희기는 까치 배 바닥 같다
hui.gi.neun kka.chi bae ba.dak gat.da
white-MYSTERYENDING magpie belly bottom be-like
To be like the belly of a magpie – white.
I wasn’t able to figure out any parse of -기는 that really made sense. “White” is verb-like (what is called descriptive verb, which stands in for adjectives in Korean). If I parse the ending as “summative” (기 – a bit like a gerund) + 는 (topic) I guess that gets close to a valid parse. It would make the whiteness the “topic” of the sentence, while the magpie’s belly is a kind of complement, with nothing tying them together except the comparison for some unmentioned subject. Anyway, even without clarity on the grammatical issue, I think the translation is more-or-less passable.
The meaning, according to the book, is that it applies to someone good at lying, especially white lies or bluffing.
I painted this picture a long time ago and [broken link! FIXME]posted it on the blog, but I think this aphorism merits a reposting of the picture.
“가을의 까치” (ink and watercolor). [daily log: walking, 5 km]
This means an ill-fitted agglomeration or patchwork of things, and extended metaphorically, I guess it’s used to refer to a badly constructed argument. To me, it sounds a bit like the old idea of how golems are supposed to be constructed. Anyway, that seems like something useful to know how to say, though if my Korean was good enough to recognize a badly constructed argument (or any kind of argument), I’d be too pleased to complain. [daily log: walking, 1.5 km]
매드클라운, "화." I found the lyrics, accompanied by a translation into Portuguese. Just in case you needed that.
가사
Trouble Trouble Our destiny Nosso destino é um problema 누가 더 아파? nuga deo apa? Quem está sofrendo mais? 누가 더 사랑해? nuga deo saran'hae? Quem está amando mais? 내게 미친 널 보고 있으면, naege michin neol bogo isseumyeon, Quando vejo você louco por mim, 난 웃지, 이렇게 웃지 nan utji, ireoke utji eu sorrio, sorrio assim.
Rap) 들어봐 uh deureobwa uh Ouça 바로 어제 3년약정한 핸드폰 정신차리니 박살 나있고 baro eoje sanyeonyajeongan haendeupon jeonshincharini bagsal na'itgo Ontem mesmo fez 3 anos que comprei o celular, após voltar aos meus sentidos, vejo que ele está em pedaços. 바닥엔 할부 안 끝난 모니터 눈앞에 넌 계속 악쓰고 있고 uh badagen halbu an keunnan moniteo nunape neon gyesog asseugo itgo uh No chão estão as prestações do monitor e na minha frente está você gritando.
젠장 뭐 답도 없지. 내가 널 밀치면 니가 날 밀쳐 jenjang mwo dapdo eopji. naega neol milchimyeon, niga nal milchyeo Droga, estou sem resposta. Se eu te empurro, você me empurra. 서로 씩씩거리면서 더럽게 질척이는데 나 완전 미쳐 seoro shishigeorimyeon deoreopge jilcheogineunde na wanjeon michyeo Ambos com raiva e você vem até mim, isso me tira do sério.
헤어지고 싶은 눈친데 날 시키지 말고 니가 직접 말하시던가 he'eojigo shipeun ninchinde nal shikiji malgo niga jigjeop marashideonga Vejo que você quer terminar, mas não faça você mesma isso. 어찌됐든 나쁜 쪽 되기 싫다 이건데 알아서 그럼 꺼지시던가 eojidoetteun nappeun jog doegi shilda ireonde araseo geureom keojishindeonga Enfim, sei que você não quer ser uma pessoa ruim, então suma.
어 그래, 잘가, 잘 지내. 니가 어디 어떻게 잘사나 두고볼건데 나 o geurae, jalga, jal jinae. niga eodi eotteoke jalsana dugobolgeonde na Ok, tchau, se cuida. Vou esperar pra ver se você vai ficar bem 널 너무 사랑해서, 딱 한마디만 할게 너랑 꼭 똑같은 사람 만나 쓰레기 새꺄 neol neomu saran'haeseo, tak hanmadiman halge neorang kok tok gateun saram manna, seuregi saekya. Como eu amo muito você, vou te dizer uma coisa… eu espero que você encontre uma pessoa igualzinha a você.
Trouble Trouble Our destiny Nosso destino é um problema 누가 더 아파? nuga deo apa? Quem está sofrendo mais? 누가 더 사랑해? nuga deo saran'hae? Quem está amando mais? 내게 미친 널 보고 있으면 naege michin neol bogo isseumyeon Quando vejo você louco por mim, 난 웃지 이렇게 웃지 nan utji, iroke utji eu sorrio, sorrio assim 라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 내가 미친 건지? 니가 미친 건지? naega michin geonji? niga michin geonji? Eu sou o louco? Você é a louca? 미친 너를 못 떠난 내가 미친 거지? michin neoreul mot tteonan naega michin geoji? Sou o louco por não conseguir deixar a louca que é você? 라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 날 놓지마, 날 갖지마 nal nojima, nal gatjima Deixa-me. Você não me tem.
사랑했던 건 진심 넌 내 맘에 별 saran'haetteon geon jimshim neon nae mame byeol Eu te amei de verdade, você era a estrela do meu coração. 근데 별은 별인데 서울에 별 geunde byeoreun byeorinde Seure byeol Uma estrela, mas como uma estrela em Seul 밤만 되면 아주 그냥 보이질 않어. bamman doemyeon aju geunyang boijil ana. Sempre que a noite vem, eu fico sem te ver. 내 속타서 그냥 보이질 않어 Nae sogtaseo geunyang boijil ana. Eu fico frustrado por não te ver.
반짝 별님 어딜 가셨나? 땅 속에 꺼졌나 했더니 진짜 땅 속이데 banjag byeolnim gashyeonna? tang soge keojyeonna? haetteoni jinja tang sogide Estrela cintilante, para onde você foi? Afundou no solo? Você está, realmente, no subsolo. 참 신명나보여 클럽에서 아주 그냥 흥에 겨워 번쩍번쩍 빛나데 cham shinmyeona boyeo keulleobeseo aju geunyang heunge gyeowo beonjeog beonjeog binnade Parece que está passando um tempo da sua vida em clube, se divertindo.
니가 뭐 그리 잘났어 날 감정이 없는 사람 취급하고? O que você pensa que é, me tratando como se eu não tivesse sentimento? 또 그게 당연하다는 듯 굴어 huh 넌 알긴 할까 나도 사람이란걸 Agindo como se isso fosse natural…você percebe isso? Eu sou humano também. 찌르면 아파 간지럽히면 웃어. Se me belisca, dói. Se faz cócegas, eu sorrio. 화를 낼 줄도 알고 슬프면 울어 Eu sei ficar com raiva, e choro quando estou triste. 엮였어 진심 더럽게 엮였어. 답이 있을 리 있나 없지 Eu fui jogado de verdade. E pra isso não tem resposta.
Trouble Trouble Our destiny Nosso destino é um problema 누가 더 아파? Quem está sofrendo mais? 누가 더 사랑해? Quem está amando mais? 내게 미친 널 보고 있으면 Quando vejo você louco por mim, 난 웃지 이렇게 웃지 eu fico sorrindo assim
넌 망가질수록, 더 내가 필요해. Quanto mais você se arruína, mais você precisa de mim. 니 속을 헤고 또 헤고 또 해도 널 진짜 모르겠어 못해먹겠다고 Eu procuro entender o seu interior, mas não consigo. 넌 나의 곁에서 가장 행복해, 외로움보단 괴로움을 택해 Você é mais feliz ao meu lado, mas opta pela solidão e a amargura.
겪을 만큼 겪었어 난 더는 볼 일없어 너와 나 사이? 일없어 Já vivenciei o bastante e não tenho interesse de ver mais coisas. Entre você e eu? Nunca mais. 마지막 그 말 후회할 텐데 Você vai se arrepender destas últimas palavras 야 됐고 볼장 다 봤고, 넌 그냥 머리꼭지부터 발끝까지 최악 Eu já vi tudo o que tinha de ver, você é a pior dos pés a cabeça. 별 같은 소리하고 앉았네 불꺼 Estrela, apague as luzes. 그만 난 자러 갈래 수고 Parei. Vou pra cama.
Hurt me Love me Our destiny Me machuca, me ama. Esse é o nosso destino. 마음껏 욕해 하지만 가지마 Pode me xingar do que quiser, mas não vá. Hurt me Love me But don't you say goodbye Me fere, me ama. Mas não sei dizer adeus. 이렇게 비틀대지만 Eu estou balançado
라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 내 말끝엔 또 칼끝이 O final das minhas palavras é uma faca afiada 라리라라라 라리라라라 larilalala larilala 니 손끝엔 또 눈물이 Em suas mãos há lágrimas de novo. 내가 미친 건지? 니가 미친 건지? Eu sou o louco? Você é a louca? 미친 너를 못 떠난 내가 미친 거지? Sou o louco por não conseguir deixar a louca que é você?
Check it out now, come on now let me bust it out,
Oh no too slow flow yo kick it a little faster come on
Just a La little more more faster come on come on
I said faster faster uh cause I like it like that and um uh
Come on yo faster yo go faster
넌 내게 말했지 세상을 떠나버린 후
꿈에서라도 다시는 만나서는 안된다고
하지만 매일 밤 꿈속에서 너를 만났어
아무말없이 날보며 울고만 서 있는 너를…
그토록 원했었지 너의 모든 흔적이 없어지길
우리의 모든기억 하얀 너도 강물 위에 띄어 보냈지만
내 손을 잡아봐 어디든 함께 갈테니
너 없이 혼자선 그 어떤 의미조차 될 순 없어
뭐라고 말좀해 왜 자꾸 울고만 있어
한번만 안아줘 이 꿈속에서 깰 수 있도록
넌 하얀 병실에서 조차 남겨질 내 걱정만 하곤 했어
우리 못다한 사랑은 잠시 접어두자고
오히려 나를 위로했어 이제 아무런 약속도
가난한 선물조차 할 수 없는 나
유일하게 너와 함께 할 수 있는
이 꿈에서 다시는 깨고 싶지 않아
미안해 미안해 하지마
내가 초라해지잖아
빨간 예쁜 입술로
어서 나를 죽이고 가
나는 괜찮아
마지막으로 나를 바라봐줘
아무렇지 않은 듯 웃어줘
네가 보고 싶을 때
기억할 수 있게
나의 머릿속에 네 얼굴 그릴 수 있게
널 보낼 수 없는 나의 욕심이
집착이 되어 널 가뒀고
혹시 이런 나 땜에 힘들었니
아무 대답 없는 너
바보처럼 왜
너를 지우지 못해
넌 떠나버렸는데
너의 눈 코 입
날 만지던 네 손길
작은 손톱까지 다
여전히 널 느낄 수 있지만
꺼진 불꽃처럼
타들어가버린
우리 사랑 모두 다
너무 아프지만 이젠 널
추억이라 부를게
사랑해 사랑했지만
내가 부족했었나 봐
혹시 우연이라도
한순간만이라도 널
볼 수 있을까
하루하루가 불안해져
네 모든 게 갈수록 희미해져
사진 속에 너는 왜
해맑게 웃는데
우리에게 다가오는 이별을 모른 채
널 보낼 수 없는 나의 욕심이
집착이 되어 널 가뒀고
혹시 이런 나 땜에 힘들었니
아무 대답 없는 너
바보처럼 왜
너를 지우지 못해
넌 떠나버렸는데
너의 눈 코 입
날 만지던 네 손길
작은 손톱까지 다
여전히 널 느낄 수 있지만
꺼진 불꽃처럼
타들어가버린
우리 사랑 모두 다
너무 아프지만 이젠 널
추억이라 부를게
나만을 바라보던 너의 까만 눈
향기로운 숨을 담은 너의 코
사랑해 사랑해
내게 속삭이던 그 입술을 난…
너의 눈 코 입
날 만지던 네 손길
작은 손톱까지 다
여전히 널 느낄 수 있지만
꺼진 불꽃처럼
타들어가버린
우리 사랑 모두 다
너무 아프지만 이젠 널
추억이라 부를게
Unexpectedly, the lyrics site offered an English translation.
Don’t be sorry,
That makes me more pitiful
With your pretty red lips
please hurry, kill me and go
I’m all right
Look at me one last time
Smile like nothing’s wrong,
So when I miss you
I can remember
So I can draw your face in my mind
My selfishness that couldn’t let you go
Turned into an obsession that imprisoned you
Were you hurt because of me?
You sit silently
Why am I a fool,
Why can’t I forget you
You’re already gone
Your eyes, nose, lips
Your touch that used to touch me,
To the ends of your fingertips
I can still feel you
But like a burnt out flame,
Burnt and destroyed
All of our love
It hurts so much, but now
I’ll call you a memory
Love you, loved you
I must have not been enough
Maybe I could see you
Just once by coincidence
Everyday I grow restless,
Everything about you
Is becoming faint
You smile back in our pictures,
Unknowing of our
Approaching farewell
My selfishness that couldn’t let you go
Turned into an obsession that imprisoned you
Were you hurt because of me?
You sit silently
Why am I a fool,
Why can’t I forget you
You’re already gone
Your eyes, nose, lips
Your touch that used to touch me,
To the ends of your fingertips
I can still feel you
But like a burnt out flame,
Burnt and destroyed
All of our love
It hurts so much, but now
I’ll call you a memory
Your black eyes that only saw me
Your nose that held the sweetest breath
Your lips that whispered
‘I love you, I love you’… I…
Your eyes, nose, lips
Your touch that used to touch me,
To the ends of your fingertips
I can still feel you
But like a burnt out flame,
Burnt and destroyed
All of our love
It hurts so much, but now
I’ll call you a memory.
시작이 반이다
si.jak.i ban.i.da
start-SUBJ half-COPULA
The start is half.
Which is to say, “Starting is half the battle.”
It was not hard to figure out, once I started trying to figure it out.
What I’m listening to right now.
Andy Kim, “Rock Me Gently.” Despite his name, he is not Korean (as is evident from the video, I think, too). Kim is a stage name, I guess. He is Lebanese-Canadian. [daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
I have these “Hello Kitty” index cards, which are pink. I got them for free somehow – I don’t recall when. But I use little index cards quite frequently (almost universally) in my speaking classes, when I allow students to make notes – I find the small format makes them think more about what information to put on their cards in preparation for speaking, and at least sometimes prevents them from writing out their speeches verbatim, because they can’t fit the full speech so well on such a small card.
Some of the students (boys, of course) complained about having pink, Hello Kitty index cards. I said deal with it. On a whim, I tried to create a less “girly” version of the Hello Kitty character. I called him/her “Yo, Cat.” Here is a bad-quality photo of a bad-quality sketch.
I guess I conceptualized this character as a hiphop artist.
내가 지금 듣고있어요.
[UPDATE 20180328: Video embed updated due to link-rot.]
매드 클라운, “콩 (Hide And Seek),” (Feat. Jooyoung 주영)
가사.
하루의 시작 똑같은 생활의 반복
속에 끈질기게 나를 놓지 않길
난 세상이란 바구니 속 작은 콩
행복이란 게 내 청춘의
방구석 어디쯤 숨었다면
난 쓰레기통 탁자 밑 신발장
안까지 싹 다 뒤졌겠지
하지만 나 바랬던 것들
여기 없네 내게 행복은
소문만 무성할 뿐 목격된 적 없네
속쓰린 아침 다시 밥과 마주했고
이걸 벌기 위해 이걸
또 삼키고 난 나가야 돼
삶이란 건 어쩌면
아빠의 구둣발 같은건가 봐
끊임없이 바닥과 부딪혀
닳고 아픈건가 봐
행복이란 게 마치
숨바꼭질과 같은 거라면
난 모든 길 모퉁이 모든 골목
구석까지 미친 듯 뒤졌겠지
모두가 모르겠단 표정으로
날 비웃을 때 답을 찾았다거나
답이 보인 게 아냐 난 그냥 믿었네
2011년 11월 난 보자기에
씌워진 저 작은 콩
까만 비닐봉지에 싸인
저 위가 내 하늘일 리 없다
믿었고 반복된 일상
평범함은 죄 아니니까
난 웅크린 채 숫자를 세
아직은 한참 밤이니까
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그날 밤
해 뜨면 어제 같은 오늘을
또 한 번 나 살아가겠지
붐비는 지하철 똑같은
발걸음들 나 따라가겠지
술잔 앞 꿈에 대한 얘기 할 때면
사실 내 목소리 떳떳하지 못해서
누군가 눈치챌까 괜시리
목소릴 높였지 이 곳을
벗어나고 싶어 난 내가
나로서 살고 싶어
더 비겁해지기 전에
겁 먹기 전에 이젠 나 답고 싶어
작은 콩 몸 속에는
서러움과 눈물 몇 방울
그리고 그 빛나는 믿음을
끌어안고 견디는 중
이 수많은 밤을
나를 믿는 것 꿈을 견디는 것
지금의 내 초라함은
잠시 스쳐갈 뿐이라는 것과
언젠가 머릴 들이밀고
솟아날 콩처럼 까만 보자기 속
난 한없이 더 질겨지고 있지
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그날 밤
하루 견뎌 또 하루
세상에 바짝 약 오른 채로
용기를 내긴 힘들었고
포기란 말은 참 쉬웠던
난 숫자를 세지
꼭꼭 숨어라 머리카락 보일라
어디로 넌 숨었을까
어디에 있건 상관없다고
자 하나 둘 셋 넷
다시 다섯 넷 셋 둘
세상은 나를 술래라 해
난 그래서 눈 가렸을 뿐
한때는 헷갈린 적도 있지만
난 이제 갈 길 가네
열까지 숫자를 세고
내일이 되면 난 더 빛나네
나는 더 빛나네
스물일곱의 그 밤
무작정 걸었던 그날 밤
가로등 아래 우두커니 서
난 어디로 갈지도 모른 채
스물일곱의 그 밤
내 모습이 초라해
눈을 뜨면 꼭 잡힐 것 같아
아득한 그 시절 그 날 밤
유승준, "사랑해 누나" (1997년!)… 어차피, 내 학생들의 연령이 이 노래의 세 미만이에요.
가사.
나를 미치도록 찐한 사랑에 빠지게 했던 그녀는 나보다 더 나이가 훨씬 많아 아니 쬐끔 하지만나는 네 어깨에다 손을 올리곤 했었지 왜냐하면 내가 키가더 크니까 혹시나 하는 두려움은 모두 떨쳐버려 세상이 만들어 논 기 유승준 사랑해 누나 준들은모두 버려 널 아끼고 너를 믿는 가슴속에 내 소중한 사람이 있다는 걸절대 잊어서는 안돼 아무리 날 노려 보아도 항상 내 이름을 불러대지 어깨에 내손을 올릴땐 새침한 그 미소가 너무나 예뻐 그 누구의 시선도 어떤 말도 겁낼건없어 그 무엇도 어쩔 수 없는 우리 사랑 있잖아 어리다고 나를 놀리는 너의 친구들이 싫지만 걱정하듯 나 를 비웃는 내 친구 두려웠지만 바보처럼 울어선 안돼 언제라도 활짝 웃어줘 내 가슴속의 사랑은 널 안기에 충분하니까
넌 웃는게 예뻐 그러니까 웃어줘 언제까지라도 눈물은 없을 꺼야 늘 담당해줘 우리 사랑앞에서 두려워할 것도 흔들릴 것도 없으니까 그게 잘 안 되면 아예나를 오빠라고 불러버 려 그것이 너에겐 더 편할지도 모르니까 약속해 줄께니가 기대 잠들 내 가슴은 언제까지 너만을 기다린다는 것을 아무도 우리사랑을 어떻게 할 수는 없을꺼야 언제나 네곁에 있을께 너만의 사랑인 날잊어선 안돼 다른 연인들보다 힘이 들고 어렵겠지만 영원히 널 지켜줄거 야 조금만 더 기다려 어리다고 나를 놀리는 너의 친구들이 싫지만 걱정하듯 나 를 비웃는 내 친구 두려웠지만 바보처럼 울어선 안돼 언제라도 활짝 웃어줘 내 가슴속의 사랑은 널 안기에 충분하니까 헤어지기 싫은 너와 나의 아쉬운 작별을 하고 힘이 겹게돌 아온 내 책상속에는 오늘은 또 너의 어떤 얘기가 있을런지 하루종일 궁금해하는 내 일기장 오늘은 그 미장원의 미용사 에게 너를 2시간동안 너를 뺏긴 얘기를썼고 항상 마지막 간 절한 마음을 적었지 영원히사랑해 누나~~
Here is a winter-themed aphorism from my aphorism book.
눈 위에 서리 친다.
nun wi.e seo.ri chin.da
snow over-LOC frost hit-PRES
Frost falls on snow.
This seems about the same as “out of the frying pan, into the fire.” But colder.
So far I’ve been very disappointed by the extremely snowless winter Korea is having. We had basically one snowfall. It’s just cold and dry. I guess that’s the whole Siberian thing, going on. [daily log: walking, 5 km]
I realized recently that at some point I kind of lost my habit of periodically posting little Korean aphorisms.
Here’s one.
웃고 뺨친다
ut.go ppyam.chin.da
smile-CONJ slap-PRES
Smile and slap.
The meaning is something like the one in English that goes, “smile on the face, dagger in the heart.”
I like its economy, and I learned a new word: 뺨치디 = “slap.” [daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
From my boss – he writes a New Years note and sends an image of it via attachment to SMS.
I made a transcription so I could try to understand it better, although I got the general gist of it right away:
작년, 열심히 땀흘려 찍은 정들… 올, 2015년에 멋진길이 되어 우리 앞에 펼쳐질겁니다. Happy New Year! 카르마원장 올림.
I'm still uncertain of some of the words/structures (and I may have made mistakes in transcription due to unclear reading of his handwriting). Very roughly (not word-for-word):
Last year, we worked hard… for the coming [year], 2015 will wonderfully unfold before us. Happy New Year from Karma's Director.
I ran across this poem, in translation, by accident, while searching for something else. But I was deeply impressed by it. It may become a favorite.
A Pebble
On the path before my house
every day I meet a pebble
that once was kicked by my passing toe.
At first we just casually
brushed past each other, morning and night,
but gradually the stone began to address me
and furtively reach out a hand,
so that we grew close, like friends.
And now each morning the stone,
blooming inwardly with flowers of Grace,
gives me its blessing,
and even late at night
it waits watchfully to greet me.
Sometimes, flying as on angels’ wings
it visits me in my room
and explains to me the Mystery of Meeting,
reveals the immortal nature of Relationship.
So now, whenever I meet the stone,
I am so uncivilized and insecure
that I can only feel ashamed.
– Ku Sang (Korean poet, 1919-2004)
– Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé
It took some creative googling and some time with a dictionary doing some ad hoc reverse-translation (reverse engineering poetry?) to find the original text, but I’m confident that this is it.
조약돌
집 앞 행길에서
그 어느 날 발부에 채운
조약돌 하나와 나날이 만난다
처음에 우리는 그저 심드렁하게
아침 저녁 서로 스쳐 지냈지만
둘은 차츰 나에게 말도 걸어오고
슬그머니 손도 내밀어
친구처럼 익숙해갔다
그리고 아침이면 돌은
안으로부터 은총의 꽃을 피워
나를 축복해주고
늦은 밤에도 졸지 않고
나의 安寧을 기다려 준다
떄로는 천사처럼 훌훌 날아서
내 방엘 찾아 들어와
만남의 신비를 타이르기도 하고
사귐의 불멸을 일깨워도 준다
나는 이제 그 돌을 만날 때마다
未開하고 불안스런 나의 現存이
부끄러울 뿐이다
– 구상 (시인 1919-2004)
I played around with understanding the translation in a few places, without really making an exhaustive study of it. I was impressed by the fact that one line in particular represents all kinds of Korean grammatical bugbears in one helping: “내 방엘 찾아 들어와” has doubled-up case particles (can a noun have two cases at once? yes, it can in Korean) and a three-member serial verb, yet it was surprisingly not that hard to figure out.
내 [nae = my]
방 [bang = room]
-엘 [el = locative particle -에 + accusative particle -ㄹ]
차 [cha = ‘look for’ verb stem]
-어 [eo = verb ending which I have always thought of as the ‘finite’ (conjugated) verb ending but which Martin mysteriously calls ‘infinitive’ and which I have no idea what it “officially” is called]
들 [deul = ‘go in; enter’ verb stem]
-어 [eo = ‘finite’ (conjugated) verb ending again]
와 = [wa = irregularly conjugated ‘come’]
So all together: “my room-IN-OBJ looks-for enters comes,” translated above “it visits me in my room.” [daily log: walking, 5 km]
니선생님인대… 너말이짧다?
niseonsaengnimindae… neomarijjalpda?
I am your teacher… [why] are your words short?
I guess this expression is a way to reproach an insolent teenager who is answering in monosyllables or in an impolite way. It seems pretty straightforward, but I find the last verb difficult to pronounce, because it has that fortis (doubled = faucalized) consonant (ㅉ=jj).
Anyway, Curt seemed to think I should master this phrase, so I’ve been working on it. [daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
My coworker taught me the term 중2병 [jung-i-byeong]. This might be most comfortably translated into colloquial American English as something like "8th-grader-itis" – meaning bad behavior in 8th graders due to their being eighth-graders. Literally, it's something like "2nd-year-middleschool-disease."
Given that this is something I was struggling with, recently, it seemed a useful term to know.
It says 블라블라 주기주기 어쩌고저쩌고 [beullabeulla jugi jugi eojjeogojeojjeogo] – which are just nonsense syllables. It is signed, 메롱 [merong], which is Korean for nya-nya. A child after my own heart.
When I was walking home last night I had an unexpect occurance. I walked by someone walking the other direction along Jungangno, and we recognized each other. She was one of the nurses from my stay at the cancer hospital last year. She was one of the nurses who spoke to me exclusively in Korean, and she rattled off a number of questiosn and comments, but I really wasn't understanding very well. She said (in Korean, and I only got the gist of it, not the exact phrasing), "Well. Your Korean still hasn't improved, has it."
I just nodded meekly, and I said, "아직" [ajik = yes, still]. I've been getting a lot of negative feedback about my Korean lately – at least that's my perception. My spirits about learning the language are lower than their usual low level.
I actually made a kind of bilingual pun today, which, based on my students' reactions, actually worked. This may a first time for such a thing, for me.
We are coming on a four-day weekend, for the Korean Harvest Festival called Chuseok, ("Korean Thanksgiving"). It's one of the two most important holidays of the year. Anyway, I asked a student what she was doing for Chuseok. She said she had to go to hagwon and study on Sunday and again on Tuesday – thus reducing the holiday to two days off, not even sequentially. I said, that's not Chuseok – it's just suck. The latter syllable in English has a similar vowel quality to the second syllable in Chuseok. Everyone laughed.
The steam wheels ride the iron, fast as if flying; Travelling and halting, they follow their own mind, not even slightly faltering. Having mastered the theory, what kind of person realized this method? Bubbling the tea’s one leaf has created a divine machine. – Kim Deukryeon (金得鍊, 김득련, Korean poet 1852-1930)
I found this poem online at a website about translating Korean poetry written in classical Chinese (which was the main way to write poetry in Korea until the 20th century). The author of the poem above apparently traveled around the world in 1895-96, and upon his return published poems about his experience.
I want to write about something called “문장의 5형식.” This translates as “[the] 5 forms of sentences” and is a core component of what Koreans learn when they study English grammar. This disturbs me to no end, because, of course, despite my training in linguistics, this concept has no meaning for me. It’s specific to English-as-a-foreign-language as taught in South Korea, as far as I can tell. But most English grammar books include it, and it has become apparent that I need to know about it, if only to be able to best help my students to make sense of what they’re being taught.
I remember, vaguely, running across this same issue last year some time. I decided that since I have had the same issue twice, I should “document” it on my blog, because my brain is too porous to retain the specifics and searching for the relevant terms online revealed nothing that was sufficiently bilingual to prove remotely useful by way of explanation or summary. By putting it in my blog, here, I will be able to find this information in the future quickly by googling. This is the essence of the sense in in which this blog has, more and more, become a sort of aide-memoire for me.
Here is the page from the student textbook that mentions the grammar point of the five forms. Like most Korean EFL grammar textbooks, the text book is mostly in Korean. This is annoying, as it makes it challenging for me to provide any kind of support to the the Korean-speaking teachers in teaching material from the book. (The book title, for completeness’s sake, is 중학영문법3800제 [at right]).
Anyway, what are these five forms? I speculate that they’re linked to, or derived from, something in classical Korean grammar (which in turn is linked to classical Chinese grammar in the same sort of geneological relationship as modern English grammar has with classical Latin grammar).
The first form (1형식) is an intransitive sentence, with a non-pronoun subject and verb. This form also allows prepositional-phrase complements (and adverbials?). The book examples are
The sun shines.
I went to school.
The second form (2형식) is a verb with subject complement (a subject complement construct? 주격보어 is “subject complement”). The book example is
He looks happy.
The third form (3형식) is a transitive sentence with subject-verb-object (SVO). The book example is
Amy likes her teacher.
The fourth form (4형식) is a ditransitive sentence with a subject-verb-IO-DO (간접목적어 is “indirect object” and 직적목적어 is “direct object”). The book example is
She gave me a book.
Does this mean it only allows prepositional indirect objects? Typically ditransitives with phrasal indirect objects occur with the two objects reversed, e.g.
?*She gave a book to Mortimer.
The fifth form (5형식) is what I would call an “object complement construct” – I don’t really know (or recall) if there is some other term for this type of sentence in English (복적격 보어 is “object complement”). The example in the book is
We call her ‘Angel.’
I find it very ironic, that the single thing that is impelling me most toward improving my Korean, these days, is my desire to understand English Grammar (*as taught in Korea – that’s the caveat). [daily log: walking, 5 km]
I was walking to work, earlier, and this song came on my mp3 shuffle. It's in German. I only vaguely understand it, at the most basic level.
Yet, I thought to myself, well, my level of understanding isn't that much lower than it would be for a similar song in Korean. But here's the thing: I have never studied German (except some class in 8th grade where I learned to count, and we sang "Mein Hut, der hat drei Ecken"). I have spent a sum total of 1 week in a German-speaking country.
Meanwhile, I have spent 7 years in Korea, now (or 8 years, if you count my Army year), including plenty of efforts to study the language, more-or-less intensively.
What gives?
… lo, the powers of cognates and linguistic siblinghood.
What I'm listening to right now.
Deichkind, "Luftbahn."
Lyrics.
[Hook] Wir fahren mit der Luftbahn durch die Nacht Der Mond scheint nur für uns gleich haben wir's geschafft Und all die Probleme auf der Erde Liegen für uns in weiter Ferne Wir fahren mit der Luftbahn durch die Nacht Wo der Sternenhimmel für uns lacht Und all die Probleme auf der Erde Liegen für uns in weiter Ferne
[Verse 1] Von deinen Schultern fällt die ganze Last Du spürst sie nie wieder, die Erdanziehungskraft Und sollte es wirklich passieren, dass wir uns im Universum verlieren Dann verglüh ich für dich, damit du niemals erfrierst
[Hook]
Schwerelos, wir fühlen uns schwerelos Schwerelos, wir fühlen uns schwerelos
[Verse 2] Deine Zweifel waren groß, niemand hat sich interessiert Du spürst wie's langsam leichter wird, das schlimmste ist jetzt hinter dir Du bist noch ganz benommen, wir sind bald angekommen Du brauchst jetzt nicht mehr zu weinen, denn ich hab dich an die Hand genommen Manchmal muss man einfach raus, ja, manchmal ist die Welt zu klein Willst du die Unendlichkeit? Dann lass dich fallen und steig mit ein Ich zeig dir wahre Liebe und wie gut es tut die Faust zu ballen Wir fliegen vom Dunklen ins Sonnenlicht, bis wir zu Staub zerfallen
[Hook]
Schwerelos, wir fühlen uns schwerelos Schwerelos, wir fühlen uns schwerelos
[Update 2014-07-28: my friend Peter gave some useful insight, and I figured out more, because of it. The correct form is 참나, not 첨나 – my transcription is either an error or a legitimate dialectical variant. See comments below.]
My coworkers use and expression sometimes which I was trying to figure out, yesterday. It’s a kind of interjection following a declarative sentence. It is the term “첨나” [cheom-na]. I understand the pragmatics of it pretty well, I think: it seems to mean “How dare he/she/you?”
For example, Ken says (in Korean), “Jeong-yeol [a seventh-grader] is taller than me! 첨나! [how dare he?!]” Or [on e.g. a TV show] something like, “My girlfriend was looking at that other man… 첨나 [how dare she]!”
But not a single one of my coworkers could “explain” this expression. What I mean by that is that I want to understand the syntax/semantics/etymology. Where did it come from? Aren’t they curious? Is it a verbal particle? It seems to be some sort of verbal contraction, as best I can guess. Or is it a noun particle? It sounds vaguely Chinese, but these types of slang expressions are rarely Chinese – most Korean slang comes from native Korean vocabulary or from more recent Japanese or English borrowings. No one knows. No one is curious to know. 첨나! [how dare they?]
Anyway, I want to figure it out. If anyone reading this blog is knowledgeable about Korean and able to “explain” it, I’d love to know. I drew a complete blank on my internet searches – which are admittedly imcompetent in the area of Korean language studies. [daily log: walking, 5 km]
This is an aphorism from my aphorism book. 굽은 나무가 선산을 지킨다 gup·eun na·mu·ga seon·san·eul ji·kin·da be-crooked-PASTPART tree-SUBJ ancestors-grave-OBJ guard-PRES A crooked tree guards the ancestors’ grave.
Even a tree that is crooked has a job to do – it bends near the ancestors’ grave and protects it. Something viewed as useless turns out to have a use after all. (Image: a bent tree found online, guarding someone’s ancestors’ graves). [daily log: walking, 5 km]
줍는 사람이 임자다 jup·neun sa·ram·i im·ja·da pick-up-PRESPART person-SUBJ owner-VERB The person who picks [it] up [is] the owner.
“Finders keepers.” This seems strange to me only in that normally to VERBify a noun like “owner” (임자) you attach the copula -이다. This example is only attaching -다, which seems like a logical contraction but I confess I’ve never seen it before and it seems a little bit extreme as a contraction. But in any event it makes sense. [daily log: walking, km]
I made a surprising and interesting discovery today. I was browsing through my bilingual Korean-English Dictionary of Buddhist Terms, as I sometimes do to kill time and try to learn something (I have always been fond of consuming reference texts qua reference texts, which is why I like to surf wikipedia randomly, too). I ran across a term I wanted to try to figure out better, and so I typed the phrase into google to do a search, with some accompanying English to rule out the Korean-only sites. Lo and behold, the first site to come up was an online version of my Korean-English Buddhist dictionary. That’s pretty cool: that they’ve decided to make it accessible online like that. The phrase I was looking for was:
The explanation given in the dictionary is “no echo valley” and the meaning, I think, is that you should stop listening so much to your mind. Turn off the echo-chamber of your brain, or something like that. Stop over-thinking things. I don’t really know if 규향 means “echo” or not – I’m just guessing. I can’t figure out the hanja – it’s classical Chinese as opposed to something natively Korean, as is true for many Buddhist terms. [daily log: walking, 5 km]
Some of my students have taken to wrting 옼돜 on things – the whiteboards in class, their notebooks, their pencil cases, their desks (ahem).
This is not Korean. I asked them what it is. They said it means “Okie Dokie” : the hangeul, sounded out, is in fact something like ok-dok. I tried to figure out if they had adopted this phrase from me alone, or if it has some wider cultural diffusion recently in Korea. I know that I say it quite a bit – it’s one of those verbal mannerisms or tics that I use with kids, and I see it as having come to me from my father and to him from my grandfather John, who I remember saying it.
What’s interesting to me is how it it’s not quite phonetic, in the way that they’re writing it, and hence it’s an innovative use of hangeul. To represent okie dokie phonetically would require 4 syllables, not 2: something like 오키도키 [o-ki-do-ki]. Further, they’re deploying it visually, not in spoken form – more like a graffiti tag than a catch-phrase, e.g.: 옼돜!☺ [daily log: walking, 5.5 km]
서당개 삼 년에 풍월 읊는다 school-dog three year-AT poetry-compose-PRES After three years a school dog composes poetry.
“Practice makes perfect.” But… if I am the dog in question, having been in Korea for 7 years, I still cannot recite a poem. Err… obviously, I haven’t been studying enough. Do dogs study diligently? [daily log: walking, 5 km]
Which is to say, the asking of the impossible. I was puzzled by the word 더러, here. I surfed the dictionary for a while and decided it must mean something like “some” or “a bit of.” I’m not very confident of that, however.
“왜저래” [weh-jeo-rae] is my “korean name” though it very much a joke, since its meaning is something like “what the heck?” When students call me “Weh-jeo-rae-saem” it’s like they’re saying “Mr What-the-Heck.”
The other day in class I found this (at right) written on the board at the end of class – I’d already left the room and come back to get some stuff I’d left in the room, so the author of the note was annonymous. It’s nice to know that I’m appreciated.
I added a new word to my Korean active vocabulary today: 흙 [heuk = dirt].
Why am I now able to talk about dirt in Korean?
I had a plant – a flowering houseplant whose identity I don’t know well, but it was given to me while I was in the hospital last summer by my friend Seungbae (who is now a proud resident of Mexico City, believe it or not). My brother Andrew attached the flowerpot to the top of my IV cart, decoratively – here is a picture.
In fact, the flower is the longest-lived houseplant I’ve had since my time with Michelle in the 1990’s. I’ve made several attempts to keep houseplants but I seem to have a singular talent for neglecting them, and they die.
So this plant has lived nearly a year, and I feel some small attachment to it. The thing was looking droopy and forlorn lately, and I decided it needed an infusion of new, higher-quality dirt. So I got linguistically brave and ventured into the neighborhood plant shop and with my dictionary I figured out how to ask for 화분용 흙 [hwabunyong heuk = flowerpot-use dirt], and bought a bag of dirt.
I did a transplant of my little flower to some new dirt. Now I have all this left over dirt, and I’m thinking of buying another plant. Let’s all pray for their survival at my unproficient ministrations.
This is an aphorism from my aphorism book. 내가 중이 되니 고기가 천하다 nae·ga jung·i doe·ni go·gi·ga cheon·ha·da I-SUBJ monk become-SO meat-SUBJ be-plenty I become a monk and meat is everywhere. If you need it, it is rare, if you don’t need it, it is everywhere. Monks don’t eat meat, so once you become a monk, suddenly there is meat everywhere, whereas normally in Korean society, until very recently, meat was uncommon. Last night my coworkers went out for meat for hoe-sik. I chose not to go, because I was very tired and because it was late and because eating meat didn’t sound very appetizing – I wanted something soft and neutral. Noodles. Shall I become a monk? [daily log: walking, 5 km]
My student Sunny, who has a characteristically sunny disposition to match her English nickname, ran into my classroom and, using a red marker, wrote on the whiteboard the phrase shown in the picture below.
2098년 지구 멸망
2098: end of the world
Her writing that wasn’t intended to be a reaction to the phrase Sally had written earlier (as part of an effort to give herself prompts for a speech she was working on), “When you get all that new homework,” but the conjunction proved humorous.
I’m not at all sure why Sunny thinks the world will end in 2098 – it’s some local pop culture reference, clearly – a movie or TV show or webtoon that the kids are all soaking up. She took the time to explain that it didn’t matter to her personally, because she would be dead by then. I asked her if she really thought so, and she said confidently that she would only live to age 83 – which, given her birthyear is 2003, puts her demise a decade and a half before the deadline.
Ya kids. … This is an aphorism from my aphorism book. 아이도 사랑하는 대로 붙는다 a·i·do sa·rang·ha·neun dae·ro but·neun·da child-TOO love-PRESPART ASSOONAS-ABL take-side-of-PRES As soon as the child is loved [he] takes [your] side. The aphorism book had 데로 but I really think it’s a typo (or alternate spelling?), because there’s nothing in my grammar book about a nominal particle 데 plus ablative, whereas 대 + 로 have a plethora of possible meanings in many different constructions involving preceeding verb participles or nouns. So in my transcription of this aphorism I have presumed to make a “correction” – I hope it’s the right thing to do. I chose this aphorism because it was one about children that was closest in spirit to the idea behind Korea’s “Children’s Day” which is a national holiday dedicated to kids – I would say the American holiday that comes closest in spirit is maybe Halloween, which is basically for kids too, but Children’s Day isn’t loaded with historical / vaguely spiritual baggage – just a day for kids to do fun things and not have to go to school. Parents take their kids to the park, to various activities, etc., and gifts are generally given to them, too. According to the book, what the aphorism means is that people will support you when you treat them with kindness and respect. That’s a good thought. The irony, in my opinion, is that if you’re not a kid and you don’t have any, it’s a kind of boring day where you feel out of place no matter where you go or what you do. So I just sat in my apartment, kidless, and battled my phone, which is having its battery problem again (it thinks its battery is empty when it’s fully charged). What I’m listening to right now.
Muse, “Sunburn.” I like this song but I had never seen the video until just now posting. I don’t like it and it’s probably a little bit inappropriate for Children’s Day. Oh well. [daily log: what?] [Note: this post was written on the date and time shown on the post, but due to technical difficulties I was unable to publish it until 2014-05-07 14:40.]
