TeacherJoy

The linguistic patterns demonstrated at the previous post—existential constructions and possessive constructions in Korean, which involve the appearance of markers and elements of a sentence—are intricately and elaborately connected to the concept of old and new information in Korean.

In essence, new information is typically associated with the presence of case markers: the subject case marker ‘-이/-가’ and the object case marker ‘-을/-를.’

New information can be understood in two ways. First, it refers to a word, a phrase, or complete sentence that introduces entirely new information to carry on a conversation. It pertains to something that has not yet been disclosed or shared with the participants of the conversation. From a different standpoint, it can also imply the speaker’s intention.

유리 엄마 (Yuri’s mom): 유리야, 밤에 일찍 좀 들어와. – Yuri, come home early at night.

유리 (Yuri): 엄마, 내가 오늘 너무 피곤해. – Mom, I’m really exhausted today.

유리 엄마 (Yuri’s mom): 딸, 시간 좀 지켜! – Sweetie, be on time, please!

In this conversation, 유리 (Yuri)’s response may seem inappropriate. However, it becomes appropriate if 유리 (Yuri) intended to stop her mom from speaking by changing the topic.

In other words, the whole sentence “내가 오늘 너무 피곤해 (I’m really exhausted today)” can be interpreted as “I don’t want to argue with you” or “Can we stop arguing?” and so on.

It should be pointed out that the subject appears with the case marker, which is unusual, and the subject “내가” should be explicitly included in the sentence rather than omitted.

Similarly, the object case marker “-을/-를” follows the same mechanism, playing a crucial role in distinguishing old and new information within a sentence. Thus, when “시간” appears without the object case marker “-을/-를,” as in “시간 좀 지켜,” it refers to a specific time that 유리 엄마 (Yuri’s mom) and 유리 (Yuri) previously agreed upon.

On the other hand, when the definite “시간” is marked with the object case marker “-을/-를” and pronounced with a high pitch accent, it becomes more emphasized. This suggests that 유리 엄마 (Yuri’s mom) is specifically instructing 유리 (Yuri) to 지키- (follow or obey) the promised “시간 (time).” In English, a similar nuance can be conveyed by placing a high pitch accent on the verb. Thus, “시간을 좀 지켜” would sound as “BE on time, please.”

Address terms

There are largely two ways to form address terms: formal and informal.

Formal : [Family name] + First name / Given name + 님 / 씨

• [김] 민정 님, [김] 유리 님 [김] 민정 씨, [김] 유리 씨
• 사장님 (president, CEO, boss)
• 선생님 (teacher)
• 기사님 (taxi/bus driver)
• 어머님 (mother-in-law, someone’s mother)

Informal : First name / Given name + -아 / -야

• 민정아, 유리야
• 내 사랑아, 친구야

In formal address terms, those derived with 님 are more commonly used than those with 씨 nowadays. Both 님 and 씨 are attached to a person’s names, or occupational/job titles regardless of whether the last syllable ends in a consonant or a vowel.

Korean native speakers tend to omit the family name when using these terms, as doing so generally sound friendlier. Additionally, many address terms have become fixed and permanent as single word, such as 사장님, 선생님, and so on.

In contrast, informal address terms are formed with the two-shape suffix “-아/-야.” When the last syllable of a name ends in a consonants, “-아” is attached, whereas when it ends in a vowel, “-야” is attached. Additionally, only first or given names are used rather than full names, as terms derived with “-아/-야” are exclusively used in intimate relationships.