{"id":4462,"date":"2017-03-01T22:30:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T03:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/?p=4462"},"modified":"2017-06-20T22:19:04","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T03:19:04","slug":"mysterious-korean-word-%ec%9a%b0%eb%a6%ac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/mysterious-korean-word-%ec%9a%b0%eb%a6%ac\/","title":{"rendered":"Mysterious Korean Word: \uc6b0\ub9ac"},"content":{"rendered":"

Korean culture is more community focused, and this strong sense of collectivism is deeply permeated in the Korean language. <\/strong><\/p>\n

If you study Korean, you will hear \u201c \uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em><\/span>_____\u201d on a daily basis. Direct translation of \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em><\/span>\u201d is \u201cwe\u201d or \u201cour\u201d in English. However, this is one of those Korean words you often do not want to translate literally. For example, what does \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em> \uc544\ub0b4<\/em><\/span>\u201d and \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em> \ub0a8\ud3b8<\/em><\/span>\u201d mean? Its direct translation would be \u201cour wife\u201d and \u201cour husband\u201d in English. Your response may be something like this: \u201cUh~, isn\u2019t monogamy the legal practice in Korea?\u201d You might find that these Korean expressions seem quite strange to your ears. In many cases, you cannot directly translate the meaning of \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em><\/span>\u201d as \u201cour\u201d in English. \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em> \uc544\ub0b4<\/em><\/span>\u201d and \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em> \ub0a8\ud3b8<\/em><\/span>\u201d actually mean \u201cmy wife\u201d and \u201cmy husband\u201d in English.<\/p>\n

Why is this Korean word \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em><\/span>\u201d deeply permeated in the Korean language? Korean culture emphasizes the value of the group that a person belongs to, whether it is a person\u2019s country, family, school, society, neighbor, hometown, etc. Koreans see these groups as a single entity. This aspect of collectivism has a huge impact on the way Koreans behave and speak. This Korean word \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em><\/span>\u201d would make sense to you only if you consider these aspects of Korean culture. Because Koreans value a group mindset, they generally use \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em><\/span>\u201d instead of \u201cmy\u201d when they refer to people and things they are related to. Here are some examples that you will frequently hear from Korean speakers:<\/p>\n

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Just remember that Korean people like to show unity by grouping themselves with same school, same company, same neighborhood, or same hometown, same club, and so on. When you hear Korean people referring to their wife or husband as \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em> \uc544\ub0b4<\/em><\/span>\u201d or \u201c\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/em> \ub0a8\ud3b8<\/em><\/span>\u201d next time, please don\u2019t have a mysterious expression on your face. They really mean \u201cmy wife\u201d or \u201cmy husband\u201d in English.<\/p>\n

\uac10\uc0ac\ud569\ub2c8\ub2e4<\/em><\/strong>!<\/em><\/strong><\/span> (Thank you!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

***Related Vocabulary***<\/strong><\/p>\n

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