K-pop is gaining a lot of my attention through the past few years. Aside from the entertaining benefit to me. Its influences on other cultures are remarkable. People who are affected by the hallyu select common used words in K-pop fandom and mix them in their daily conversations. From the asset of social linguistic, word borrowing and language hybridizing are both a result and a reason for identity recognition.
For example, the word 오빠, elder brother, is widely used in international fandoms as a reference to their idols. However, international K-pop fans don’r use this word under the grammar rules. Instead, they mix English or Spanish or Thai with this Korean word to show their identity as a K-pop fan. Similarly, the phrase 사랑해 is commonly used in fandom to express their love towards their idols. Nevertheless, international fans use this phrase despite grammar as well as the formality of speech. These two examples are not enough to provide enough information to reveal the whole picture. By digging into the culture in terms of language, I can get a wider view on this interesting issue.
Comments
Your post reminded me of the fact that I wanted to make a cultural post about K-pop and the terminology related to fandoms. I think the influence of K-pop has greatly affected the economy of South Korea as well as the popularity of the language. One thing that does bother me a little, as you said in your post, international fans tend to not use the correct form of expression when using widely known Korean words such as 사랑해. I hope fans will get the chance to properly immerse themselves into the language. Thank you for the interesting post.
Even though I don't keep up with K-pop, I'm impressed to hear how influential the entertainment can be. I think it's great that K-pop is helping spread Korean culture around. You mentioned that 오빠 and 사랑해 were being used by the fans and I also think that other people around the world are adopting aegyo by watching Korean entertainment (K-pop, variety shows, dramas, etc).