One aspect of the Korean language that I always found rather difficult to memorize was that regarding Korean family and kinship terms. There were just too many different terms to remember, and thus I thought it would be useful to give a brief overview on them. First of all, family is called kajok (가족) in Korean. Below is a list of terms
Father: appa (아빠)
Mother: eomma (엄마)
older brother: Hyeong (형) if the speaker is a boy and oppa, (오빠) if the speaker is a girl
older sister: noona (누나) if one is a boy, eonni (언니) if one is a girl
younger brother: namdongsaeng (남동생)
younger sister: yeodongsaeng (여동생)
brothers: hyungje (형제) collectively
sisters: jamae (자매) collectively
On the father’s side of the family, which is called chinga (친가), there are different terms for relatives compared to that for the mother’s side.
Father’s side
Grandfather: harabeoji (할아버지)
Grandmother: halmeoni (할머니)
father’s older brother: keun appa (큰아빠)
father’s older brother’s wife: keun eomma (큰엄마)
father’s younger brother: jageun appa (작은아빠)
father’s younger brother’s wife: jageun eomma (작은엄마)
father’s unmarried younger brother: samchon (삼촌)
father’s sister: gomo (고모)
father’s sister’s husband; gomobu (고모부)
Mother’s side
Grandfather: oe harabeoji (외할아버지)
Grandmother: oe halmeoni (외할머니)
Mother’s brother: oe sookbu (외숙부)
Mother’s brother’s wife: oe sookmo (외숙부)
Mother’s sister: eemo (이모)
Mother’s sister’s husband: eemobu (이모부)
There are also different terms to call one’s husband, such as yeobo (여보), dangshin (당신), sarang (사랑), seobang (서방), nampyeon (남편), and more. Some terms to call one’s wife are yeobo (여보), dangshin (당신), anae (아내), and more. The husband normally calls the wife’s father jangin (장인) and the wife’s mother jangmo (장모). The wife calls the husband’s father siabeoji (시아버지) and the husband’s mother sieomoni (시어머니).
These are merely the basics of the language of Korean family and kinship, for there are so many more as one goes into the family tree. Whenever I am confused on terminology of relatives, I find myself asking my parents and often even they are confused because some are not used often. However, it is good to keep reference of what terms correspond to what family relationship. I find that these vocabulary words are more difficult than others just because of the specific relationships that they mean. Below is a kinship chart that easily breaks down some of the simpler terms.Screen%20Shot%202019-04-22%20at%203.44.10%20PM.png
Comments