Languagle #62: Korean
낮말은 새가 듣고 밤말은 쥐가 듣는다
Natmareun saega deutgo bammareun jwiga deunneunda
"Birds hear what's said by day, and mice hear what's said by night."
What it means
Be careful what you say, because someone is always listening. By day the birds overhear you and by night the mice do, so nothing said in private stays private for long. The Korean equivalent of 'the walls have ears'.
How to say it
nan-ma-reun sae-ga deut-kko bam-ma-reun jwi-ga deun-neun-da
Korean has no strong stress, so keep the syllables even. Eu is like 'oo' said with your lips spread instead of rounded.
Word by word
- 낮말은 nan-ma-reun: words said by day (낮, daytime; 말, words)
- 새가 sae-ga: birds (새, bird)
- 듣고 deut-kko: hear, and
- 밤말은 bam-ma-reun: words said at night (밤, night)
- 쥐가 jwi-ga: mice (쥐, mouse)
- 듣는다 deun-neun-da: hear
Korean sounds change when they meet: 낮말 is written nat-mal but said nan-mal, and 듣는다 is said deun-neun-da.
Where it was written down
A traditional proverb, in Korean a sokdam (속담), passed down by word of mouth.
Similar sayings
- Japanese: 壁に耳あり、障子に目あり (kabe ni mimi ari, shōji ni me ari). The walls have ears, and the paper screens have eyes.
How to recognise Korean
Korean is written in Hangul, where letters are grouped into square blocks, one block per syllable. It's built from straight lines and circles, and the little circle ㅇ is everywhere. Unlike Chinese and Japanese, Korean puts spaces between words. Japanese mixes in complex characters and curvy kana, and Chinese uses characters only.
About the Korean language
Korean is spoken by around 80 million people, in South Korea and North Korea and by large communities in China, Japan, the United States and Central Asia. It belongs to the small Koreanic family and has no proven relationship to any other language. It is written in Hangul, an alphabet created in the 1440s under King Sejong, whose letters are grouped into square syllable blocks; some consonant shapes sketch the position of the mouth and tongue.