How should I greet someone older and of higher status in Korean?
April 26, 2004 1:53 PM Subscribe
Any MeFites speak Korean? [more inside]
I was wondering about proper greetings. I have googled around and found some basics, but I was looking for some insight into my situation from a native or fluent speaker.
I was wondering how to properly greet someone older and of higher status than myself. Specificly, a Buddhist monk or nun. I know to address them with the honorific "Sunim". Should I just tack that on to the front or end of the polite greeting in the above link?
I was wondering about proper greetings. I have googled around and found some basics, but I was looking for some insight into my situation from a native or fluent speaker.
I was wondering how to properly greet someone older and of higher status than myself. Specificly, a Buddhist monk or nun. I know to address them with the honorific "Sunim". Should I just tack that on to the front or end of the polite greeting in the above link?
Best answer: My Korean is woefully inadequate, but I think I can help.
-nim is the general suffix one adds to denote an honorific. For example, 'professor' is kyosu, and to greet a prof, you would say 'Annyeong hashimnikka, kyosunim'. (I'm taking liberties with romanization, in search of clarity. The -eo- in the first word is pronounced 'uh', similar to the sound 'o' makes in the word 'come' (ie, schwa, basically).
The first phrase literally means 'are you at peace?', and is the highest-respect form of the common daily greeting, which is 'Annyeong haseyo?' (Suffixes on Korean verbs, which (basically) always come at the end of a sentence, denote respect levels and tenses.)
Now, to address a monk, you would want to use 'seu-nim,' which is basically what you were saying, but according to the current romanization as of 2001, 'su' would be pronounced as 'soo,' which is different from 'seu' (ie monk) and therefore incorrect in terms of pronunciation, which always confuses the living hell out of Korean listeners.
The vowel sound romanized as 'eu' is actually one that does not exist in English, for the most part, and is similar to the 'eo' I mentioned before, but is pronounced (rather than in the middle of the mouth, slack) with the tongue pulled back, and tense.
Here are some examples of the two sounds :
(On this page, the vowels are on the top row. The 'eo' sound is the third one, and the 'eu' is the second to last one. 'a' is the first one, and is always pronounced like the 'a' in 'car,' not 'a' as in 'can' (North American standard English). Roll over the letters for the sounds. Those are the three you need to pay attention to.)
So, long story short, your full address (honorific, literally of 'Are you at peace, honoured monk?' but basically 'Hello/Greetings, Mr Monk' at the highest respect level is :
Annyeong hashimnikka, seu-nim?
The consonants should be easy, as they match what one would expect in English fairly well, but the vowels might need some pratice.
That should do you. You can tack on 'seunim' to any sentence you like, as a form of address, but it's really only vital to use on the first greeting.
No guarantees are made of correctness -- seek alternate advice. IAMAK. Heh.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:49 PM on April 26, 2004
-nim is the general suffix one adds to denote an honorific. For example, 'professor' is kyosu, and to greet a prof, you would say 'Annyeong hashimnikka, kyosunim'. (I'm taking liberties with romanization, in search of clarity. The -eo- in the first word is pronounced 'uh', similar to the sound 'o' makes in the word 'come' (ie, schwa, basically).
The first phrase literally means 'are you at peace?', and is the highest-respect form of the common daily greeting, which is 'Annyeong haseyo?' (Suffixes on Korean verbs, which (basically) always come at the end of a sentence, denote respect levels and tenses.)
Now, to address a monk, you would want to use 'seu-nim,' which is basically what you were saying, but according to the current romanization as of 2001, 'su' would be pronounced as 'soo,' which is different from 'seu' (ie monk) and therefore incorrect in terms of pronunciation, which always confuses the living hell out of Korean listeners.
The vowel sound romanized as 'eu' is actually one that does not exist in English, for the most part, and is similar to the 'eo' I mentioned before, but is pronounced (rather than in the middle of the mouth, slack) with the tongue pulled back, and tense.
Here are some examples of the two sounds :
(On this page, the vowels are on the top row. The 'eo' sound is the third one, and the 'eu' is the second to last one. 'a' is the first one, and is always pronounced like the 'a' in 'car,' not 'a' as in 'can' (North American standard English). Roll over the letters for the sounds. Those are the three you need to pay attention to.)
So, long story short, your full address (honorific, literally of 'Are you at peace, honoured monk?' but basically 'Hello/Greetings, Mr Monk' at the highest respect level is :
Annyeong hashimnikka, seu-nim?
The consonants should be easy, as they match what one would expect in English fairly well, but the vowels might need some pratice.
That should do you. You can tack on 'seunim' to any sentence you like, as a form of address, but it's really only vital to use on the first greeting.
No guarantees are made of correctness -- seek alternate advice. IAMAK. Heh.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:49 PM on April 26, 2004
You know, I just read your question again, and realized that all I needed to do was to add was say 'at the end,' with the caveat to beware pronunciation of vowel sounds. Caffeine overkill!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:51 PM on April 26, 2004
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:51 PM on April 26, 2004
We aim to please here at wonderchicken industries!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:28 AM on April 27, 2004 [1 favorite]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:28 AM on April 27, 2004 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by me3dia at 2:19 PM on April 26, 2004