Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

More Than 20 Korean Words Added to Oxford English Dictionary


Wed 06 Oct 2021 | 01:56 PM
Omnia Ahmed

More than 20 words of Korean origin have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in its September update, CNN reported on Wednesday.

A Korean wave has swept across Asia and now much of the world in the last two decades. South Korea has churned out entertainment coveted by millions of fans, from K-pop.

Boy band BTS has brought the world together through their music and love messages conveyed in their songs.

BTS

Moreover, "K-drama," a Korean language television produced in South Korea, was also added. This also may be because of the great success which "Squid Game," the South Korean fictional drama billed by Netflix, has achieved.

Squid Game

But not all of the recently added words are "borrowings, reborrowings, or loan translations from Korean," the OED said, adding that several words are either new formations or "new senses of existing English words."

"We are all riding the crest of the Korean wave, and this can be felt not only in film, music, or fashion but also in our language, as evidenced by some of the words and phrases of Korean origin included in the latest update of the Oxford English Dictionary," the OED said in a statement.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Koreans use the term "hallyu" to describe the phenomenon, which refers to the "Korean wave" of entertainment that has swept the whole world.

The word "banchan," a small side dish of vegetables, served along with rice as part of a typical Korean meal, "bulgogi," which are thin slices of beef or pork that are marinated and grilled or stir-fried, and "dongchimi," a type of kimchi made with radish and typically also containing napa cabbage.

"Hanbok," the traditional Korean costume worn by both men and women, "aegyo," a type of cuteness or charm considered characteristically Korean, and "mukbang," a video featuring a person eating large amounts of food and talking to an audience, were also included in September's additions.

The interjection "fighting!" is used to convey encouragement, incitement, or support -- much like "go for it!," the OED explained.

"The adoption and development of these Korean words in English also demonstrate how lexical innovation is no longer confined to the traditional centres of English in the United Kingdom and the United States," the OED added.

"They show how Asians in different parts of the continent invent and exchange words within their own local contexts, then introduce these words to the rest of the English-speaking world, thus allowing the Korean wave to continue to ripple on the sea of English words."