Honorific speech | 한국어의 높임말

 

Courtesy is one of the most essential aspects of Korean culture. Because of this, Korean has been called "the country of courteous people in the East(동방예의지국)"since long ago. This has been reflected in language use, which has led to development of the language's honorific system. 

 

주어 높임: Subject Honorific

 

Subject honorific express deference towards the grammatical subject of the sentence. The most common way to do is to add the pre-ending -(으)시- to the verb stem. 

받다 --> verb stem 받- + pre-ending -으시- + sentense closing ending 다
가다 --> verb stem 가- + pre-ending -시- + sentense closing ending 다

 

To this honorific base, a speech style and other endings can be added. 

가다 --> verb stem 가- + pre-ending -시- + ㅂ니다 ==> 가십니다
가다 --> verb stem 가- + pre-ending -시- + 어요 ==> 가세요 *it is occasionally written & pronounced as 가셔요.

 

-(으)시- should be used under following circumstatnces:

1. It should be included when you are referring to a third person who is older than you or superior to you in social standing, particularly teachers, professors, superiors at work, parents and grandparents.
   
   우리 할아버지는 부지런하세요. My grandfather is industrious.
   제 동생은 부지런해요. My younger sibling is industrious.
   
   
2. It sould be used when asking a question to someone of superior social standing, an adult stranger or a non-intimate (unless you know they are considerably younger than you) when the question is inquiring about the actions, thoughts, etc. of the hearer ('what are you doing?', 'what do you thinkg?', etc):
   
   선생님, 어디 가세요? Teacher, where are you going?
   할아버지, 어떻게 생각하세요? Grandfather, whatdo you think?
   
   
3. It should be used in commands. Here, use of -(으)시- is particularly common and may appear even when there is no gap in age or social status:
   
   선생님, 여기 앉으세요. Teacher, take a seat here.
   할아버지, 우리 집으로 오세요. Grandfather, come to our house.

 

 

Verbs with special subject honorific form

 

안 높임 (non-honorific)	높임 (honorific)	영어 번역 (English translations)
있다	계시다	to exist, to stay
없다	안 계시다	not to exist, not to stay
주다	주시다	to give
먹다	드시다	to eat
마시다	드시다	to drink
죽다	돌아가시다	to die
아프다	편찮으시다	sick
말하다	말씀하시다	to speak

 

Honorific nouns

 

안 높임 (non-honorific)	높임 (honorific)	영어 번역 (English translations)
집	댁	home
이름	성함, 존함(highly formal)	name
밥	진지	meal
생일	생신	birthday
말	말씀	speech
나이	연세, 춘추(old-fashioned)	age
병	병환	illness
사람	분	person
명	분	counter for people
딸	따님	daughter
아들	아드님	son

 

Subject honorific particle -께서

 

When expressing subject honorification, as well as marking deference on the verb, the subject particle 이/가 can also be replaced by the honorific particle 께서:

할아버지께서 자동차가 없으세요? Dosen't your grandfather have a car?
동생이 자동차가 없어요? Dosent' your younger sibling have a car?

께서 can also be followed by the topic particle 는 (note that this does not apply to 이/가):

아버님께서는 무엇을 하세요? What does your father do?

Although, in theory, 께서 should always be applied in sentences such as the above, in everyday speech its inclusion is frequently overlooked. One may often hear teachers, grandparents, etc. talked about without any use of 께서; indeed, in informal conversation overuse of 께서 may sound like 'overdone' honorification. However, informal speech and writing, it should always be included.

Furthermore, although we may expect 께서 would appear with honorific terms of address and kinship terms that include -님 (and not to appear with plain terms), in ordinary conversation such rules of co-occurrence are only loosely followed. In the following, although the first sentence may be the most 'correct', all of the following four combinations may be heard in the sentence 'father helped me':

아버님께서 도와 주셨어요. <==  -님 + 께서
아버지께서 도와 주셨어요. <== 께서
아버님이 도와 주셨어요. <== -님
아버지가 도와 주셨어요. 

 

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객체 높임: Addressee Honorific

 

Addressee honorification is the expression of deference toward the person affected by the action of the verb. In older stages of Korean (in particular, Middle Korean), the verbal suffix -sop- was used in this fuction; in formed an opposing pair with the subject honorific pre-ending -시-. However, this form has now been lost and, in modern Korean, addressee honorification can only be expressed through lexical substitutions.

 

Verbs with special addressee honorific forms

 

안 높임 (non-honorific)	높임 (honorific)	영어 번역 (English translations)
주다	드리다	to give
보다	뵙다 *뵈어요 when it's 요-form.	to see, to meet
묻다	여쭙다 *여쭈어요 when it's 요-form.	to ask
돌보다	모시다	to take care of
~을/를 데리고 가다 / 오다	모시고 가다 / 오다	to take (someboday) to (somewhere) to accompany
말하다	말씀 드리다	to speak
전화하다	전화 드리다	to phone/call
연락하다	연락 드리다	to contact
부탁하다	부탁 드리다	to request
인사하다	인사 드리다	to greet
축하하다	축하 드리다	to congratulate

 

 

Adressee honorific particle -께

 

When talking about giving something to, asking, speaking to, contacting, congratulating, etc., a person who needs to be respected, the locative particle 에게 or 한테 is replaced by the honorific 께. 

이 책을 선생님께 드렸어요. I gave this book to my teacher.
그런 일은 할아버지께 여쭈어 보세요. Ask grandfather things like that.
오늘 도서관에서 선생님을 뵀어요. I saw the teacher in the library today.
부모님을 모시고 갔어요. I took my parents.
사장님께 말씀 드렸어요. I told the boss.
할머니께 전화 드렸어요. I phoned my grandmother.
할아버지께 인사 드렸어요. I greeted grandfather.

 

<참고>
Jaehoon Yeon and Lucien Brown(2019), Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar 2nd ed., Routledge, 273-279.