SDLC 105 - Learning Journal #6

[Dalila Softic]

I think knowing the history of a language can be helpful during the language learning process. For example, the Korean language heavily relies on "loanwords" which are words from other languages, typically from former ruling powers of Korea such as China and Japan. Chinese has such a large influence on the Korean language that Chinese words are called "Sino-Korean" rather than being categorized as loanwords. According to the book "The Korean Language" by Ho-Min Sohn, Sino-Korean words make up 60% of the total Korean vocabulary while native words make up 30% and loanwords make up 5%. Written Korean utilizes actual Chinese characters, called Hanja, and Korean children are taught how to read and utilize these characters throughout their schooling. Chinese numbers are also used for counting most things in Korean ranging from time to prices to the number of classes you have in a day. Native Korean numbers are not used as often as the Chinese number set is. Understanding the history of Chinese and Korean is truly vital for learning Korean. I would think the same can be said of many languages. Languages can be impacted by religion, ruling powers, and social structures.