Koreans and the Korean Language in Latin America

Phonetics/Phonology

It is natural to observe cross-linguistic influence between two languages, not only from L1 (first language) to L2 (second language) but also vice versa. Here are three features of Korean produced by the immigrants in Paraguay and Argentina that are distinct from the Korean used in the homeland:

1. Voicing of voiceless stops

Korean is unique in the way that it has a three-way contrast among voiceless stop consonants: lenis (i.e., ㄱ /k/, ㄷ /t/, ㅂ /p/), aspirated (i.e., ㅋ /k^h/, ㅌ /t^h/, ㅍ /p^h/), and tense (i.e., ㄲ /k’/, ㄸ /t’/, ㅃ /p’/). In Spanish, there is a two-way contrast among stop consonants: voiced (i.e., b, d, g) and voiceless (i.e., p, t, k). Voiced sounds are produced with vocal cord vibration. That is, if you can feel the vibration of vocal cords by touching your throat, it is a voiced sound (Compare the first sound of “Sue” and “zoo”. Place your hand on your throat to feel the vibration. Do you feel more vibration when you say “Sue” or “zoo”?).

Korean stops become voiced between vowels, but they remain voiceless in word-initial positions. Possibly due to influence from Spanish, Korean immigrants residing in Latin America produce Korean voiceless stops as voiced in word-initial positions.

For example, 그[kɯ]런데 is produced as [gɯ] and 강[kaŋ]아지 as [gaŋ]. In a similar manner, 독[tok]도 is produced as [dok], 더[tʌ]워 as [dʌ], 보[po]러 as [bo], and 박[pak]물관 as [bak].

2. Monophthongization of diphthongs

A monophthong is a single vowel sound that does not undergo changes in tongue position throughout its production. In contrast, a diphthong consists of two vowel sounds in a single syllable. Korean has 11 diphthongs (ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ, ㅒ, ㅖ, ㅘ, ㅝ, ㅙ, ㅞ, ㅢ), each involving a change in tongue position during pronunciation. For instance, ㅑ sounds somewhat like the rapid sequence of the vowel ㅣ and the vowel ㅏ, in a way that the two sounds are produced in the same syllable. Immigrants in Latin America tend to simplify these diphthongs by making them monophthongs.

For example, 환[hwan]자 is produced as [han], 전화[hwa] as [ha], and 의[ɯj]사 as [ɯ].

3. Transfer of Spanish assimilation rule

In Spanish, /n/ is realized as a velar nasal [ŋ] before velar sounds (e.g., cinco [siŋko]). Velar sounds are produced using the velum and include consonants like [k, g, ŋ, x]. It is observed that Korean immigrants seem to apply this Spanish phonological rule when speaking Korean.

For example, 큰[khɯn] 극장 is realized as [khɯŋ] and 친[tɕʰin]한 as [tɕʰiŋ].

Lastly, while this study is invaluable in that it is one of the very few studies that examined the speech of Korean immigrants in Latin America, I would like to point out that these observations were based on perception. Therefore, a follow-up study using acoustic analysis is needed to confirm these findings.

Lexicon

The vocabulary that Korean immigrants use can tell us a lot about the Korean diaspora community. The Korean language that G1 immigrants brought to Latin America with them in the 1970s has developed over the past few decades to reflect their community. They tend to use some old words or expressions that are no longer used in the homeland and some new words have entered their lexicon.

1. Archaism

The Korean language in Latin America has its roots in the Korean of the 1970s, and some words from that era continue to be used in Latin America even though they are no longer used or are avoided due to their negative connotations in the homeland. For instance, the term 식모, signifying a housemaid, is no longer in use. Nowadays, alternative expressions such as 가정부 or 가사도우미 are used instead. Likewise, Koreans in Latin America use the word 원주민 to refer to the local population (i.e., latinx in Latin America), but in Korea, the word 현지인 is preferred. 원주민 is now used in a more restricted context, specifically referring to indigenous people. Lastly, the word 국민학교, meaning elementary school, has not been used in Korea after 1996 when the government officially transitioned to the term 초등학교.

2. Hybrid words

Many words were created as a result of language contact between Korean and Spanish/Portuguese. The Korean verb affixes such as -하다 (to do), -되다 (to become) are used quite productively. Similarly, the Brazilian progressive tense form -endo (-ing form) demonstrates productive usage as well. You will notice that some words reflect the Korean society, where a significant number of immigrants work in the clothing industry.

· 벤데하다 (vender+-하다): to sell

· 꼬세하다 (coser+-하다): to sew

· 쎄라되다 (cerrar+-되다): to be closed

· 피피하다 (pipí+-하다): to urinate

· 피에스타장 (fiesta+장(場)): festival venue

· 걸어간두 (걸어가다+-endo): to be walking

· 먹는두 (먹는다+-endo): to be eating

3. Loan words (pp. 187-210 in 원미진 et al. (2015) for the complete list of loan words)

There are many borrowings from Spanish or Portuguese, some of which are related to the clothing industry.

· 꼬세 (coser): to sew

· 비쥬테리아 (bijuteria): accessory shop

· 빠씨야 (passear): to take a walk

· 깜비오 (cambio): change

· 휘르마 (firmar): to sign

· 꼬시나 (cocina): kitchen

The Korean language in Latin America continues to change and develop, in contact with Spanish/Portuguese. According to a 2021 report by the Korean government, there are 90,289 Koreans residing in Latin America. Regardless of how small the number of immigrants in Latin America is compared to those in the United States, in Japan, or in China, it is important that we document and understand how the Korean language is developing and being passed down to the next generation in Latin America. However, the literature on how Korean descendents speak the Korean language is very limited. Few studies that have examined the Korean language in Latin America focus on the importance of Korean education and methods to promote teaching and learning of the Korean language, rather than on the documentation or analysis of the language itself.

Conducting studies on the sounds and the structure of the Korean language spoken by Latin American immigrants will not only benefit the field of Korean linguistics but also contribute to the broader field of bilingualism and language contact. Future studies may include acoustic analyses of stop consonants (i.e., ㄱ/ㅋ/ㄲ, ㄷ/ㅌ/ㄸ, ㅂ/ㅍ/ㅃ) and vowels or qualitative analyses of pronoun usage.

Location

Metadata