German Loan-Words In Korean
여러분 안녕하세요!
Yes I am still alive. I have been - and still am - dealing with things in Real Life that take up all my energy (namely depression and anxieties), but I wanted to make this post because it was something I stumbled over. Loan words. Many languages - maybe even all I don’t know - have loan words from other languages. Korean is no exception. We often hear the english ones because most of us know English a whole lot better than other languages unless your native language is another one.
As you may know I’m German. So when I stumbled over two words that sounded very familiar to me - because they were pretty much German but with Korean pronunciation - I had to look up more German loan words and found a page in the wiktionary. So I wanted to share these words with you from the perspective of a German.
Many of these are chemical elements or city names, but also has some that are not, I will keep them all in though, just to be complete.
Let’s go! 가자!
ㄱ
가톨릭 - Catholicism - German: Katholik
갈륨 - gallium - German: Gallium - chemical element
게놈 - genom - German: Genom - complete genetic information of an organism
게르마늄 - germanium - German: Germanium - chemical element
그라프 - graph - German: Graph
그람 - gram - German: Gramm - Unit of measurement
깁스 - cast - German: Gips - cast for a broken bone
ㄴ
나치 - Nazi - German: Nazi
나트륨 - sodium - German: Natrium - chemical element
노이로제 - neurosis - German: Neurose
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도이췰란드 - Germany - German: Deutschland - This seems to be obsolete in South Korea, they now use 독일 but according to the wiktionary it’s still used in North Korea
ㄹ
뢴트겐 - X-Ray - German: Röntgen
루페 - Magnifying glass - German: Lupe
리히텐슈타인 - Liechtenstein - German: Liechtenstein - A country in Europe
ㅁ
망간 - manganese - German: Mangan - chemical element
뮌헨 - Munich - German: München - City in Germany.
메스 - scalpel - German: Messer (Messer is the word for knife) - This is one noted as being dutch in origin but as it is so similar to the German word I am including it
ㅂ
베른 - Bern - German: Bern - Capital of Switzerland
베를린 - Berlin - German: Berlin - Capital of Germany
벤졸 - benzene - German: Benzol - chemical compound
본 - Bonn - German: Bonn - German City
빈 - Vienna - German: Wien - Capital of Austria
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슈니첼 - schnitzel - German: Schnitzel - A food
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아르바이트 - Part-Time Job, Side Job, German: Arbeit - Any kind of work full time, part time, chores, a task, hobby etc.
알레르기 - allergy - German: Allergie
에네르기 - energy - German: Energie
에스체트 - eszett - German: Eszett - the letter ß
왈츠 - waltz - German: Walzer - a dance
요오드 - iodine - Germany: Jod
요한 - John - German: Johann - a name
이데올로기 - ideology - German: Ideologie
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취리히 - Zurich - German: Zürich - City in Switzerland
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칼륨 - potassium - German: Kalium - chemical element
코크스 - coke - German: Koks - coal product
쾰른 - cologne - German: Köln - City in Germany
크롬 - chromium/chrome - German: Chrom
크바르크 - quark/cottage cheese - German: Quark
크세논 - xenon - German: Xenon - chemical element
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테마 - topic/theme - German: Thema
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페스트 - plague - German: Pest
프로 / 퍼센트 - percent - German: Prozent - %
플루오르 - fluorine - German: Flour - chemical element
ㅎ
호프 - bar/pub - German: Hofbräu (in German this is a certain kind of beer)
So if you are German or know some German maybe these can help you to remember these words more easily. While not all of them will be useful in everyday life, some may be. And if you wonder if Korean has any words from your language in their vocabulary, check out this page.
Thank you all for still being here and learning with me, even if I am quiet for a while. More coming soon I hope! :)
Until then. Stay awesome! 화이팅











