For the first class of this semester, my fellow student Valentina, our language partner Jannette and I met for the first time. We decided to hold three meetings including one group meeting and two individual meetings based on our different levels.
Sino-Korean System:
- 1 – 일 (il)
- 2 – 이 (ee)
- 3 – 삼 (sam)
- 4 – 사 (sa)
- 5 – 오 (oh)
- 6 – 육 (yook)
- 7 – 칠 (chil)
- 8 – 팔 (pal)
- 9 – 구 (gu)
- 10 – 십 (ship)
Native Korean System:
- 1 – 하나 (hana)
- 2 – 둘 (dul)
- 3 – 셋 (set)
- 4 – 넷 (net)
- 5 – 다섯 (daseot)
- 6 – 여섯 (yeoseot)
- 7 – 일곱 (ilgob)
- 8 – 여덟 (yeodeol)
- 9 – 아홉 (ahop)
- 10 – 열 (yeol)
For the individual meeting, I was able to regain the knowledge I learned from last semester-- numbers. There are two sets of numbers in Korean: the native Korean system and the Sino-Korean system. The native numbers are used for numbers of items (1-99) and age, while the Sino-Korean system is based on Chinese numbers and are used for dates, money, addresses, phone numbers, and numbers above 100. For this class, I consolidated my knowledge about recognizing and pronouncing numbers in both systems from 1 to 10. Moreover, I learned how to pronounce 11-100. To form double-digit numbers using Sino-Korean numbers, you just have to combine the number words from 1 to 10. For example:
- 20 – 이십
- 21 – 이십일
To make twenty, we use the words that refer to 2 (이) and 10 (십), and to make 21, we add the word that refers to 1 (일) to 20. The same logic applies to other double-digit numbers in the Sino-Korean number system.
On the other hand, this logic doesn't apply to the formation of double-digit numbers in the Native Korean system. Similar to English numbers, the Native-Korean number system has specific words for double-digit numbers that end in zero, and these are numbers like 20, 30, 40, and so on.
- 20 – 스물 (seumul)
- 30 – 서른 (seoreun)
- 40 – 마흔 (maheun)
- 50 – 쉰 (swin)
- 60 – 예순 (yesun)
- 70 – 일흔 (ilheun)
- 80 – 여든 (yeodeun)
- 90 – 아흔 (aheun)
Both number systems have specific uses in Korean, and it’s important that the number systems are used appropriately.
Sino Korean numbers are used for the following purposes (the ones that were covered in our class):
- To say the date:
- 일월 일일 (January 1st)
- To count the days:
- 일일, 이일
- To count the years:
- 일 년, 이 년
- To count the months:
- 일 개월, 이 개월
Native Korean numbers, on the other hand, are primarily used to count things. In Korean, when you count things, you have to use a specific word to count different nouns. These counting words are called counters.
The most common counter word is
Native Korean numbers, on the other hand, are primarily used to count things. In Korean, when you count things, you have to use a specific word to count different nouns. These counting words are called counters.
The most common counter word is 개 (ge), which we use to count most inanimate objects. However, there are many different counters in Korean. The one that was covered in our class was Age – 살 (sal).
However, there are also some exceptions where both systems are used at the same time.
One exception to the rule we covered is telling the time. When we tell the time in Korean, we actually use both Sino-Korean numbers and native-Korean numbers. 시 means ‘hour’, and to indicate what the hour is, we use native-Korean numbers in front of 시. 분 means ‘minute’, and to indicate how many minutes past the hour, we use Sino-Korean numbers in front of 분. For example:
- 1:10 – 한시 십분
- 5:20 – 다섯시 이십분
- 6:40 – 여섯시 사십분
- 10:05 – 열시 오분
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