European International Journal of Philological Sciences
63
https://eipublication.com/index.php/eijps
TYPE
Original Research
PAGE NO.
63-66
DOI
OPEN ACCESS
SUBMITED
29 January 2025
ACCEPTED
28 February 2025
PUBLISHED
31 March 2025
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue 03 2025
COPYRIGHT
© 2025 Original content from this work may be used under the terms
of the creative commons attributes 4.0 License.
Words and Expressions for
Expressing Politeness
Alimova Dilbar
lecturer of the Department of Korean Philology, Faculty of Oriental
Languages, Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages, Uzbekistan
Abstract
: This article is devoted to the concept of
"Politeness" in Korean. The article reveals the types of
politeness. This article vividly illustrates the
communication culture of the Korean language.
Keywords: Politeness, culture of speech, speech
etiquette, Korean, address. This article examines the
category of politeness in the Korean language as a
unique linguistic and cultural phenomenon that reflects
Confucian traditions, social values, and hierarchical
relations characteristic of Korean society. The main
focus is on the analysis of the main levels of speech
etiquette, such as formal-polite, informal-polite, and
informal speech, as well as the grammatical and lexical
means that provide their expression.
The article describes in detail the use of formal and
informal grammatical endings, honorific verbs, polite
nouns and pronouns, and special expressions to indicate
respect. The features of the use of the suffix (
으
)
시
,
honorific forms of verbs and nouns, as well as the
nuances of choosing speech levels depending on social
status, age, and context of communication are revealed.
Keywords:
Formal and informal grammatical endings,
honorific verbs, polite nouns and pronouns.
Introduction:
South Korea is one of the countries in Asia
where Confucian norms are very deeply rooted.
Confucianism is connected there as a system of moral
and ethical norms, which is associated with the
relationship between people and those who support
them in correct, fair and virtuous behavior. In Korean
communication culture, a trace of Confucian norms is
clearly visible, such as a hierarchical system of relations,
supported by five canons in the relationship created by
Kun-tzu: the relationship between the emperor and the
subject, father and son, older brother and younger
brother, husband and wife, as well as two friends.
According to these principles, “the father should treat
his son kindly, and sons should treat the father with filial
piety; the elder brother should treat the younger with
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kindness, and the younger brother should respect the
elder; the husband should treat his wife fairly, and the
wife should be obliging to her husband; the ruler
should treat his subjects favorably, and his subjects
should be loyal to the ruler. " [1.43] Confucian norms
have determined in society a clear system of behavior
in communication between Koreans. According to A.A.
Kholodovich "Essay on the Grammar of the Korean
Language" M.-1954 p.21 society in Korea acts in
accordance with Confucian teachings and is divided
into relations between an elder and a junior, a leader
and a subordinate, a man and a woman, between
relatives, etc. It is also worth noting that relations
between people with the same position (people of the
same age or work) is much easier than in different
levels. Therefore, in this work, speech categories will
be revealed in this direction. The norms of Confucian
teaching are manifested in all senses of the word, in
gestures, manner of communication, bows, respect for
elders, in written and oral styles of expression of
politeness. When talking with your interlocutor, it is
best to choose a respectful communication style,
starting without changing the style from one to the
other. Such a complex structure of styles in the speech
of Koreans causes difficulties not only for those who
study this language as a foreign language, but even for
Koreans
themselves,
especially
the
younger
generation. The reason for this is the rapid
modernization of Korea and the strong influence of the
West. In the Korean language there are words
인사
,
which, judging by the dictionary, translates as
"greeting".
인사
하다
means to greet, say hello, and
인사말
are words of greeting. In Korean,
인사말
is
pronounced not only when meeting, parting, but also
in any wishes. Therefore, the word
인사
can also be
understood as “wish”. For example,
안녕히
주무
세요
(good night) is
인사
, just like
안녕히
계십시요
(goodbye). [4.26] In fact, the term
인사
하다
should be
understood as behavior according to the etiquette of
politeness, good manners, and
인사성
means
politeness, courtesy. For greetings and wishes, the word
안녕
(well-being, calmness) is often used. The adjective
안녕
하다
means calm, prosperous, healthy. The
greeting
안녕하십니까
? (Hello!) Is not an exclamation,
but rather a question like "are you all right?" It must be
remembered that
안녕하십니까
or
안녕하세요
is not
customary to use when referring to children and service
personnel. Exclamation
안녕
! is used in two ways. When
stretching, it means "Hello!", And when parting, "Bye!".
In everyday life, Koreans rarely use proper nouns or
personal pronouns in the courtesy category, which is
often difficult for foreigners to learn the language. For
example, the pronoun "You" in Korean is pronounced as
"
너
(no)" and when speaking sounds rather rude, only
close people are also called by name, in another
situation it also sounds too familiar. Instead of the
pronoun
너
, you can use the Korean word
당신
, which
can be translated as "you" (it is used mainly between
husband and wife or people who know well). However,
most often, in order to show respect to a stranger or a
superior person, they most often use special words that
determine the position of the interlocutor (these are
mainly words of Chinese origin) and when addressing in
the nominative case they add the suffix -
님
(nim).
[10.52]
Word
Suffix
Completed word
교수
(professor)
님
교수님
기사
(driver)
기사님
박사
(doctor)
박사님
누나
(elder sister)
누님
The surname of the interlocutor is often placed in front
of such specially indicating words. It is important not to
confuse the order, where the surname is put from the
beginning and then the position or title of the person
follows. For example,
박교수
님
- Professor Park
이선생
님
- Master Li
In addition to the
님
suffix, you can often hear how
Koreans use the nominal courtesy suffix -
씨
(shi), which
is used regardless of gender or age. This suffix is used
when talking with a stranger, stranger or unfamiliar
person, and also when it is not clear what age and status
the person is. You can attach both to the surname of the
interlocutor and to the first name. For example,
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가윤씨
–
Gayun - shi
다미르씨
–
Damir - shi
김윤미씨
–
Kim Yunmi
–
shi
Another suffix, but already used by a person higher in
status in relation to a person below and mainly by a
man to a man is
군
. For example,
박군
–
Pak - kun
오군
-
О –
gun
If you speak with a younger person or with a close
friend, then you can often add the suffix -
이
(i) to the
name. (However, this only applies to names ending in
a consonant). For example,
우리
수민
이
가
너무
예뻐요
지금
수민
이
가
서점
에서
일
해요
Also, in the vocative case, which is used
for familiar addressing by name, you can add the suffix
-
아
(a) (if the name ends with a consonant letter) and
야
(ya) (if the name ends with a vowel). It should be
noted that in order to use such a suffix, the interlocutor
must be a close friend, younger in age, etc. For
example,
민호
-
민호
야
- Minho
수근
-
수근
아
- Sugin
They are used in the proposal:
니기
나야
!
문
을
열어
!
Having considered some of the courtesy suffixes, one
cannot fail to mention the special words, of which
there are a lot in the Korean language. The exclusive
words in Korean are the more polite forms of common
words such as "sleep," "eat," "age," and others that are
used in relation to an adult or someone of higher
status. [4.31]
The word
먹다
(to eat) in this case changes to
잡수
시다
or
드시다
.
Therefore, often in restaurants in Korea, you can hear
the phrase "
많이
드세요
!" - "Bon Appetit".
The word
자다
(to sleep) is changed politely to
주무
시다
. In the morning, you can ask your parents "
잘
주무
셨어요
" - "Did you sleep well?" The word
말다
(to speak) becomes
말씀
하시다
.
If you want the interlocutor to start talking, then use
the phrase
말씀
하세요
.
The word
묻다
(to ask) comes in the form
여쭈다
.
Or the word
있다
(to be, is) ->
계시다
-
선생님
이
어디에
계십니까
?
When you invite your interlocutor to ask a question
from a person who is older, for example, from a
grandfather, you can say "
하라
버지
께
여줘
보세요
" -
"Ask grandfather" The following nouns also have a
polite form:
밥
-
진지
- Food
말
-
말씀
- Speech
집
-
댁
- House
생일
-
생신
- Birthday
이름
-
성함
- Name
나이
-
연세
- Age In the universities of South Korea, there is
also a ranking system in communication and graduates
of the same university of different years are called by
seniority.
선배
(
님
) (sonbe) - refers to students who are students
one year older in the same educational institution as the
speaker;
후배
(xube) - refers to students, students on a
course younger in the same educational institution as
the speaker. As mentioned earlier, Confucian norms are
the basis in family relationships. Apart from words like
mom (
어머니
) and dad (
아버지
), which are found in all
languages of the world, the Korean language has a
wealth of special words belonging to each family
member and even differs by gender. [6.15]
Here is some of them:
언니
- elder sister for female
누나
- elder sister for a male
형
- elder brother for a male
오빠
- elder brother for female
형제
- brothers
자매
- sisters
남매
- brother and sister
삼촌
- unmarried uncle on the part of her husband
외숙모
- aunt from the father's side
이모
- aunt from the mother's side, etc.
Walking along the street or in a store when addressing
an elderly stranger, there are special appeals:
아주머니
- used when addressing an elderly woman on
the street, in shops, etc.
아저씨
- used when referring to an elderly man over 40
years of age. Often this is an appeal to the seller or
driver.
아줌마
- used when addressing an elderly woman in a
bazaar, in shops, etc.
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In family relationships, speech etiquette plays an
important role. Koreans rarely call each other by their
first names. The wife often calls her husband
여보
(dear) or
당신
(you), and it is also often customary to
call her husband literally the father of the child, for
example,
민히
아빠
is the father of Minhi. A husband
can often call his wife
자기야
(dear) or simply by her
first name. Just like the father, the mother can be
called
민히
엄마
- Minhi's mother. And parents call
their children simply
딸
(daughter) or
아들
(son).
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