10
votes
Accepted
Why are some Korean words similar to Japanese words?
The Sino-Korean vocabulary is from Chinese characters. They're essentially the same words, only pronounced differently. 漢字 is pronounced 한자 in the Korean way, "kanji" in the Japanese way. In other ...
- 7,412
8
votes
Accepted
Meaning of 마지노선?
This is a great example of how a historical/literary/cultural/geographical reference is picked up by another cultural sphere and takes on a life of its own.
La ligne Maginot, as the Encyclopedia ...
- 2,363
8
votes
How helpful is knowing Russian vocabulary for knowing vocabulary which only occurs in North Korean?
North Korea and Russia are strategically close countries, but because North Korea uses the same language as Korea, linguistically it is not helpful to learn Russia
북한과 러시아는 친하지만, 북한과 한국만 같은 언어를 사용하기 ...
- 301
8
votes
Where does the word 호프 - meaning beer - come from?
This comes from German: hof(bräuhaus)
Etymologically, the Old Norse word hof is the same as the German word hof, which originally meant a hall and later came to refer to a court (originally in the ...
- 1,227
7
votes
Accepted
How helpful is knowing Russian vocabulary for knowing vocabulary which only occurs in North Korean?
There are some words borrowed from Russian in North Korean, but not nearly as many as there are words from English in South Korean. The North Korean government has really emphasized their ...
- 6,004
3
votes
How often is “서바나” used to refer to Spain?
서반아 as Spain is rarely used, but 서반아어(Spanish language) is still fairly used; Especially in academic with a short form - 서어. SNU's Hispanic Language and Literature Department is 서어서문학과 in Korean, ...
- 31
3
votes
How often is “서바나” used to refer to Spain?
In modern Korean, "서바나" is barely used. It seems that most of younger Korean cannot notice what "서바나" is, whereas most of them know what and where "스페인" is.
It's kind of ...
- 131
3
votes
Accepted
Where does the word 호프 - meaning beer - come from?
I found good article about it in Korean
http://topa.co.kr/archives/536
호프 in Korean, it is from (Hofbräuhaus).
According to article(its not news btw)
"과거의 신문을 검색해보면 1986년 11월 5일에 OB맥주가 서울의 동숭동 ...
- 595
2
votes
How helpful is knowing Russian vocabulary for knowing vocabulary which only occurs in North Korean?
The knowledge of Russian will not help. 문화어 doesn't use Russian words widely, although you can find some of them in the news or everyday speech (뜨락또르 for tractor, 꼴바사, rarely, for sausage, 욜까 for ...
- 1,288
2
votes
Why in Korean is 언니 used for female by female?
언니 is told to have been used for males(or by males, not sure) in the joseon dynasty, but the meaning changed over the last few hundred years...
This is very common in Korean language.
Not sure about ...
- 528
1
vote
Why in Korean is 언니 used for female by female?
Definition #2 from the Naver Dictionary entry for 언니 is as follows:
2 .남남끼리의 여자들 사이에서 자기보다 나이가 위인 여자를 높여 정답게 이르거나 부르는 말.
ex) 동네 언니
ex) 그보다도 언니! 남편 되시는 분 말이에요.
This is the typical way for female, ...
1
vote
How helpful is knowing Russian vocabulary for knowing vocabulary which only occurs in North Korean?
As a mathematician, I've observed that North Korean terminology in mathematics and physics is almost exclusively borrowed from Russian. I've seen academic papers in the field published by North ...
- 565
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