When we first begin to learn Korean, we tend to concentrate on Hangul, grammar and common expressions. But sometimes, one crucial part of the language gets left behind by learners — Sino-Korean vocabulary. These are all words that originated from a Chinese character (call it Hanja) and now constitute a large chunk of Korean. Knowing these can help you learn Korean much faster and more effectively.
What is Sino-Korean Vocabulary?
Sino-Korean vocabulary refers to Korean words that have Chinese origins. Even though modern Korean is written in Hangul, many words are based on Chinese characters. For example:
- 학교 (hakgyo) = school (學校)
- 전화 (jeonhwa) = telephone (電話)
- 역사 (yeoksa) = history (歷史)
These are simple words that may not seem like they’d be related to their Chinese roots.
What Proportion of Korean is Sino-Korean?
You might be surprised to know that Sino-Korean makes up more than 60% of all Korean vocabulary. This also applies to lots of formal academic or professional words. Everyday words — like “water” (물), or “food” (밥) — are native Korean, but the majority of advanced vocabulary, including scientific terms and legal, historical and political nomenclature, is derived from Sino-Korean.
What the Sino-Korean Vocabulary Means for Learners
1. Faster Vocabulary Building
가 also the Sino-Korean from a shared Chinese root word. Learn the definitions of these elements, and you will be able to guess at the meaning of new words.
For example:
- 학 (學) = study, learning
- 교 (校) = school
Combine them: 학교 = hakgyo = school.
Then, when you recognize the learning that’s going on in 학 (study) for example, you’ll find it in:
- 학생 (haksaeng) = student
- 학문 (hakmun) = academic studies
This way is faster and easier to learn.
2. Clearer Understanding of Formal Texts
Many Korean newspapers, books and other official documents use Sino Korean vocabulary. If you want to get advanced, you have no choice but to do it. Knowing these words helps you understand news articles, politics, and more from around the world.
3. Connection to Other Languages
Sino-Korean vocabulary is useful not only in Korean. It also links you to Chinese and Japanese. For example:
- Telephone = 电话 (diànhuà) in Chinese, 電話 (denwa) in Japanese, 전화 (jeonhwa) in Korean.
- History = 歷史 (lìshǐ) in Chinese, 歴史 (rekishi) in Japanese, 역사 (yeoksa) in Korean.
If you know the roots, you’ll recognize some similarities across East Asian languages. This is a plus if you want to learn multiple languages.
4. Improves Pronunciation and Word Recognition
Studying Sino-Korean vocabulary teaches you to hear those common sound patterns.” And characters like 電 (electric) usually become “jeon” in Korean. This consistency allows you to guess the meaning of new words even if you’ve never seen them.
5. Helps in Exams and Career
If you decide to take the TOPIK exam (Test of Proficiency in Korean), you’ll have countless sino-korean words thrown at you. In professions like medicine, law or business, they are daily fare. To know them is to wield power in your studies and career.
Tips to Learn Sino-Korean Vocabulary
1. Study Common Roots – Learn characters like 학 (study), 전 (electric) and 문 (writing).
2. Utilize Word Families – Put words of the same family together.
3. Korean News Headlines You may know that Korean media uses a lot of Sino-Korean words.
4. Drill Using Flashcards – Put root on front of card and forms, meanings and an example sentence with those words on back.
5. Encounter Hanja –– While it is not something you are going to use on a regular basis in your writing, being familiar with the rudimentary characters does give you some leverage when examining sentence structure.
FAQs:
Q1. Is it necessary to learn Hanja in order to have a good command of Korean?
Not always. It’s possible to be fluent in Korean without it (Hanja). But learning the basic characters will help you grapple with advanced vocabulary and word formation.
Q2. How many Sino-Korean words should I learn before learning the roots?
Begin with 50 to 100 frequent roots. These will account for most everyday and academic vocabulary words.
Q3. Do Sino-Korean words sound too formal when spoken in Korean?
Yes. Many everyday words, like 전화 (phone), 병원 (hospital) and 공부 (study), are Sino-Korean. They are employed in both spoken and written language.
Q4. Is Sino-Korean vocabulary hard to learn?
It might be hard at first. But once you learn the patterns, it gets easier, because so many words share common roots.
Q5. Will knowledge of Sino-Korean vocabulary be helpful if I learn other languages?
Yes. If you ever learn Chinese or Japanese, then you’ll be surprised at how many words look the same! This results in a more efficient learning process.