I was born in Korea and grown up there for 21 years.
As one of Asian countries, Korea is also familiar with the concept of collectivism, not individualism,
and it is well reflected in every part of our culture.
One of the most remarkable examples can be found in Korean language. When we speak in Korean, we use a lot of 'U-ri', which means our, than 'Nae', which means my. For example, when someone look at my family picture and ask me 'who is she?', pointing my mom, I would reply 'u-ri umma.(; our mother.)' , not 'nae umma(; my mother)'. Similarily, let's say that I brought my foreign friend to my school for the first time. When he or she asks me 'Where is this place?', I maybe reply 'u-ri hakkyo(; our school)', not 'nae hakkyo(; my school)'. Like this, there are a lot of expressions with U-ri in Korean, such as uri-dongnae(; our town), uri-nara(; our country), uri-gajok(; our family), uri-jib(; our house), and so on.
It can sound a little bit strange, and, I know that it is hard to understand for people who speak other languages. Besides, translating Korean expressions into English can never be perfect because the concepts in each languages are totally different from the bottom. That's why I would not and can not explain why we use 'U-ri' more than 'Nae', and I just want to tell people that it is as an example that shows collectivism in me and my country. Also, it can show how much related they are, I mean language and culture, and how language can affect one's perception and thoughts.
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Yea, i think its really difficult to translate languages so that both mean exactly the same since we all have different cultures and what we say might encompass different meanings and connotations, i guess that's how the phrase 'lost in translation' came about.
ReplyDeleteLooking at a language unique to a certain culture group would definitely be a good gauge of that group, just like in the example you've provided! Thank you, i've learnt something new about Korean culture! ((:
-Huimin
I was just wondering if the usage of "u-ri" spills over when Koreans speak English? Like would they also say "our mother" and "our school" in English too?
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