dong 저전동 [楮田洞] mulberry.field.village ‘Mulberry fields’

Jogok-dong 조곡동 [稠谷洞] dense.ravine.village ‘Dense ravine’

Jungang-dong 중앙동 [中央洞] middle.centre.village ‘Central’

Dongoe-dong 동외동 [東外洞] east.outside.village ‘Eastside’

Haeryong-myeon 해룡면 [海龍面] sea.dragon.township ‘Sea dragon’

Jorye-dong 조례동 [照禮洞] reflective.courtesy.village ‘Reflective courtesy’

Wangjo-dong 왕조동 [旺照洞] prosperous.reflective.village ‘Reflective prosperity’

Wangji-dong 왕지동 [旺之洞] this.prosperous.village ‘Prosperous village’

Geumdang-jigu 금당지구 [金塘地區] golden.pond.area ‘Golden pond’

Sangsa-myeon 상사면 [上沙面] above.sand.township ‘By the sand’

Buddhist temples

Seonamsa 선암사 [仙巖寺] transcendent.cliff.temple ‘Zen precipice’

Songgwangsa 송광사 [松廣寺] pine.wide ‘Expanse of pines’

Gwangju gwangyeok-si 광주광역시 [光州廣域市] bright.province.wide.district.city ‘City of light’ metropolitan city

Hwajeong-dong 화정동 [花亭洞] flower.pavilion.village ‘Flower pavilion’

Yang-dong 양동 [良洞] gentle.village ‘Gentle village’

Jeonju-si 전주시 [全州市] whole.province.city ‘Whole province’

Hyoja-dong 효자동 [孝子洞] obedient.child.village ‘Obedient child’

Seosin-dong 서신동 [西新洞] west.new.village ‘New west’

Deokjin-dong 덕진동 [德津洞] virtue.ford.village ‘Virtuous ford’

Pyeonghwa-dong 평화동 [平和洞] peaceful.harmony.village ‘Harmonious peace’

More Hanja than you can poke a stick at!

elcanguro76 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:10:30 +0000

A couple of weeks back, I mentioned my love of all things Hanja. Well, I thought I’d include some of the lists and descriptions of Hanja I’ve compiled over the last few years. Here’s the first installment: Korean landmarks, which I compiled onto a Word document a few years and basically just shows the Hanja, Hangeul and Roman characters of prominent landmarks and locations in Korea.

韓國의 江山과 場所들 : 한국의 강산과 장소들 : Korean landmarks

漢字 : 한글 : English

景福宮 : 경복궁 : Gyeongbukgong (Royal Palace in Seoul)
東大門 : 동대문 : Dongdaemun (Great Eastern Gate in Seoul)
南大門 : 남대문 : Namdaemun (Great Southern Gate in Seoul)
仁寺洞 : 인사동 : Insadong (Benevolent Temple district – Traditional arts district in Seoul)
梨泰院 : 이태원 : Itaewon (Foreigner district in Seoul)
汝矣島 : 여의도 : Yeouido (Island -Seoul)
南山 : 남산 : Namsan (South Mt. – Seoul)
龍山 : 용산 : Yongsan (Dragon Mt. – Seoul)
漢拏山 : 한라산 : (Mt.) Hallasan
金剛山 : 금강산 : (Mt.) Geumgangsan
白頭山 : 백두산 : (Mt.) Baekdusan
智異山 : 지리산 : (Mt.) Jirisan

烽火山 : 봉화산 : (Mt.) Bonghwasan
雪嶽山 : 설악산 : (Mt.) Seoraksan
馬耳山 : 마이산 : (Mt.) Maisan
內藏山 : 내장산 : (Mt.) Naejangsan
無等山 : 무등산 : (Mt.) Mudeungsan
烽火山 : 봉화산 : (Mt.) Bonghwasan
漢江 : 한강 : Han-gang (Han River)
錦江 : 금강 : Geum-gang (River)
落東江 : 낙동강 : Nakdong-gang (River)
臨津江 : 임진강 : Imjin-gang (River)
大同江 : 대동강 : Daedong-gang (River)
豆滿江 : 두만강 : Duman-gang (River)
暗綠江 : 암록강 : Amrok-gang (River)
東海 : 동해 : Donghae (East Sea)
西海 : 서해 : Seohae (West Sea)
黃海 : 황해 : Hwanghae (Yellow Sea)
順天灣 : 순천만 : Suncheon-man (Bay)
麗水灣 : 여수만 : Yeosu-man (Bay)
京畿灣 : 경기만 : Gyeonggi-man (Bay)
獨島 : 독도 : Dokdo (Island)
鬱陵島 : 울릉도 : Ulleungdo (Island)
巨濟島 : 거제도 : Geojedo (Island)
濟州島 : 제주도 : Jejudo (Island)
珍島 : 진도 : Jindo (Island)
莞島 : 완도 : Wando (island)
金山寺 : 금산사 : Geumsansa (Gold Mountain Buddhist temple)

The second installment is displaying the Hanja, Hangeul and Roman characters of (many, not all) South Korean cities:

大韓民國의都市 : 대한민국의도시 : South Korean Cities

서울特別市 : 서울특별시 : Seoul special city

釜山廣域市 : 부산광역시 : Busan metropolitan city

大邱廣域市 : 대구광역시 : Daegu metropolitan city

仁川廣域市 : 인천광역시 : Incheon metropolitan city

光州廣域市 : 광주광역시 : Gwangju metropolitan city

大田廣域市 : 대전광역시 : Daejeon metropolitan city

蔚山廣域市 : 울산광역시 : Ulsan metropolitan city

水原市 : 수원시 : Suwon city

安山市 : 안산시 : Ansan city

全州市: 전주시 : Jeonju city

富川市 : 부천시 : Bucheon city

淸州市 : 청주시 : Cheongju city

濟州市 : 제주시 : Jeju city

慶州市 : 경주시 : Gyeongju city

城南市 : 성남시 : Seongnam city

晋州市 : 진주시 : Jinju city

順天市 : 순천시 : Suncheon city

春川市 : 춘천시 : Chuncheon city

麗水市 : 여수시 : Yeosu city

木浦市 : 목포시 : Mokpo city

浦項市 : 포항시 : Pohang city

公州市 : 공주시 : Gongju city

安東市 : 안동시 : Andong city

南原市 : 남원시 : Namwon city

群山市 : 군산시 : Gunsan city

益山市 : 익산시 : Iksan city

羅州市 : 나주시 : Naju city

牙山市 : 아산시 : Asan city

烏山市 : 오산시 : Osan city

高陽市 : 고양시 : Goyang city

龍仁市 : 용인시 : Yongin city

平澤市 : 평택시 : Pyeongtaek city

原州市 : 원주시 : Wonju city

束草市 : 속초시 : Sokcho city

忠州市 : 충주시 : Chungju city

天安市 : 천안시 : Cheonan city

東豆川市 : 동두천시 : Dongducheon city

論山市 : 논산시 : Nonsan city

金海市 : 김해시 : Gimhae city

江陵市 : 강릉시 : Gangneung city

西歸浦市 : 서귀포시 : Seogwipo city

巨濟市 : 거제시 : Geoje city

東海市 : 동해시 : Donghae city

太白市 : 태백시 : Taebaek city

九里市 : 구리시 : Guri city

The third installment is South Korean provinces:

大韓民國의道 : 대한민국의도 : South Korea’s Provinces

忠淸北道 : 충청북도 : Chungcheongbuk-do

忠淸南道 : 충청남도 : Chungcheongnam-do

江原道 : 강원도 : Gangwon-do

京畿道 : 경기도 : Gyeonggi-do

慶尙北道 : 경상북도 : Gyeongsangbuk-do

慶尙南道 : 경상남도 : Gyeongsangnam-do

全羅北道 : 전라북도 : Jeollabuk-do

全羅南道 : 전라남도 : Jeollanam-do

濟州道 : 제주도 : Jeju-do

And, the fourth is countries, cities and regions of the world:

世上 : 세상 : the World

太平洋 : 태평양 : the Pacific Ocean
印度洋 : 인도양 : the Indian Ocean
大西洋 : 대서양 : the Atlantic Ocean
亞洲 ~ 亞細亞 : 아주 ~ 아세아 : Asia

韓國 : 한국 : Korea

南韓 ~ 大韓民國 : 남한 ~ 대한민국 : South Korea ~ the Republic of

Korea

北韓 ~ 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國 : 북한 ~ 조선민주주의인민공화국 : North

Korea ~ the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
慈江道 : 자강도 : Chagang-do
咸鏡北道 : 함경북도 : Hamgyŭngbuk-do
咸鏡南道 : 함경남도 : Hamgyŭngnam-do
黃海北道 : 황해북도 : Hwanghaepuk-to
黃海南道 : 황해남도 : Hwanghaenam-to
江原道 : 강원도 : Kangwŏn-do
平安北道 : 평안북도 : P’yŏnganpuk-to
平安南道 : 평안남도 : P’yŏngannam-to
平壤特別市 : 평양특별시 : P’yŏngyang special city
羅先(羅津-先鋒)直轄市 : 라선 (라진-선봉) 직할시 : Rasŏn (Rajin-Sŏnbong) trade region
開城工業地區 : 개성 공업 지구 : Kaesŏng Industrial Region
金剛山觀光地區 : 금강산 관광 지구 : Kŭmgangsan Tourist Region
新義州特別行政區 : 신의주 특별 행정구 : Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region
新義州 : 신의주 : Sinŭiju
南浦 : 남포 : Namp’o
咸興 : 함흥 : Hamhung
沙里院 : 사리원 : Sariwon

中國 : 중국 : China
山洞 : 산동 : Shandong
滿洲 : 만주 : Manchuria
江西 : 강서 (장지) : Jianxi
北京 : 북경 (베이징) : Beijing
西安 : 서안 (시안) : Xi’an
上海 : 상해 (상하이) : Shanghai
南京 : 남경 (난징) : Nanjing
丹東 : 단동 : Dandong
黃海 : 황해 : Hwanghae ~ Yellow Sea

日本 : 일본 : Japan
北海道 : 북해도 (호카이도) : Hokkaido
九州 : 구주 (규슈) : Kyushu
本州 : 본주 (혼슈) : Honshu
四國 : 서국 (시코쿠) : Shikoku
東京 : 경동 (토교) : Tokyo
京都 : 경토 (교토) : Kyoto
北九州 : 북구주 (키타규슈) : Kitakyushu

蒙古 : 몽고 : Mongolia

比 : 비 (필리핀) : the Philippines

印度 : 인도 : India

泰國 : 태국 : Thailand

臺灣 : 대만 : Taiwan

印尼 : 인니 (인도네시아) : Indonesia

濠洲 : 호주 (오스트레일리아) : Australia

요럽洲 : 요럽 : Europe

英國 : 영국 : the United Kingdom (England)

獨逸 : 독일 : Germany

和蘭 : 화란 (네더랜드) : the Netherlands

佛蘭西 : 불란서 (프랑스) : France

美洲 : 미주 : the Americas

美國 : 미국 : United States of America

加나다 : 가나다 (캐나다) : Canada

阿洲 ~ 阿프리카洲 : 아주 ~ 아프리카주 : Africa

南阿共 : 남아공 (남아프리카) : Republic of South Africa

What’s the strange scribblings on the left-hand side of my banner?

elcanguro76 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:16:47 +0000

‘What’s the strange scribblings on the left-hand side of my banner?’ you might be saying.

Well, in short, they both say ‘Jeonnam Life’ though one is written in Hangeul, the native Korean script and the other in Hanja, Chinese characters used in Korea (which can vary somewhat compared to Chinese characters used in China and Japan, as some characters may have different meanings in different countries and since both China and Japan have reformed some characters whereas Korea has kept all characters in their traditional form).

The writing on the far left is in Hangeul, the indigenous alphabet of Korea created by King Sejong the Great back in 1443 (or thereabouts) to help improve literacy rates amongst the locals as previously only the upper-class or yangban were permitted to learn to read and write Hanja, the only script used at the time. It worked as South Korea now has one of the highest literacy rates in the world! Hangeul was also created to more accurately represent phonemes used in the Korean language, as Chinese characters – being derived from a foreign language – didn’t always succeed in doing so.

The characters to the right of the Hangeul are Hanja. I’ve always had somewhat of an interest in Chinese characters but, this interest grow once I came to Korea and encountered Hanja. Hanja was once used extensively in Korea alongside Hangeul but, its prominence has sharply declined in the last 20 to 30 years roughly coinciding with the increased prominence of the Roman alphabet, in particular English, in South Korea. Nowadays, Hanja is largely resigned to newspaper headings, official documents, monuments and to help avoid confusion as Hangeul contains many homonyms, or different words with the same spelling. Whereas South Korean schoolchildren are still required to learn around a thousand Hanja characters as part of their education, North Korea solely uses Hangeul in line with its isolationist stance.

I’m a bit of a language nerd with the plan of eventually mastering several languages. As such, from time to time I’ll be posting on Hanja and various other language tidbits, which no doubt will be of little interest to anyone but me!