Comparative Grammar Project:

≠ 콩글리시 English

Michael Angelo

Wayne State University

Spring 2014

Abstract

This paper presents a brief historical account of Konglish, possible source of errors

Konglish speakers are likely to encounter when speaking and learning English, and task

activities designed to highlight grammatical variations between Konglish and English. It

explores the syllabification differences of English loanwords regularly occurring in

Konglish today, phonological limitations of the Korean language in pronouncing English

sounds, and the semantics in which Konglish is used. By reviewing current research on

Konglish grammar, as well as drawing from the author’s own background knowledge and

usage of Konglish, the aim of this research is to improve English second language

acquisition among native Korean-speaking students by focusing on key grammatical

differences between Konglish and English.

Introduction

While research has consensually evidenced that many of the first English loanwords

to enter Korean did so via Japanese during the colonial period more than 100 years ago, the

exact origins of Konglish – the English-Korean hybrid spoken regularly in Korea – are still

widely unknown today (Fullerton 2009). Some researchers cite Korean-English cell phone

dictionaries as the source for the widespread proliferation of Konglish since the initial

introduction by the Japanese (Fullerton 2009), while others attribute it to social norms and

the behaviors of those speaking it (Kim 2014; Sueng-woo 2008), but regardless of these

discrepancies surrounding its origins, the status of Konglish on the world stage is beyond

debate today (Lawrence 2012) with as much as ten percent of the modern Korean language

being made up of English loanwords (Fullerton 2009).

In years past, Konglish has been erroneously classified as merely a collection of

loanwords, a codified Korean-English, an interlanguage for Korean English second language

learners, just one of several “new Englishes” coming into being, or simply as bad English.

Konglish has even been categorized as a sublanguage, and perhaps it is because of the ever-

changing nature of language that the role and status of Konglish has wavered so much

throughout its past (Lawrence 2012). Isolationist and nationalist movements in the

country have even had successes at curtailing the acceptability of Konglish and demonizing

it as a relic of colonialism (Kim 2014). As it exists today though, Konglish is now

considered a potential contact vernacular (Lawrence 2012).

By definition, potential contact vernaculars display linguistic consideration for

morphology, semantics, syntax, pronunciation, pragmatics and discourse but are not

unique enough to be considered their own languages (Lawrence 2012). In short, the

presence of Konglish in Korean has become so pervasive that citizens may be unaware that

they are using loanwords at all; or the preference for Konglish has already overridden the

usage of the Korean word – as seen in the Konglish “ ” 러시아 (Russia, or “la-shi-ah”) or “오

” 렌지 (Orange, or “oh-len-ji”). Citrus fruits have never grown well in the temperate Korean

peninsula, which may account for usage of the English loan in this instance, but certainly

Koreans must have seen the color orange or the country of Russia well before the Japanese

colonization; and it’s due to inconsistencies like these that have left the status, usage and

history of Konglish so muddled through the years.

Because of its unknown history, the shifting views on its usage, and the long-term

evolutionary effect it is having on the Korean language proper, combined with the author’s

own interest and experience using Konglish, this paper will analyze formal, grammatical

features of Konglish, will investigate Konglish phonemic and semantic qualities, and will

present several task-based, input activities designed to highlight linguistic differences

between Konglish and its parent languages.

Comparison

Since Konglish is a hybrid of the Korean and English languages, it displays

grammatical properties of both languages in varying degrees. Usage of the word “ ” 니스

(Nice, or “nice-uh”) as a congratulations, for example, displays these conflicting

grammatical considerations in that it follows English semantics in usage but follows Korean

phonology in pronunciation. Korean has a natural tendency to attach vowel sounds to

unaccompanied consonant endings in individual syllables and words (Eun-Young 2012),

which can be seen in the Konglish pronunciation of this widely used, acceptable and

understandable Korean term. First time, native English speakers in country may have

difficulties in comprehending Konglish words like 니스 on the first encounter, however, a

guiding rule of thumb for the Konglishization of English words is to simply pronounce the

silent e ending that so is common in the English lexicon. Although this rule doesn’t account

for all English loanwords existing in Korean today, it can be generally applied to many

English words and improves Konglish-English communications. Some examples of words

in which this rule applies include: Mike or 마이크 (“ma-ee-kuh”); juice or 주스 (“juice-

uh”); and skate or 스케이트 (“suh-kae-ee-tuh”).

Similarly, the /ʃ/ and /t͡ʃ/sounds – “th” and “ch” respectively – are almost never

used to end a word or syllable in Korean and this too lends itself to Konglish (Eun-Young

2012). The standard process for Konglishizing English loanwords that end in either of

these sounds is to attach /ē/ or the “y” sound in “happy” to the end of the word. Western

ears would have no difficulty deciphering the difference between “trash” and “trashy;” to a

Konglish-speaking Korean, however, these would be homophones. Other instances of this

appearing in Konglish include: Josh or조 시 (“josh-y”) and brush or 브러시 (“buh-la-she”).

Other grammatical variances between English and Korean exist in abundance as

well and have had a role in shaping the Konglish spoken today. The English language

makes use of onset and closing consonant clusters as seen in the words “stress” and

“Christmas;” however Korean avoids consonant clusters and instead breaks the clusters

into several syllables – resulting in Konglish words like “스트레스” (stress, or “suh-tuh-lae-

suh”) and “크리스마스” (Christmas, or “kuh-li-suh-ma-suh”) that mean and sound similar

to their English counterparts but contain noticeably more syllables. The long i sound in

“tiger” (/ī/) is another variant between the two parent languages, and Konglish words with

this phoneme covert the sound to the diphthong /ʌɪ/heard in “Michael.” Additionally, the

Korean tendency to end words with vowels instead of consonants results in the systematic

replacement of the common “-er” ending in English with the “aw” sound or /ô/ phoneme

found in Korean – turning words like computer into 컴퓨터 (or “kom-pyu-taw”).

Potential Sources of Errors

Phonetics is a primary source of errors for Korean ESL students because the Korean

language lacks native /f/, /v/, /z/, /w/, /ð/ and /θ/ sounds and uses only one symbol to

denote the /l/ and /r/ phonemes (Eun-Young 2012; Korean Phonemic Inventory 2014).

The trend for Konglishizing English loanwords that use these sounds is to replace the alien

phonemes with those native to Korean, however, many of the replacement phonemes

effectively alter the sound of the Konglishized word so much that native English speakers

would have difficulty understanding what was said (Kim 2014). The /z/ phoneme is a

particularly shining example of this practice, coming through in Korean as /j/, and

producing Konglish favorites like “피자” and “좀비” (pizza or “pi-ja” and zombie or “jom-

bi” respectively).

The /f/ sound in English is another example of an alien phoneme to Korean pallets.

Because /f/ doesn’t naturally exist in Korean and is unlike anything that does exist in

Korean phonology, /f/ is often mispronounced by Koreans as something nearer /b/, /p/, or

in some cases /hu /. ə As such, the English word “fighting” comes through in Konglish as “화

이팅” (“hwah-ee-ting”) and is vernacularly used as a cheer or rah during sporting events

(Sueng-woo 2008) and “flash” translates to “플래쉬” (“puhl-lae-shui”) and carries a

synonymous meaning to its English counter. Research published this year has linked the

many phonemic /f/ translations to the clipping of words and to hypercorrection (Kim

2014).

In addition to the examples of /f/ and /z/, further phonological potential source of

errors should be given to the interchangeability of /l/ and /r/ in Korean and the absence

of either “th” phoneme in Korean (Kim 2014); the similarities between /j/ and /ch/ as they

exist in Korean (Lawrence 2012); and nasal final stops and intonation or the lack of

stressed/unstressed syllables in Korean (Korean Phonemic Inventory 2014). As evidenced

by Konglish words in existence today, these are just some of the most typical, phonological

difficulties Koreans face when learning English, and as such shouldn’t be overlooked when

teaching ESL.

Further consideration of Konglish sociolinguistics, morphology and semantics

reveal additional potential source of errors for Korean ESL students (Eun-Young 2012;

Kim 2014). As the history of Konglish reveals, the acceptability of using English loanwords

has waxed and waned over the years but is widely acceptable today (Fullerton 2009).

Consequently, the acceptance of Konglish by society has been marked with limited

pushback (Sueng-woo 2008) and a boom of innovative morphological and semantic

changes to the way Konglish is used. Some of the most notable instances of these changes

include semantic shifts, creative compounding, mixed-code combinations and clipping

(Eun-Young 2012).

Semantic shifts occur when the definition of a word changes over time and can be

found in abundance in Konglish. For Korean ESL students semantic shifts between English

and Konglish are a possible source of error because of the completely different definitions a

single word can have. 사이다 (cider, or “sa-ee-da”) is one example of such semantic shifts,

denoting lemon-lime pop like Sprite or 7Up in Konglish and apple cider in English. Other

examples include 서비스 or service (meaning free, complimentary or on the house in

Konglish) and 레스토랑 or restaurant (Konglish for a formal, sit-down restaurant not

including fast food) (Eun-Young 2012).

Creative compounds in Konglish are the result of two individual, English lexemes

being compounded to form a new word unseen in the parent English language. Unknown

to the rest of the English-speaking world, Konglish creative compounds are evidence of the

dynamic nature of Konglish and can furthermore hinder English second language

acquisition among Korean students. Examples of creative compounds in Konglish include:

핸드폰 (hand phone, or “hahn-duh-pone) meaning cell phone; 개그맨 (gag man, or “gae-

guh-maen”) meaning comedian; and 프리 사이즈 (free size, or “puh-lee-sa-ee-juh)

meaning one size fits all (Eun-Young 2012).

Konglish mixed code combinations, similar to creative compounds, are the

combination of two or more words but instead combine Korean and English lexemes

together to form a new word. The result of mixed code combinations can be seen in the

Konglish word 안전벨 트 (or “ahn-jeon-bel-tuh”), which combines the Korean word for

“safety” (안전) with the English word for “belt” to form the Korean word for seatbelts.

Another instance of a commonly heard mixed code combination is 감 자 칩 (or “gam-ja-

chip”) and is made from the Korean word for potato (감자) and the English word for chip to

form the Korean word for potato chip. Mixed code combinations are used not only to

create Korean synonyms for English words but also to create words or ideas that are

unheard of or foreign to English, further causing potential source of errors for Korean ESL

students. 눈 팅 (or “noon-ting”) is a combination of the Korean word for “eye” (눈) and the

“–ting” ending in the word “meeting” and is used to denote a person who reads Internet

posts but does not contribute to them, for example (Eun-Young 2012).

Clipping, much as the name implies, is the shortening of an existing term that retains

its original meaning, and the practice is as common to Konglish as it is to English or any

other language. Unfortunately for Korean speakers learning English, however, Konglish

clippings almost never occur in native English speech and can be a potential source of

error. “Remote controller” exemplifies the dichotomous ways in which the two languages

clip words very well. Commonly shortened to just “remote” or “controller” in English, the

word is clipped in Konglish to 리모트콘 (“lee-moe-tuh con”) or remote con. Other

occurrences of clipping in Konglish are seen in the words 백 뮤식 (back music, or “baek

myu-sic”) and 오무라이스 (omu rice, or “oh-mu-la-ee-suh”), meaning background music

and omelet rice respectively (Eun-Young 2012).

Instruction and Activities

Despite its status as a potential contact vernacular today, the growing influence

Konglish has had on the Korean language proper throughout history – as well as the many,

dynamic ways in which it’s being currently used– indicate the larger role Konglish is having

on the evolution of the Korean language. Defectors from North Korea – where Konglish

doesn’t exist and Chinese reigns as the most influential foreign language – have already

expressed difficulties in communicating with South Koreans, and the two governments

have agreed to at least attempt to reconcile their lexicons (Lee 2007). The larger

implication of the widening rift between the two Koreans begs to be seen, but the

importance and prevalence of Konglish remain steadfast with each passing day.

It is because of all of these considerations that the distinction between Konglish and

English must be made clear to Korean students learning English. The following four input

activities are therefore designed to introduce and highlight some of the grammatical

differences existing between Konglish and English. The first activity focuses on the syllabic

differences between Konglish and English, consonant clusters and phonemes, and the

second on the morphology of English words entering Korean according to Korean grammar

rules. The third activity tasks students to address the morphological and phonetic

difference of the two languages without regard for Korean grammar, and the last activity

exercises Korean ESL learners listening ability by having them listen to homophones. After

completion of the input activities, the attached lesson plan offers students a final review of

the information covered and allows for peer evaluation by means of creating captions to

pictures of poor Konglish.

≠ 콩글리시 English Input Activity 1

Syllable counts – Work with a partner reading the Konglish and English words out loud, keeping track of how many syllables are in each.

Syllables 콩글리시 English Syllables

2 커피 Coffee

4 스트레스 Stress

2 피자 Pizza

3 넥타이 Necktie

3 러시아 Russia

3 컴퓨터 Computer

3 화이팅 Fighting

2 택시 Taxi

3 카메라 Camera

5 크리스마스 Christmas

≠ 콩글리시 English Input Activity 2

Konglishizing – Following the rules of Korean grammar, work with your partner to create your own Konglishzation of these English words, keeping track of how many syllables are in each form.

Syllables 콩글리시 English Syllables

Josh 1

garbage 2

twelve 1

fleece 1

crazy 2

plush 1

Flint 1

≠ 콩글리시 English Input Activity 3

Konglishizing Continued – Forget the rules of Korean grammar and work with your partner to create your own Konglishzation of these English words. Substitute English letters for Korean symbols for the correct sound and make sure the Konglish word has the same number of syllables as the English.

≠ 콩글리시 English Input Activity 4

Homophone or not – Listen to your partner read the pairs of words below and mark whether the words sound exactly the same or not.

콩글리시 English Syllables

(좀비) zombie 2

silence 2

buffering 3

tigers 2

orange 1

Australopithecus 6

Transformers 3

serving 2

References

Eun-Young, J. K. (2012). Creative adoption: trends in Anglicisms in Korea. English Today, 28, pp 15-17 doi:10.1017/S0266078412000107.  Retrieved from: 

Words HomophoneYes or No

TrashTrashyOrange오렌지Dollar달러

BreathBreatheMooseMoosCola콜라

TeaseTeas

http://journals.cambridge.org.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=8587174&jid=ENG&volumeId=28&issueId=02&aid=8587173&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0266078412000107

Fullerton, C.  (2009, December 12).  Origins of Konglish.  The Korea Times.  Retrieved from: http://www.koreatimes.kr/www/news/opinon/2014/02/162_57881.html

Kim, H. (2014). Huffing and puffing about /f/-ing everything: language ideologies and phonological borrowing in South Korea (Master’s Thesis).  Retrieved from: ideals.illinois.edu.  (URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/46674)

Korean Phonemic Inventory. (2014). (Chart showing all phonemes of Korean language). American Speech Language Hearing Association.  Retrieved from: http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/practice/multicultural/KoreanPhonemicInventory.pdf

Lawrence, C. B. (2012). The Korean English linguistic landscape. World Englishes. 31(1), 70-92. Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2011.01741.x/abstract

Lee E. (2007). A wordy problem faces the Koreas. Korea Joongang Daily. Culture feature. Nov 10,2007. Retrieved from: http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2882555

Sueng-woo, K.  (2008, September 12).  Ruling Out Konglish.  The Korea Times.  Retrieved from: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/09/136_30992.html

Appendix A