Punctuation in Korean

Korean traditionally didn’t have much punctuation because the grammar itself makes it easy to distinguish between functions of a sentence. They started using European punctuation fairly recently and so use most things in similar ways but have some differences with English.

  • Traditionally (·) is used like a comma in lists (사과·배·복숭아·수박) but commas are also common now. 
  • (…) is also sometimes written higher up as (···).
  • Double quotation marks (” ”) single quotation marks (’ ‘), (< >) and (「 」) are all sometimes used for quotations. 
  • (〜) is used to mark ranges in numbers (1〜10), to indicate a long or drawn-out vowel (like thiiiis) and to denote a lighter or friendlier feeling in text.
  • When following an English initial with a period, there may not be a space after the period (J.Smith) or after the last initial (U.S.A).
  • Often no spaces before or after clarifying parenthesis because of particles (금광열(金鑛熱)이…, “용광로(a melting pot)"를…).
  • The same with quotation marks.. ("경악스러운 인사"라며…).
  • Space before colons and semi-colons (지정 : 2005년 7월).

x xx

also for real in-depth explanations of each mark: korean.go.kr

hi! do you know what the punctuation rules are for titles? for example are movie titles italicized? is anything ever italicized? when are italics and quotation marks used? is the double quotation mark the standard or the single quotation mark, as in british english? (asking as english native speaker in the US) thank you in advance!!!!

Hi, what an interesting question! 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Korean italicized… I might just not remember though? Using this page on entertainment news as an example, you can see most of the movie, tv show, and album titles are just marked by single quotation marks. This might not be the same everywhere though! 

I feel like sometimes I’ve seen titles in news headlines marked by < > these guys but I can’t think of specific examples of that… If anyone knows specific rules for punctuating titles please let us know. 🙂 

[외래어] 멘트

근래에 들어 우리가 흔히 쓰거나 듣는 말 ‘사회자의 멘트’, ‘연기자가 다음 멘트를 잊다’ 등에서 ‘멘트’의 뜻은 ‘진행 발언’, ‘대사’ 정도의 뜻이다. 이 ‘멘트’는 예전부터 써오던 우리 토박이말은 아닌 것이 분명한데, 어느 언어의 어떤 낱말에서 유래한 것인지 확증하기가 쉽지 않다. 영어 냄새가 강하게 풍기지만 영어에는 이런 낱말이 없고, 소리와 뜻으로 보아 가장 비슷한 것이라면 ‘코멘트’(comment)나 ‘어나운스먼트’(announcement)가 있을 뿐이다. 또 이웃 일본말에서 ‘멘트’에 해당하는 낱말이라면 ‘멘토’(メント)가 되는데, 이는 ‘오나멘토’(オ-ナメント)의 준말로 쓰이며 장식품, 장신구라는 뜻

결국 ‘멘트’의 어원을 여러 정황으로 미루어 추정할 수밖에 없는데, 대개 ‘코멘트’나 ‘어나운스먼트’ 가운데 하나라는 심증을 갖게 된다. 그런데 ‘코멘트’는 발음이 비슷하지만 뜻이 조금 다르고, ‘어나운스먼트’는 발음이 다르지만 그 뜻에서 ‘멘트’의 다른 뜻이 유래되지 않았을까 하는 생각이 들게 만든다. 어떤 이는 ‘말하다’, ‘언급하다’라는 뜻의 영어 ‘멘션’(mention)이 그 명사인 것으로 잘못 분석하여 명사를 만드는 -ion을 떼고서 ‘멘트’를 만든 것 아닐까 하는 추측을 하기도 한다. 그런데 ‘어나운스먼트’라 하지 않고 철자에 이끌려 ‘아나운스멘트’로 발음하는 가운데서 ‘멘트’를 잘라냈을 가능성이 더 그럴듯한 것 아닐까 싶다.

김선철/국립국어원 학예연구관

멘트 

The word 멘트 comes from the English ‘announcement’ (or perhaps comment, statement, or mention) but is used in a variety of context to mean “the way s/b talks” (speech, words, comment, expression, script, statement, etc.) Sometimes has the negative connotation of words that are not true or natural. First used in the broadcasting industry but now widely used in daily life.

방송멘트 = broadcasting jargon
뉴스멘트 = news jargon

기내멘트 = the way airhosts talk
판매용 멘트 = marketing phrase/statement
작업용 멘트, 데이트용 멘트 = pick-up lines
따뜻한 멘트 = warm comments
그냥 멘트야 = it’s all talk 
리드멘트 = leading(preceding) statement

nabi-day:

을왕리 해수욕장 | Eurwangni Beach

일요일 아침에 일어나서 해변에서 쉬었다가 수영하러 갔어요. 물을 들어가는 순간에 한국 바다의 매력에 빠졌어요. 서해가 이런데 동해는 얼마나 좋을까요? 수없이 가 봤던 영국 해변에서 한번도 느껴보지 못 한 따뜻한 물…

On Sunday morning we got up and went to go swimming and rest on the beach. I fell in love with the Korean ocean as soon as I touched the water. If this is the West sea, how good is the East sea?! I’ve swam in the ocean a lot in the UK, but never felt warm water like that…. 

styleandpower:

TWTY | Life Advice

Interview (¾) with B-girl TWTY 
B-girl TWTY gives her thoughts on life and relationships and how to deal with them. 

She couldn’t keep a straight face while making this segment because it was maaaaaad corny but after 6 or 7 takes and some editing magic, we got it in ㅋㅋㅋ

‘5 a day’ Challenge Week 1

learninghangukmal:

Here are my 30 new words that I learned this week for the ‘5 a day’ challenge. You can find the original post here. I will make a vocabulary post each week with my new learned words, which you can add to your own vocabulary list if you want. Happy studying everyone!

Nouns

  • 공감 = empathy
  • 지랄 = bullshit
  • 예문 = example
  • 칭찬 = compliment, praise
  • 모임 = meeting, get together
  • 용기 = courage
  • 거실 = living room
  • 다람쥐 = squirrel
  • 여행지 = travel destination
  • 풍경 = scenery
  • 해수욕장 = beach
  • 볼거리 = things to see
  • 동굴 = cave
  • 호수 = lake
  • 일기예보 = weather forecast
  • 새벽 = dawn
  • 해가 뜨다 = to rise (sunrise)
  • 원숭이 = monkey
  • 꼬리 = tail
  • 괴물 = monster

Verbs

  • 갈구다 = to nag at someone
  • 조언하다 = to advise, counsel
  • 잡다 = to catch
  • 빼앗다 = to steal, rob

Adjectives

  • 우울하다 = to be depressed
  • 불쌍하다 = to be pitiful, poor
  • 부지런하다 = to be diligent
  • 땀이 나다 = to be sweaty
  • 쌀쌀하다 = to be cold, chilly
  • 흐리다 = to be cloudy