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One of the things that drew me to my heritage language, Korean, was its spelling component. The characters themselves represent of the mouth’s position and shape, which is so incredibly fascinating to me. Plosives are very common in Korean’s phonemic inventory, and they are typically, or exclusively at times, much more aspirated compared to English sounds. For instance, the G sound in English has a similar character in Korean (ㄱ), but this velar stop, to my ears, blurs the line between voiced and voiceless depending on the word, or the vowel that follows it. So, for most Korean language learners, learning ㄱ seems like a simple enterprise, until they realize the nuances behind the voiced vs. voiceless can be a bit more complex (and this is just one example). Perhaps my favorite relationship between spelling and pronunciation, however, is the “ㅅ” character. In most cases, it is pronounced exactly like the letter “s” in English, but when paired with the vowel, “ㅣ”, (similar to “ee”), this 시 sound creates a “shee” sound, rather than a “see” sound. This fricative change is a key distinguisher in Korean, you will never hear a “see” sound, which is notable as there is no demarcation for this fricative change in its spelling.

Discussion Post #4

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

When I prepare a presentation in English, there is one thing I have to check before the date. It is checking the sound. Particular words have a distinctive sound even though they share the same alphabet or alphabetic order. However, I do not need to check any sounds if the presentation is in Korean. Hangul, the Korean alphabet, has fixed sounds for each character. The sound and the spelling are always together in Korean. I strongly believe that Korean is one of the easiest languages to read and speak (not considering listening, writing, and knowing the meaning). Sound is more based on speech, but spelling is more based on texts. Sound or spelling is difficult to be defined in English even if you know the other one. My target language, which is Korean, has an advantage over English in sound and spelling since they have a more direct relationship as written above. Korean has sounds that are difficult to express in American English, which is produced by the character ㅡ (EU). I remember the legendary soccer player from Korea, Cha Bum-Gun, who used his nickname Chaboom because people could not pronounce the Gun (Geun) sound. I think Korean is entertaining to learn because there are different sounds. There are soft sounds(ㄴ, N)(ㄹ, L), plosive sounds (ㅌ, T)(ㅍ, P), and characters that already sound like a word (ㅟ, WE). I will apply my learning of the relationship between sound and spelling to improve my ability in Korean.

Language learning is a process of mastering a tool that I can use in everyday life. I have learnt a lot of skill by my own such as Photoshop, Premium Pro. These tools all require tremendous time input and logical study plans. To begin with, in language, one have to appreciate sound, grammar, and meaning in order for proper usage. Likewise, Premium Pro requires users to import video, soundtrack, and editing logic in orde to make a understandable video. By acknowledging all these basis for leanring, one can build their own knowledge by acquiring understanding of each pillar. One thing I realize through studying is the importance of logic, and in this case, structure. Being similar to constructing a building, as long as you are following the right structure, the building can be accepted. 

The diagram reminds me the importance of incorportaing culture elements into my learning plan. In the Sociology portion, it adresses the existence and importance of social context in daily languages. The syntax, on the other hand, serve as a tool for better comprehension of social behaviors. By transcirbing social norms into languages people can undertand, linguistics also addresses the necessity of learning the culture behind the language. I am planning to visit Korea for perceiving the culture there. By travelling, I can undertand syntax better and acknowledge why people use the language certain way may be different from my own culture. 

One type of video content that I recently got into is called mukbang videos. Mukbang is a show that YouTubers or streamers broadcast themselves eating, sometimes with the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). Mukbang takes a huge role in Korean culture. Mukbang content started in Korea as it is an abbreviation of  “mukneun bangsong” which means ‘eating broadcast’. It was created to provide satisfaction for viewers through the variety of food and the way they eat. Additionally, ASMR of the entertainers chewing, mixing the food, or cooking serves as an enjoyable sensation, fulfilling the hearing senses. Foreign YouTubers, content creators, and streamers started catching up to the mukbang trends, creating equivalent videos of them eating. I believe that mukbang allowed the expansion and recognition of Korean foods and Korea in general. The most popular mukbang channels tend to have content creators to have crunchy foods, unusual, unique foods, mass amounts of food, and videos with English subtitles. Mukbang is now a worldwide phenomenon that can easily be found on any media platform. Some popular entertainment platforms that mukbang broadcasters use are YouTube, TikTok, AfreecaTV (a Korean live-streaming platform), and Twitch.

I personally started watching Korean mukbang videos whenever I started craving authentic Korean foods that I enjoyed while I was studying abroad in Korea. Some of my favorite videos include foods such as tteokbokki, convenience store foods, and home-cooked meals. I also like to watch videos of YouTubers who are able to eat massive amounts along with eating multiple varieties of foods. Through the mukbang videos, I also come across a lot of the trends that are happening in Korea. Some examples include the spicy noodle challenge and the usage of rice papers. I also caught onto the trends of typical combinations of foods from specific brands. One of my favorite combinations includes a dish called ‘tteokbokki’ (spicy rice cake) from a brand called ‘Yeop Tteok’ and ‘honey combo’ (a type of sweet fried chicken) from ‘Gyochon’. Just by watching the mukbang videos, I was able to learn and connect with Korean culture. 

Two of my go-to mukbang content creators on YouTube are “heebab” and “Samdaejang.” I like the YouTuber heebab because she is known for eating a crazy amount of food. She has become well known as she makes collaborations with famous entertainers in Korea. Her videos are also very helpful in learning Korean because she provides English subtitles in all of her videos. She travels to different places in Korea that I have never been to try popular restaurants. She also includes clips of herself communicating with the servers and her personal manager. Finally, I like the channel Samdaejang because they are a group of YouTubers who come up with interesting mukbang contents such as 의리 먹방 (euryi mukbang) and 도전 먹방 (dojeun mukbang) which are challenging mukbangs. Although they do not have the option for English subtitles, it is still useful as they are a group of friends. I am able to learn the casual conversations they hold while they are eating. They also make puns that allow me to know the different meanings of certain words. 

Mukbang #1

Mukbang #2

After reading How to Investigate Language Structure, I have noticed the different levels of language, including the physical forms and the abstract meaning forms. Under that, there are subcategories of language including phonetics, phonology, grammar, and semantics. I feel like whenever I learned a language, it always just focused on the grammar aspects when creating phrases and sentences. But the reading gives a good direction and order when learning a language. While studying the grammatical pattern, it is also important to highlight the semantic and phonological factors as they can change the meaning of the language. 

While viewing the diagram from Aitchison’s Linguistics, I am interested to approach sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics. Knowing the sociolinguistics of Korea will really shape and form the way they view certain social factors. Knowing the way they view society will affect the language and the way people interact. I would work on improving the semantics and phonology aspects of the language. Leaning toward anthropological linguistics will allow me to branch out into knowing the cultural practices and societal structures that affect language. 

Although I have not learned a lot of Korean yet I can assume the importance of the sociology and anthropology of the Korean language. For example, the benefit of studying the sociology side of Korean is understanding certain phrases, words, tones, and pronunciations that Korean people use in order to properly communicate with each other. There may be certain phrases that are specific to the Korean language that can’t be easily translated into English because the semantics of that certain phrase has more meaning to Koreans than to Americans/ other English speakers. The benefit of approaching Korean in the subject of anthropology is understanding how and why the language came to what it is today. In the old times, I know Koreans used to speak in a different way similar to how when we think of American English during the revolutionary times it sounds and looks a lot different than modern English used in America.  Understanding how Korean got to its modern-day form may allow me to better understand the importance of words and phrases than weren’t used in the past and why they are used now.

Discussion Post #3

David Kim

30262888

david.kim123@richmond.edu

After I read “How to investigate language structure,” I got to view languages from a more complex perspective. I learned that there are three main levels of language structure. Semantics is the area of how meaning is expressed and understood within a language. The meaning of individual words, idioms, and larger stretches of discourse is important in semantics. Grammar is the area of how sentences are structured to possess a meaningful expression. Syntax, the way sentences are constructed, and morphology, the way words are constructed are important in grammar. Medium of linguistic transmission is the way meaningful sentences can be conveyed between the participants in an act of communication. I also learned that the four-level models of language are phonetics, phonology, grammar, and semantics.

English and Korean have been natural subjects for me because the circumstances that surrounded me taught me those languages. In that way, I have no memory or experience of learning grammar for both languages. Challenging vocabulary has been the main study for me. I think that is why I keep struggling with detail sentence structures. This new knowledge of language structures and linguistic perspectives will help me to approach my target language at different levels and aims.

While looking at the diagram from Aitchinson, I recalled the many discussions I had in my sociology and anthropology classes. Viewing linguistics through an anthropological perspective lends itself to my enjoyment of the history of languages, so applying linguistics to a broader context, in my opinion, is very useful. Philology as a whole can be used as a vessel to transport one to another culture, so seeing the historical shapers of language offers a nuanced understanding of the modern use of words. Sociology, on the other hand, seems to be readily applicable in terms of the contemporary understanding of a language. Rhetoric in modern spheres is polarizing in how people view it, but regardless of how one views it, exploring the institutions, governments, and people who shape our understanding of language is vital. However, applied linguistics will be chiefly concerned with for this class. Computational linguistics, in addition, is also a source of deep fascination, but I’ll explore this in my own time. Returning to applied linguistics, however, I hope to be able to converse with people in a manner that is fluid, and conducive to a better mutual understanding with one another. Being more extroverted and curious about others, language presents the unique opportunity to widen the gamut of those I can learn about, and applied linguistics looks to use language for the betterment of others. All in all, I hope to use an anthropological investigation to equip me with cultural and historical knowledge, sociolinguistics to understand how it is used, and applied linguistics to offer solutions through language.