Translingual English words of Korean origin and beyond: skinship, fighting, chimaek

ABSTRACT

This study offers an overview of contemporary translingual English words derived from Korean and examines their unique characteristics. Previous research has highlighted that translingual words transcend borders (Kiaer, 2019), can emerge accidentally and swiftly propagate through online platforms, and exhibit various spelling variations (Ahn, 2021). By analyzing data from online databases like the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and Google Trends, this study explores additional qualities present in translingual English words originating from Korean. The qualities of Korean translingual words reveal intricate and diverse developmental trajectories. They enjoy widespread usage in a global context even before gaining local traction. The popularity of these words has surged alongside the remarkable growth of the K-pop fandom and the influence of Asian English speakers who introduce variations in spelling and meaning. Ultimately, this study delves into the pragmatic borrowing of Korean words by English speakers worldwide, underscoring the significant impact of Korean on contemporary English language dynamics.

KEYWORDS:

• Translingual words
• Oxford English Dictionary
• fandom
• Korean
• K-wave
• multiple trajectories

Introduction

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a highly respected historical English language dictionary that undergoes a republishing of its entire database online every three months. The OED revision process has the primary goal of expanding the geographical coverage of the dictionary and the removal of much of the Briton-centric stylistic bias in its earlier editions, acknowledging the immense changes in the map of the English-speaking world since the OED was first created (Salazar, 2014). This expansion aims to include words and expressions from a broader range of regions, including formerly underrepresented regions and communities. By reflecting the diverse linguistic and cultural realities of the English-speaking world, the OED is better equipped to serve as a comprehensive record of the English language and its global development. During the revision process, new words are added for the first time, and older entries are revised to meet the high standards of modern historical lexicography. Since March 2000, any revisions made are published in quarterly instalments. In its recent update in September 2021, the OED listed 26 new English words of Korean origin sourced from either cultural or linguistic references. These words were added to the dictionary through a dynamic language borrowing process, with some originating from the Korean language and others denoting Korea-related items using English elements. It is worth noting that in the recent OED update, many quotes are from online social media sites (e.g. Twitter), indicating the significant influence of online communications on the contemporary English language and its changes. The rapid and widespread global popularity of Korean pop culture can also be noted from two recent OED entries referring to the significant rise of interest in Korean pop culture: Hallyu and the Korean wave. Hallyu is the transliterated version of the Korean word 한류, while Korean wave is the translated version of this same word.

Considering that it took over 200 years to list just 22 words of Korean origin in the OED, these 26 new additions in the September 2021 update are a truly remarkable feat. Forty-eight words of Korean origin listed in the OED are presented in Table 1, with the 26 new entries indicated in bold for easy reference. The word Konglish, for example, has been newly added and is defined as a mixture of Korean and English and an informal hybrid language spoken by Koreans. At a glance, a high number of culinary words are immediately noted and a type of pragmatic borrowing of address terms and interjections can also be found. A detailed examination of these words is presented in a later section. Notably, various international media outlets, such as CNN and the BBC, have shown interest in reporting the inclusion of these new words and examining the influence of the Korean wave on contemporary English lexis.

Table 1. Forty-eight OED words of Korean origin or related to Korea.

Year of first entry
Classification	1800–1849	1850–1899	1900–1949	1950–1999	2000–2021
Architecture			ondol, n.
Address term				oppa, n. noona, n. unni, n.	oppa, n^2
Commerce				chaebol, n.
Outfit				hanbok, n.
Education				hagwon, n.
Entertainment		gisaeng, n. Kono, n^1.		PC bang, n.
Interjection					fighting, int. daebak, int. adj. n.
Food/drink		kimchi, n. myon, n^2.	banchan, n.	soju, n. japchae, n. bulgogi, n. galbi, n. dongchimi, n. doenjang, n. gochujang, n. kimbap, n. makkoli, n. bibimbap, n. samgyeopsal, n.	chimaek, n.
Ideology				Juche, n.
Language		onmun, n.	Hangul, n^2.	Konglish, n.adj.
Literature				sijo, n. manhwa, n.
Martial arts				Tang Soo Do, n. taekwondo, n. hapkido, n.
Popular culture				aegyo, n.	K-, comb. form. K-drama, n. Korean comb. compounds Korean wave, n. hallyu, n. aegyo, adj. mukbang, n.
Social class		yangban, n.
Measuring units	ri, n.		won, n.
Geography				ri, n.
Music		sijo, n.		trot, n^4.
Relationships				skinship, n.

Over the years, numerous studies have witnessed the growing influence of East Asian languages on English vocabulary (Ahn, Kiaer, Salazar, & Bordilovskaya, 2023; You, Kiaer, & Ahn, 2020). Two of the main East Asian languages, Japanese and Chinese, have so far had the most significant number of words borrowed into English, particularly in culture-specific domains. According to the OED, as of October 2021 there are 540 entries of words of Japanese origin and 263 entries of words originating from Chinese. From the sixteenth century onwards, the OED has progressively listed words from these languages, with the highest number of entries being recorded between 1850 and 1999 (Durkin, 2014).

Figure 1 illustrates that the majority of these words were added to the OED (i.e. 442 words of Japanese origin and 178 words of Chinese origin) during these peak periods. Familiar Japanese words include soy, tofu, sushi and tycoon, while common words of Chinese origin include tea, ketchup, wok, ginseng and brainwash. Although tea culture may often be associated with Britain and the word ketchup is often closely associated with American English, as opposed to tomato sauce which is linked with British English, these words originated from Chinese or Japanese. Despite comprising a relatively small selection of words, these examples demonstrate how English has absorbed East Asian terms deeply into its daily use. Considering the hundreds of words of Japanese or Chinese origin already listed in the OED, a total of 48 words of Korean origin or Korea-related terms may seem relatively insignificant. Furthermore, many older Korean-origin entries have a low frequency of use or have never been used as frequently as words of Chinese or Japanese origin. However, the newly absorbed Korean words that are experiencing rapid growth in use by the global population exhibit critical and representative features of translingual words in use in contemporary English. As Kiaer (2019) argues, the prevalent use of social media platforms has had a tremendous impact on making minority cultures more visible to the public. Even if they may appear minor, words of Korean origin and related terms are frequently used and have spread quickly through social media. These new words represent the main qualities of translingual words in the global lingua franca. In addition, the way these words are being used, disseminated and developed may also suggest future directions for the English lexicon. In this study, we will present some of the key qualities of translingual words by examining words of Korean origin or words which are related to Korea (e.g. Korean wave) that have gained significant popularity in recent times. The words examined in this study have been compiled either from the OED or Google Trends.

Figure 1. Timeline for Japanese, Korean and Chinese loanwords in the OED. Note: Forty-one words include the loanwords from Korea, which excludes words related to Korea such as fighting, K-drama, K-wave and so on.

The OED is a dictionary with a long history, having been developed 150 years ago. It currently contains over 600,000 words and reflects more than 1,000 years of English usage from across the English-speaking world. It aims to increase the coverage of vocabulary from numerous varieties of World Englishes and all new entries are based on the number of available quotations. Google Trends is a software platform that tracks the popularity of top search queries in Google Search across various regions. It uses graphs to compare the search volume of different queries over time. Since the popularity of Korean-origin words is a recent phenomenon, Google Trends is an effective tool for predicting which new words are likely to be added to the OED in the near future. For this study, Google Trends was set to ‘Worldwide’, covering a search period from 2004 to the present (the data for this study were collected in September 2021). The words examined in Google Trends were selected from a list of Korean translingual words complied by Ahn, Kiaer, Salazar, and Bordilovskaya (2023).

Attributes of translingual words

The argument put forth by Kiaer (2019) is that many translingual words have no borders and this phenomenon is largely attributed to the widespread use of online platforms, which play a major role in disseminating common words of various origins to an international audience. Furthermore, the process of lexical innovation in the English language is no longer limited to the traditional Inner Circle countries (You, Kiaer, & Ahn, 2020).

As Schneider (2014) states, ‘the expansion of English today is fundamentally transnational, disregarding the language’s origins and going far beyond the earlier ‘“native speaker” centeredness’ (p. 28). Kiaer and Bordilovskaya’s (2017) study adopted a three-generational analytical framework to examine how English words of Japanese and Korean origin are adopted. Their study critically notes that while in the past many English words were borrowed into Japanese or Korean to meet local linguistic needs for expressing new concepts created in a changing society, some of these words are now being re-borrowed into English with new meanings.

The global demand for Korean popular culture has enabled newly created words associated with Korean culture to be rapidly disseminated to a worldwide audience via social media platforms (Ahn & Kiaer, 2021). The address term ‘oppa’ provides an example of this phenomenon. The term gained worldwide recognition almost overnight as a result of the international success of the Korean singer Psy’s Gangnam Style which spread rapidly through the online video sharing site YouTube. As a result of its widespread usage, the hybridised form ‘oppas’ has also come into use, with the English plural maker ‘−s’ being used to express plurality, rather than the Korean plural marker ‘−deul’. While the global spread of the Korean term ‘oppa’ can be attributed to the popularity of the song Gangnam Style, the culinary term ‘ramdon’ was introduced to the world by the movie Parasite by Bong Joon-Ho, which won several Academy awards. The term ‘ramdon’ was created by American translator Darcy Paquet for one of the film’s English subtitles. Following the massive international success of the movie, the accidental creation of the term instantly gained worldwide recognition. ‘Ramdon’ is the translated version of ‘jjapaguri’, a made-up term that combines two Korean instant noodle brands. Paquet believed that ‘jjapaguri’ would be difficult to pronounce for international viewers, and so he created ‘ramdon’, which is believed to be the combination of two Japanese noodles, ramen and udon. While the majority of users of the word ‘ramdon’ are not Koreans, who are more likely to use ‘jjapaguri’ instead to refer to the noodle dish, it is almost impossible to identify the actual birthplace or regard it as coming from a particular region.

The creation and rapid spread of ‘ramdon’ highlights three key characteristics of translingual words. Firstly, these words can be created accidentally through popular culture. Secondly, they can be instantly disseminated to a global audience via online platforms. Thirdly, translingual words often transcend regional boundaries and are therefore not always tied to any specific geographic location. The fast-paced birth, growth and spread of these new translingual words of Korean origin is unparalleled, and the impact of millions of English speakers from diverse backgrounds who participate in social media cannot be understated. As a result, classifying English words based solely on regional boundaries has become increasingly challenging.

Ahn (2021) also points out that new translingual words of Korean origin can have multiple spelling variations while being used simultaneously across several online platforms. International users, who may not be very proficient in Korean, will use their own version of these words online based on their perception of how sounds in Korean should be transliterated, in a virtual environment where little or no linguistic authority exists. Variations in spelling are also prevalent and used by conservative media outlets such as the BBC and CNN. For example, the OED spells the Korean dish ‘bibimbap’ as ending with a ‘p’, while CNN uses two versions, the OED’s version ‘bibimbap’ as well as the Korean revised romanised version, ‘bibimbab’, which ends with the letter ‘b’.

Translingual words of Korean origin

Some of the studies reviewed in the preceding section have outlined attributes of translingual words. These attributes include accidental creation, instant spread, borderless origins (Kiaer, 2019) and multiple forms (Ahn, 2021). Moreover, many of these words do not originate from Inner Circle countries (Kiaer & Bordilovskaya, 2017; Schneider, 2014; You, Kiaer, & Ahn, 2020). The following section provides a more detailed discussion of the characteristics of translingual words of Korean origin and Korean-related words are discussed.

Multiple trajectories

Although the nomenclature of translingual words of Korean or related origins may suggest that they originate from the Korean language, the borrowing process of these words into the English language often exhibit complicated trajectories. Therefore, it is challenging to accurately state whether many of the words of Korean origin actually come from Korea. For example, one of the latest additions to the OED is ’skinship’, which refers to ‘touching or close physical contact between parent and child, or … between lovers or friends, used to express affection or strengthen an emotional bond’ (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021h). While this word is composed of only English elements, it was initially created in Japan and re-contextualised in Korea, and is now being considered an English word. The term ’skinship’ was initially used by Japanese scholar H. Kokubu in an academic article about child-rearing practices in Japan in the 1950s. It referred to the importance of physical touch, such as hugging, cuddling and holding hands, in developing emotional bonds between parents and children. The term ’skinship’ was then introduced to the English language in 1966 when the OED cited Kokubu’s article as its earliest recorded use, as evidenced by the following quotes:

1966 H. Kokubu Child-rearing Pract. & Cultural Issues in Japanese Personality Devel. (M.A. thesis, Michigan State Univ.) vi. 33 Sufficient skinship in child-rearing prevents the occurrence of psychosis in Japan (Ref).

2021 @Sweetynamseok 17 Feb. in twitter.com (accessed 19 Feb. 2021) The boys are really relaxed between them and even develop their own language through skinship. When one of them seems nervous or stressed, the other will just hold his hand or cuddle him and that’s it.

However, at the time the term was not widely recognised or used in the English-speaking world. It was not until the twenty-first century that skinship began to gain more widespread use and international recognition, in part due to its appearance in Korean popular culture and media. Although the initial meaning of skinship more specifically referred to physical intimacy between parents and children, its meaning has broadened to express the importance of physical touch in nurturing friendships, as demonstrated by the latest 2021 quote in the OED. With the widespread use of the term in international media and its growing recognition in the English-speaking world, skinship is now recognised as a legitimate English word.

Similarly, the cosmetic product known as BB cream serves as a moisturiser, foundation and sunscreen. The term ‘BB’ originated in Germany during the 1960s as ‘Blemish Balm’. It refers to a soothing cream used after facial laser treatment or surgery (Olay, 2020). The concept was later adopted in Korea during the 1980s, where it evolved to provide additional skincare benefits. Eventually, the term ’BB cream’ became widely popular and eventually spread to the West during the early 2010s, where it gained popularity as a multi-functional cosmetic product. Nowadays, BB cream is a commonly used term in the beauty industry and can be found in stores around the world.

Similarly, many translingual words of Korean origin have multiple trajectories, as in the case of the word ’ramdon’, which was created by an American translator using Japanese elements and is predominantly used by non-Koreans. As such, it may be overly simplistic to categorise these words solely as Korean English words or any other regional-based variety. Rather, they should be understood as complex, dynamic and multilayered linguistic and cultural phenomena, shaped by a range of linguistic, social and historical factors, which resist easy categorisation or definition. Salazar (2014) rightly acknowledges the current limitations of country or region-specific labelling practices in the OED, such as Philippine English, and Singapore English versus South East Asian English. She suggests several strategies for the OED to offer a more robust and comprehensive representation of World Englishes.

Firstly, the OED could modify its selection criteria for new words to be more inclusive of region-specific usage, and supplement its comparatively smaller evidence for less widely used varieties. Secondly, the OED could consider enhancing its labelling system by providing more nuanced and detailed information about the origins and usage of words, including which regions and communities they are commonly used The OED would then be better positioned to meet the needs of its diverse user base. Finally, it may be worthwhile for the OED to consider diversifying its coverage of World Englishes by moving beyond a colonial-era focus on flora, fauna and exotic loanwords. Instead, the OED could prioritise contemporary lexis and other forms of lexical innovation beyond simple borrowing. By doing so, the OED would be better able to capture the dynamic and nuanced nature of the English language as it evolves and adapts to different linguistic and cultural contexts.

In short, the stories behind the adoption and recognition of skinship and BB cream in the English language illustrate how the English language is constantly evolving and adapting to new ideas and being influenced by other languages and how words of Korean origin have actively taken part in the process.

Going global before local

Some words of Korean origin were listed in the OED before they were included in the Standard Korean Language Dictionary published by the National Institute of Korean Language. Despite originating in a Korean context, it seems that words like mukbang, skinship and chimaek have gained greater popularity and acceptance globally than in Korea. Although skinship and chimaek have been listed in an open dictionary, Urimal Saem, which is maintained by the National Institute of Korean Language and updated through public contributions, none of these words have made their way into the Standard Korean Language Dictionary. This implies that skinship and chimaek may potentially be included in the official dictionary, whereas mukbang, which has not been recognised by Korean lexicographers and speakers, is less accepted as a dictionary entry in its local context. Moreover, while the younger, social media-savvy generation is familiar with and actively uses mukbang in the global community, many Korean speakers, particularly those who do not use social media, may not be familiar with the term. This indicates that global English-speaking authorities accept these words before their Korean counterparts, highlighting another important attribute of translingual words in contemporary English.

Various romanisations and the K-pop fandom

Ahn’s (2021) study acknowledges the contribution of conservative international media outlets to the diverse romanisation practices of Korean terms. This section aims to elaborate further on her claims and present the potential role of the K-pop fandom as a linguistic agency in producing dynamic and multiple versions of romanisations in the global context. Table 2 presents four different romanisation systems including the revised romanisation of Korean (RR), Yale, McCune–Reischauer (MR) and fandom romanisation (Fandom R). RR is the official Korean language romanisation system and is the most widely used in South Korea. RR is essentially a modified version of MR. RR is similar to MR but uses neither diacritics nor apostrophes and this has helped it to gain widespread acceptance on the Internet. While RR attempts to transliterate the Korean written script, Hangul, MR places emphasis on the phonetic representation of Korean words. The Yale system has been popularly used by linguists for its emphasis on the morphophonemic structure of Korean words.

Table 2. Various romanisations of Korean words.

Term	Gloss	RR	Yale	MR	Fandom R	OED
1. 언니	Older sister (used by females)	eonni	enni	ŏnni	unnie/ unni	unni
2. 막내	Youngest sibling	mangnae	mangnay	mangnae	maknae	n/a
3. 형	Older brother (used by males)	hyeong	hyeng	hyŏng	hyung	n/a
4. 누나	Older sister (used by males)	nuna	nwuna	nuna	noona	noona
5. 아저씨	Middle-aged man	ajeossi	acessi	ajŏssi	ahjussi	n/a
6. 아줌마	Middle-aged woman	ajumma	acwumma	ajumma	ahjumma	n/a
7. 선배	Senior	seonbae	senpay	sŏnbae	sunbae	n/a
8. 후배	Junior	hubae	hwupay	hubae	hoobae	n/a
9. 제발	Please	jebal	ceypal	chebal	jaebal	n/a
10. 어떻해	What can we do?	eotteokae	ettekhay	ŏttŏk’ae	ottoke	n/a
11. 정말	Really	jeongmal	cengmal	chŏngmal	jeongmal	n/a
12. 아이구	Ouch	aigu	aikwu	aigu	aigoo	n/a
13. 애교	Acting cuteness	aegyo	aykyo	aegyo	aegyo	aegyo
14. 대박	Something awesome	daebak	taypak	taebak	daebak	daebak
15. 치맥	Chicken and beer	chimaek	chimayk	ch’imaek	chimaek	chimaek
16. 먹방	Online eating broadcast	meokbang	mekpang	mŏkpang	mukbang	mukbang
17. 소주	A kind of Korean alcohol	soju	socwu	soju	soju	soju
18. 갈비	Grilled beef short ribs	galbi	kalpi	kalbi	galbi	galbi
19. 비빔밥	Mixed rice with meat and vegetables	bibimbap	pipimpap	pibimbap	bibimbap	bibimbap
20. 불고기	Grilled pork or beef	bulgogi	pwulkoki	pulgogi	bulgogi	bulgogi

Regarding translingual Korean words commonly used on a global scale and on online platforms, K-pop fans exercise their freedom to romanise Korean words according to the sounds they hear. In Table 2, the Fandom R column features the most common romanised forms used by the fandom, in accordance with forms found in the Urban Dictionary and The K-Pop Dictionary.

TheK-pop fandom is transcultural and effectively border-crossing as it engages two or more popular cultural contexts (Chin & Morimoto, 2013). Competency in the Korean language is not a requirement for successful integration into the fandom but using Korean words can help enrich communication by generating a mutual understanding between fans, a role which English cannot fill. As fans are more likely to associate with how they hear words rather than how they read them, retaining grammatical conventions and linguistic features of the Korean language is therefore less important than finding a romanisation which is descriptive and clear enough to be read and understood by a wide and diverse range of people.

Due to minimal governance from linguistic conventions in the online environment, many fans with little Korean linguistic proficiency may choose to bypass difficulties presented by the Korean script Hangeul by freely turning to romanised Korean words when typing in English about Korean-related content on social media. For those fans who lack linguistic competency in Korean, romanised forms allow them to continue engaging with fellow fans using Korean words. As a result, fan-initiated romanised translations of K-pop song lyrics and Korean words are readily available online, enabling fans who cannot read Hangeul to access Korean content. They also reproduce such romanisations online, which substantially impact the ways in which fans remember and use Korean words in online communication. For example, the word for online food broadcast, meokbang has become mukbang and made its entry into the OED.

Another example of a translingual Korean word with various versions is ‘fighting’. The Korean word for fighting is derived from 파이팅 and contains the sound ‘II’, which can be romanised as ‘hw’, ‘p’ or ‘f’ in English. These different romanisations have led to various spellings of the word. The OED acknowledges the use of ‘hw’ as a possible romanisation of the ‘II’ sound in Korean.

This change symbolises the borrowing process of translingual words, demonstrating that Korean words are perceived internationally, and how their forms have spread and changed since their initial appearance in Korean. With K-pop fans growing in number at an accelerated pace, they are becoming increasingly more prominent as agents of linguistic negotiation between Korean and English and play a critical role in creating different forms of translingual words of Korean or related origins.

Impact of Asian English speakers

Many of the newly created words of Korean origin that are most popularly searched for and used in Asian countries have significantly contributed to language use in the global community. Out of the 26 entries of Korean origin newly listed in the OED during its 2021 September update, many quotations in these entries are from Asian countries, particularly Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia. For example, the first two quotations for the entry K-drama, dated 2002 and 2018, are taken from The Straits Times and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, newspapers in Singapore and the Philippines, respectively:

• K-drama, n. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021d)

  • 2002: In K-drama Autumn In My Heart, Won’s playboy character fell for his best friend’s adopted sister. (The Straits Times, Singapore)

  • 2018: Anyone who wants to start watching K-dramas must have the time, stamina and discipline, because once you start, there’s no turning back. (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines)

In the case of mukbang, two quotations cited by the OED are from a Singapore-based social media account and the Philippine-based newspaper, the Manila Bulletin:

• mukbang, n. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021e)

  • 2013: Jonghyun can already host a meokbang show.the amount of food he ate during the vacation is my 1 year supply of food. (twitter: @Hana_ee1214, Singapore)

  • 2020: In true Filipino dining spirit, Bretman and Princess ate their food using their bare hands for the mukbang, and even chatted in Ilokano. (Manila Bulletin, Philippines)

As for Korean wave, the first quote is dated to 2001 and comes from the Singapore-based newspaper, The Straits Times:

• Korean wave, n. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021b)

  • 2001: The Shaw movie company is banking on a Korean wave after the huge success of last year’s Shiri. (The Straits Times, Singapore)

Two quotes for the word ‘noona’ are from the Philippines:

• noona, n. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021f)

  • 1975: In his own generation Ego calls his elder brothers and sisters hyong and nuna respectively. (Centro Escolar University, Philippines)

  • 2013: ‘Our noona is just pretty’, he noted. (BusinessWorld, Philippines)

In addition, 15 words and their popular spelling variants, extracted from Ahn, Kiaer, Salazar, and Bordilovskaya (2023), were examined using Google Trends to identify the regions in which these words were popularly searched for on Google. As presented in Table 3, the majority of words of Korean origin are frequently searched for in Asia, particularly in the Philippines, followed by Singapore and Malaysia. The frequent usage of or significant number of search results for these words can be primarily attributed to the immense popularity of Korean pop culture (Shim, 2013) and the fast growth of English-speaking populations in these regions.

Table 3. Top five regions where 15 words of Korean origin are searched online.

Word		Top five regions according to Google Trends
1.	Samsung	Bangladesh	Indonesia	Nepal	Pakistan	Sri Lanka
2.	Kia	Pakistan	Chile	Paraguay	Panama	Slovakia
3.	Hyundai	Chile	South Africa	Panama	Costa Rica	Puerto Rico/Turkey
4.	BB cream	Indonesia	Singapore	Philippines	Hong Kong	Malaysia
5.	SNS	Netherlands	Portugal	Serbia	Japan	S. Korea
6.	maknae (magnae)	Philippines (Indonesia)	Indonesia (Italy)	Brunei (Philippines)	Singapore (Malaysia)	Mongolia (Singapore)
7.	ramyun (ramyeon)	Brunei (Singapore)	Philippines (Philippines)	Singapore (Indonesia)	Malaysia (Malaysia)	Indonesia (South Korea)
8.	ajusshi (ajussi)	Philippines (Philippines)	Singapore (Indonesia)	Saudi Arabia (Turkey)	Malaysia (South Korea)	Kuwait (Vietnam)
9.	sasaeng	Philippines	Brunei	Singapore	Indonesia	Myanmar
10.	selca	Brunei	Philippines	Slovenia	Indonesia	Croatia
11.	ajumma	Singapore	Brunei	Malaysia	Philippines	South Korea
12.	dongsaeng	Philippines	Singapore	Indonesia	Malaysia	Chile
13.	aigoo	Philippines	Indonesia	Singapore	Malaysia	Saudi Arabia
14.	jimjilbang (jjimjilbang)	South Korea (South Korea)	Singapore (Singapore)	Philippines (Philippines)	Malaysia (Malaysia)	Canada (Hong Kong)
15.	webtoon	Indonesia	Myanmar	Philippines	Thailand	South Korea

Semantic modifications

In the process of language borrowing, it is natural that words are used differently when taken out of their native context (Haugen, 1950). It should be noted that the process of spreading Korean words only takes a short time, and the influence of Korean pop culture plays a significant role in determining the meanings of these words outside their native context. For example, the widespread use of oppa in the global context has led to two entries for ‘oppa’ in the OED (see Table 1). The earlier entry refers mainly to the meaning based on its native Korean context, as a term of address referring to an older male, which is used for addressing an elder brother or elder male relative, or intimately addressing an older male friend. The second entry refers to an attractive South Korean man, and this meaning has been used more dominantly in the global context (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021g). According to Kiaer and Ahn (2023), an additional meaning for oppa has also been realised by Singaporean English speakers.

A Singaporean male, M, who has been dating a younger Korean female for about three years, reported that many of his male Singaporean friends were curious about the terms of address used between them. He was frequently asked if his girlfriend addressed him as ‘oppa’, as shown in Excerpt 1:

Excerpt 1

M: The first thing that most Singaporean single male friends asked me when they found out that I am meeting a Korean girl, they ask me if she calls me oppa … I mean I am used to it now, but many Singaporeans are very curious about if I am being called oppa.

Interviewee: Why do you think so?

M: I mean when she calls me oppa, it is very endearing. Oppa has such terrific connotation, kinda admiration, in a positive way, as well it is really cool to be called oppa.you know the image of oppa being kinda handsome … haha … I know, I do not have the typical oppa appearance. (Singaporean, male, 30s)

In Singapore, oppa is considered to be a term of endearment and admiration in a romantic relationship, at least for male Singaporeans. However, a female participant, F, who has been dating a Korean man a few years her senior, exhibited a different response to the term. She stated that she feels very uncomfortable about calling her boyfriend ‘oppa’ and her refusal to do so causes a rift in their relationship, as shown in Excerpt 2:

Excerpt 2

F: I refused to call him oppa. It just feels very awkward to call him ‘oppa’. […] It brings out the feeling or some sort of image of ‘ppasooni’ … I feel I am stating that I am his admirer. I am his ppasooni. In Singapore culture … or in my mind, it is very weird to call him oppa. You know how popular K-pop is here in Singapore. I think it is kinda influenced. For him, it is just an address term but for me, it is not just an address term. (Singaporean, female, 20s)

She explains that although 70% of their communication is conducted in Korean, she would not address him as ‘oppa’ because the term conjures the image of an admirer or ‘ppasooni’, which refers to excessive and obsessive female fans of Korean idols. She avoids addressing him entirely, as it is rude to call him by his name in his culture. However, in her Singaporean culture, she feels that it is inappropriate to address him as ‘oppa’ because it creates an undesirable and inequitable relationship in which she is the one who obsessively admires and follows him.

Therefore, oppa can be seen as an endearing and positive term by a Singaporean male, while it has the opposite effect on a Singaporean female, creating an undesirable feeling of inequality in an intercultural couple’s relationship.

Pragmatic borrowing: a sign of meaningful influence

New entries in the OED include three address terms of Korean origin, oppa, noona and unni, as well as two interjections, fighting and daebak. While the term ‘oppa’ is already widely used by various English speakers around the globe, the frequency of usage for ‘noona’ and ‘unni’ is rather limited. According to the OED, their definitions are similar to those of their native context. Noona is defined as ‘in Korean-speaking contexts: a boy’s or man’s elder sister. Also as a respectful form of address or a term of endearment, and in extended use with reference to an older female friend’. The following examples are two entries for ‘noona’ in the OED:

• 2013: ‘Our noona is just pretty,’ he noted.

• 2021: [In response to You did really well!] Thank you, noona! Luckily, I did not make any mistakes! (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021f)

Unni is defined by the OED in a similar way to how it is used in Korean-speaking contexts: a girl’s or woman’s elder sister; also as a respectful form of address or term of endearment, and in extended use with reference to an older female friend or an admired actress or singer. The following two examples are from the OED:

• 2009: You are simply amazing … Keep on rocking eonni … We love you!

• 2019: She tried, my unni, to love me.but in the end we had nothing to hold on to. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021i)

The word ‘fighting’ refers to expressing encouragement, incitement or support, similar to ‘Go on!’ or ‘Go for it!’. Examples of ‘fighting’ from the OED are as follows:

• 2021: You can do it, miss berry … No matter what we are feeling right now will surely make us a better person soon, so just keep on going, ok? Fighting! (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021c)

The word ‘daebak’ refers to expressing enthusiastic approval and has meanings of ‘fantastic’ and ‘amazing’. The usage of ’daebak’ from the OED is as follows:

• 2021: Daebak! Fans can now meet the one and only figure of Woo-bin for a limited period, right here in Singapore. (Oxford English Dictionary, 2021a)

These examples of usages of these three address terms and two interjections demonstrate increasing pragmatic borrowing in practice (Andersen, 2014; Clyne, 2003). Pragmatic borrowing refers to the incorporation of a source language’s pragmatic and discourse features into a recipient language (Andersen, 2014, p. 17). Haugen (1950) found that interjections account for only 1.4% of loanwords and are placed low in the borrowability hierarchy. Once Korean interjections or discourse markers are used out of their native context, this is a reasonable indicator or an early sign of significant influence from the source language, Korean, on the recipient language, English. While the Korean language has had minimal impact on the global lexicon of the English language, these indications of pragmatic borrowings from the Korean language may predict that words of Korean origin could have more influence on the global lingua franca in the future.

Conclusion

The present study has discussed some critical attributes of translingual words of Korean or related origins. These words have multiple trajectories and thus it is not meaningful to define them as regional-based varieties, such as a Korean English word. It is more appropriate to define such words as translingual words of Korean origin. Some of these words have gained international recognition before being locally accepted, highlighting the speed at which they can be spread and used by global communities. Additionally, the critical influence of the K-pop fandom and Asian English speakers on the growth and spread of translingual words of Korean origin is discussed. These influences have become powerful agents that instigate changes in the meanings and forms of Korean words away from their native context and generate multiple romanisations, which have led to international usage. Finally, the pragmatic borrowing of Korean words into the English language has also been addressed, signifying that the Korean language is on its way to making a significant impact on the English language in today’s world.

Words of Korean origin have spread in an unprecedented manner and at a rapid pace through various online platforms. Studies on how translingual words of Korean origin make their way into the English language are limited and this process has received little attention from scholars. However, the immense boost in the global popularity of Korean pop culture is likely to generate many new translingual words that can be instantly shared throughout the global community. An empirical examination of the linguistic behaviour of new English words of Korean origin would provide valuable insights into the future trajectories of new English vocabulary.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.