What is the difference between honorifics and speech style in Korean?
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In Korean, the honorific particles such as -시 / -으시 are used to show respect to a person we are talking about.
On the other hand, using different speech styles can show respect to a person we are talking to.
Imagine a situation where you are talking to three other persons about these three persons. See how your speech can differ depending on who you are talking to and who you are talking about.
These three persons are: an elderly person with a high societal position, your aunt, and a little kid.
1. You are talking to the elderly person.
about aunt: 이모가 영화를 보십니다.
about kid: 아이가 영화를 봅니다.
We use formal polite speech style (-ㅂ니다 / - 습니다) in both sentences to show respect to the elderly person. However, we only use the -(으)시 particle in the first sentence to show that we respect our aunt.
2. You are talking to your aunt.
about the eldery: 저 분이 영화를 보세요. (보셔요)
about kid: 아이가 영화를 봐요.
We use informal polite speech style (-아요/-어요/-여요) in both sentences to show respect to our aunt. We only use the -(으)시 particle in the first sentence to show that we respect the eldery person.
3. You are talking to the kid.
about the eldery: 저 분이 영화를 보셔.
about aunt: 이모가 영화를 보셔.
We use casual speech style (-아/-어/-여) in both sentences since we are talking to a kid. At the same time we use the -(으)시 particle in both sentences to show our respect to the eldery and our aunt.
Korean
이모
영화
보다
아이
저
분
English
aunt
movie
to watch
kid
that
person
Quick reference (click to open)
Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j
Syllable: Bra-zil (2 syllables), Ar-gen-ti-na (4), In-di-a (3), Viet-nam (2), thin-king (2), beau-ti-ful (3), good (1)
Batchim: is a final consonant in a syllable. → Bra-zil (batchim: 'l'), Ar-gen-ti-na (batchims: 'r' and 'n'), In-di-a ('n'), Viet-nam ('t', 'm')
Romanization: is a conversion of text (not pronunciation ! ) from different writing system (Korean, Arabic, Russian, etc.) to the Roman (Latin) alphabet.
IPA: is an alphabetic system of phonetic (pronunciation) notation.
Noun: road, user, sister, table, sky
Pronoun: I, my, we, you, they, her
Verb: to go, to study, to think, to feel
Adjective: cold, kind, hungry, curious, expensive
Adverb: quickly, nicely, never, exactly, urgently
Preposition: from, to, on, in, with, till
Conjuction: and, because, if, but, while
Declarative sentence: I learn Korean.
Interrogative sentence: Do you learn Korean?
Imperative sentence: You must learn Korean!
Exclamative sentence: Wow, you learn Korean!
Verb / Adj. stem in Korean: part of a verb or adj. which is left after removing the last syllable -다 ( e.g. 가다 → 가, 예쁘다 → 예쁘, 듣다 → 듣 ).