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rfmcdonaldThe Associated Press' Hyung-Jin Kim describes, here at the Waterloo Record, a growing divergence in language between South and North Korea. One country is becoming increasingly globalized, while the other is not. The longer-run consequences of this for a shared Korean identity is obvious, although so far the differences as described seem to be matters of terminology, not deeper issues like grammar.
On one side of the line that has divided two societies for so long, the words arrive as fast as globalization can bring them — English-based lingo like "shampoo," "juice" and "self-service." To South Koreans, they are everyday language. To defectors from the insular North Korea, they mean absolutely nothing.
Turn the tables, and the opposite is true, too: People in Seoul furrow their brows at homegrown North Korean words like "salgyeolmul," which literally means "skin water." (That's "skin lotion" in the South.)
Two countries, mortal enemies, tied together by history, by family — and by language, but only to a point. The Korean Peninsula's seven-decade split has created a widening linguistic divide that produces misunderstandings, hurt feelings and sometimes even laughter. The gap has grown so wide, scholars say, that about a third of everyday words used in the two countries are different.
North and South Koreans are generally able to understand each other given that the majority of words and grammar are still the same. But the differences show how language can change when one half of the country becomes an international economic powerhouse and the other isolates itself, suspicious of outside influences.
America's huge cultural influence through its military presence, business ties and Hollywood has flooded the South Korean vernacular with English loan words and "konglish," which uses English words in non-standard ways, like "handle" for steering wheel, "hand phone" for cellphone and "manicure" for nail polish.
