By Matt VanVolkenburg
In a January 1967 "Thoughts of The Times" column, Michael Daniels, a staff member at Sogang University, wondered "why Koreans use so many Koreanized English words when they have a perfectly good word in their own language that would cover the same situation."
Referring to them as a "corruption of English," he also noted, "The strange thing about many of them is they often don't have the same meaning as they do in English. Some of them have something like the same meaning, but with a little twist."
In a letter published days later, English teacher Kim Byong-woo criticized Daniels for his "dim view of the Koreanized English words," particularly since "English has sometimes borrowed freely from other languages." Though Kim himself was sometimes annoyed by those who overused these words due to a "desire to show off" and warned his students against this, he was not opposed to their use, and was in fact fond of words like "salaryman" and "close-up." He also expressed surprise that Daniels could not perceive the reasons for such extensive Korean borrowing from English ― the ROK-US relationship ― and wondered what Daniels' point was.
"Does he mean that so many Koreanized English words suggest how contemptible Koreans are? Does he mean that the Korean language might be replaced by the Konglish (Koreanized English) someday in the future for lack of self-respect and self-confidence?"
Some might be surprised to see the term "Konglish" in use over 50 years ago, but a survey of Korean newspapers, journals, and magazines from the 1950s and 1960s turns up a large number of English loanwords. Likewise, a number of terms similar to Konglish date from the mid-20th century. The earliest such combination is perhaps "Spanglish," coined by Puerto Rican poet Salvador Tio in the late 1940s. "Chinglish" (Chinese and English) appeared in 1957, while "Franglais" (French and English) appeared in 1959.
The earliest appearance of "Konglish" may be in a Kyunghyang Shinmun article from July 1962 about trends among youth. It noted that "University coeds call the slang they use Konglish. It means a mix of Korean and English." Another article a week later referred to it as a "bibimbap" of English and Korean. One example given was "A.D," which meant "apologize." This was derived from a pun on the Korean word "sagwa," which means both "apple" and "apology"; A.D. was short for "apple do."
With little appreciation for such playfulness, Daniels had another letter published in The Korea Times in December 1969 which he began by obtusely conflating a ban on Chinese characters in newspapers with doing away with all Chinese-derived Korean words. He then criticized the increasing appearance in Korean newspapers of "so called Konglish" which he thought was "ridiculous." Noting that Koreans couldn't even explain some terms (like "start card section"), he argued "these Koreanized English words are very much less understood than the Hanmun or the Korean," and asked, "For whom are these words used?"
If in 1967 Daniels had noted that there were enough Konglish words to "make a good-sized dictionary," by 1975 one was being compiled. In October that year, Pae Yang-seo submitted a "Thoughts of The Times" column titled "Konglish and Jamerican." In it, Pae, the editor of a loanword dictionary, referred to the many Konglish words that originated in Japan and were adopted during the 1910-45 colonial era, such as "old miss" or "cunning" (cheating), but asserted that while Koreans were "less enthusiastic than their Japanese neighbors," they were "nevertheless gifted in coining what they consider to be English words."
Two examples he provided were "nodaji," or bonanza, and "hwaiting" (fighting), which was understood "in the sense of fighting spirit or a cheering call in a sports arena." He said, "Many naive students assume that the word was derived from fighting instead of Fight, team!"
Though Pae thought such Konglish words might occasionally "behave as stumbling blocks for those who strive to learn English correctly," in his final estimation he believed they "should be treated as legitimate, if not dignified" Korean words.
Matt VanVolkenburg has a master's degree in Korean studies from the University of Washington. He is the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr.
In a January 1967 "Thoughts of The Times" column, Michael Daniels, a staff member at Sogang University, wondered "why Koreans use so many Koreanized English words when they have a perfectly good word in their own language that would cover the same situation."
Referring to them as a "corruption of English," he also noted, "The strange thing about many of them is they often don't have the same meaning as they do in English. Some of them have something like the same meaning, but with a little twist."
In a letter published days later, English teacher Kim Byong-woo criticized Daniels for his "dim view of the Koreanized English words," particularly since "English has sometimes borrowed freely from other languages." Though Kim himself was sometimes annoyed by those who overused these words due to a "desire to show off" and warned his students against this, he was not opposed to their use, and was in fact fond of words like "salaryman" and "close-up." He also expressed surprise that Daniels could not perceive the reasons for such extensive Korean borrowing from English ― the ROK-US relationship ― and wondered what Daniels' point was.
"Does he mean that so many Koreanized English words suggest how contemptible Koreans are? Does he mean that the Korean language might be replaced by the Konglish (Koreanized English) someday in the future for lack of self-respect and self-confidence?"
Some might be surprised to see the term "Konglish" in use over 50 years ago, but a survey of Korean newspapers, journals, and magazines from the 1950s and 1960s turns up a large number of English loanwords. Likewise, a number of terms similar to Konglish date from the mid-20th century. The earliest such combination is perhaps "Spanglish," coined by Puerto Rican poet Salvador Tio in the late 1940s. "Chinglish" (Chinese and English) appeared in 1957, while "Franglais" (French and English) appeared in 1959.
The earliest appearance of "Konglish" may be in a Kyunghyang Shinmun article from July 1962 about trends among youth. It noted that "University coeds call the slang they use Konglish. It means a mix of Korean and English." Another article a week later referred to it as a "bibimbap" of English and Korean. One example given was "A.D," which meant "apologize." This was derived from a pun on the Korean word "sagwa," which means both "apple" and "apology"; A.D. was short for "apple do."
With little appreciation for such playfulness, Daniels had another letter published in The Korea Times in December 1969 which he began by obtusely conflating a ban on Chinese characters in newspapers with doing away with all Chinese-derived Korean words. He then criticized the increasing appearance in Korean newspapers of "so called Konglish" which he thought was "ridiculous." Noting that Koreans couldn't even explain some terms (like "start card section"), he argued "these Koreanized English words are very much less understood than the Hanmun or the Korean," and asked, "For whom are these words used?"
If in 1967 Daniels had noted that there were enough Konglish words to "make a good-sized dictionary," by 1975 one was being compiled. In October that year, Pae Yang-seo submitted a "Thoughts of The Times" column titled "Konglish and Jamerican." In it, Pae, the editor of a loanword dictionary, referred to the many Konglish words that originated in Japan and were adopted during the 1910-45 colonial era, such as "old miss" or "cunning" (cheating), but asserted that while Koreans were "less enthusiastic than their Japanese neighbors," they were "nevertheless gifted in coining what they consider to be English words."
Two examples he provided were "nodaji," or bonanza, and "hwaiting" (fighting), which was understood "in the sense of fighting spirit or a cheering call in a sports arena." He said, "Many naive students assume that the word was derived from fighting instead of Fight, team!"
Though Pae thought such Konglish words might occasionally "behave as stumbling blocks for those who strive to learn English correctly," in his final estimation he believed they "should be treated as legitimate, if not dignified" Korean words.
Matt VanVolkenburg has a master's degree in Korean studies from the University of Washington. He is the blogger behind populargusts.blogspot.kr.
