man 00:39

I was asked what the difference between human, human being, person, human race, mankind, and man was by my Swiss friend. And being such a loaded question, I had to mull over it for about a day. The following morning, I had my morning coffee and built up the boldness to piece together my scattered thoughts. The following is not meant to be a complete analysis; I did not look into the history and etymology of each word. It is just a primer to a possible research project at a later date.

1) Human(s) was originally a French word which I suppose came into the English Language after a word had already existed for the concept of man and human. French words supplied English with sophisticated nuances and abstract ideas, e.g. beef vs.cow meat, mansion vs. house. Thus, the word human most likely took on this subtly intricate gradient of meaning. Today, the word is used when talking about it as a physical body sans the spirit and emotions, i.e. in the sciences. We do not say the person body or man body but the human body. We are not the person or man race but the human race. It is often used in conjunction with words such as evolution, species and cloning. 

2) Although the word 'human being' and 'human' do share several gradients of meaning, there also seems to be a stark difference in the emotional response of the speaker/listener. Many times, when the question of life and spirituality arises, human being is the favored word.

    What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? 
     - Psalms 8:4

     You wonder why your life is screaming, Wonder why we're human beings. 
     - Van Halen

It also seems to be used when contrasting man with a god or an idea of some sort. We step away from being a human for a second and critique the race and find meaning in it.

3) The word person is most often used in daily speech. It is who we see and interact with everyday. "I like that person" or "I saw that person yesterday" are common things we say. This word is from a latin cognate and took on this stoic meaning. (In italian person is 'la persona.') The plural form of person, people, can interestingly be used as a verb as in "the island of Australia was peopled by deported criminals." The word likely started as a noun and was verbified and verbification regularly happens with words that are commonly used. What would be interesting to see is how people came to mean many persons.

4) The human race is normally used to contrast it with other races other than humans. It is frequently used in movies and video games with aliens or monsters. In mythology, there is the elven race, the dwarven race, and the orc race. The human race also refers to all of man as a whole. Statements must be satirical, a general truth, or a critique. Mark Twain says, "The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in that procession but carrying a banner."

5) Mankind seems to be used a lot in the telling of stories and histories. It is a word of extremes: triumph, valor, and courage, failure, danger, and weakness. The famous quote "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" succinctly demonstrates that. In contrast, Albert Einstein once said, "We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive." 

6) In its simplest form, man is the male species. It is also the idea that encompasses man and woman. In its more complex form, it includes not all but many of the meanings of the words above. This makes it a very elaborate word and tricky for learners of English. It is most likely the oldest of all the words discussed to have come into the English Language. We see cognates in other Germanic Languages that point to this antiquity. (e.g. der Mann in modern German) 

My speculation is that all the previous words came into the language at different points in time and assimilated certain meanings of the word man. Sometimes the dual usage was unnecessary and one was made obsolete. Other times, the two coexisted peacefully. This process is the reason why it is difficult to concretely narrow down the meaning of each word. I have tried to draw attention to distinct meanings each word contains but am not proposing that they cannot intermingle. Many in fact can be interchanged without significant loss in meaning and nuance. 

brain is extended to its fullest 16:01

Today as I was walking out of my Japanese professor's office, I casually said "Jaa ne!" And immediately I begin to think of the horrible mistake I had just made. Why in the world did I exclaim, "See you later" rather than politely excusing myself as I humbly walk out of the room. Should have left with a "Shitsurei shimashita" or a "Jaa, mata aimashou." Another regret to add to the tons of regrets in my life...

And of course I start to mull over my actions. As I thought, it occurred to me that this is how I say good bye to my Chinese professor. "Zai jian" and I leave with a wave, not a bow. Subsequently, I noticed that "Jaa ne" and "Zai jian" are also two syllable words and somehow I had confused the two. The Chinese that I had learned was influencing my Japanese and it materialized in this embarrassing moment. I hate moments like this.

no need for responsibility 00:56

There are days when language learning is tiring and seems to have no end. But then there are days when I learn something especially mind-stimulating about a language and it make my brain really excited. So here's a little something for your mind to chew on and hopefully it'll excite you too.

As wonderful as our English language is, we do not have a grammatical structure for the 'impersonal' as they do in the Latin languages. We are forced to use the word 'one' or 'they' when we construct sentences that detaches a particular person or group from an action. For instance, in a sentence such as "One goes to school" we do not know who exactly has gone to school; nonetheless, a general person has gone to school. In Italian, this type of structure is created through the use of the third person pronoun si + third person singular/plural verb conjugation. So the same sentence would go something like "Si va a scuola."

We had a discussion in class about how in Florence, many young Italians use this structure to free themselves from the feeling of responsibility from actions committed that would otherwise be considered less than acceptable. If a kid skips school, goes to the movies instead, and subsequently his mother finds out, he could reply to her angry words with a "non si è andato al cinema" or literally "one did not go the theater." Of course this sounds strange in English, but apparently in Florence it is perfectly fine. Another interesting point comes from one of our phD candidate's research on Italian writings on World War II, especially those dealing with Hitler or Mussolini. She writes that history books are written in this impersonal form so as to perhaps free the government from full responsibility of all the atrocities that took place.

Now, this brings me to Korean and Japanese (henceforth called KJ), the two languages I love the most and how they construct this idea. In the KJ languages, since pronouns are frequently dropped and only picked up in context, the verb becomes the most important part of the sentence. If one asks "Did you eat?" in KJ you would word the same sentence as "Did Eat?" The 'you' is implied because the question is obviously directed at a person. So it is in the verb that changes happen. Now, Korean and Japanese people hate to take credit for things they do. (Whether good or bad.) So, this impersonal structure we have seen in Italian is achieved in the KJ language through intransitivity. What happens when a kid breaks a cup and is faced with telling his mom the truth? "カップが割れてた" or "the cup had been broken (with an implied meaning of when I found it there)." When somebody makes dinner for all his friends he will say "밥이 다 됐어요" or "the food has been cooked." One really important thing to notice here is that the cup and food in the examples take a subject particle when the subject should be the actual person! Furthermore, it would be strange and awkward socially to take full responsibility by saying "I broke the cup" or "I made dinner for you all." The speakers take no responsibility.

my level of italian after a year 20:14

Si sembra che molte persone vogliono abitare in una casa grande con molta terra e lontana dalle città affollate e rumorose. Ciò nonostante, l'alloggio del mio sogno curiosamente starebbe in una città come New York o Tokio. Sicuramente, alcuni amici insisteranno che mi abiti fuori a città perché è più logico e non mi costa molti soldi. "Abitare in città è più costosa di fuori a città!" loro diranno. "Puoi avere più terra e una casa più grande per lo stesso prezzo!" Ma gli dico no. Forse, perché io sono cresciuto in città, non penso che posso abitara in campagna o in un paesino.

なぜ 青い山脈 02:21

山脈や葉、信号など、緑色だと分かっているのだが、現実に日本人は青い色だとよく言われる。英語で言うブルーより、「青い」という言葉の意味は日本語でもっと広くなり、色の濃さや印象を表せるように使うのである。緑という言葉は本来の四色ではなく、青は日本語に昔から中心できて、発達されてきた。

bilingual people can change personalities 05:24

According to a study, bicultural and bilingual people can change their personality whenever they switch their language. People can switch to a "cultural-specific frame" and thus the changes in personalities and expressions. 

I did always notice that I acted a little different when I spoke English, Korean, and/or Japanese. Now I have a study that tells me why I act the way I do. It's just what I needed know... 

korean proverbs 09:54

원숭이도 나무에서 떨어질 때가 있다. [Monkeys occasionally fall off trees] Meaning everyone makes mistakes.

둘이 먹다가 하나가 죽어도 모른다. [If two people are eating, one will not know if the other dies] When food is so good to the extent that if one were to die, no one would notice.

개구리가 올챙이 적 생각 못 한다. [The frog does not remember his tadpole days] Remember where you come from.

my favorite 4 character proverbs 09:32

竜頭蛇尾 - Literally meaning "dragon head snake tail." This describes someone who starts something off with much enthusiasm, rigor, and energy but fails to "finish the race." Pretty much one has pooped out.

山戦水戦 - One has battled the mountains and rivers. Thus, one has seen and experienced the world.

道成肉身 - Truth changes into flesh and body. In biblical terms, the Word became Flesh.

a new word 06:38

Kachilhada (까칠하다) - to be strict and boring. To be like one of those old, bitter teachers who watched your every move so that they could bust you for doing something.

Well, that's how I felt about my boss for the longest time. It turns out though, she actually likes me. She even brought up the idea of me staying another year! I'm pretty sure I won't take her up on that deal, but it's such a relief to know that she wasn't holding a grudge.

babariman 20:59

This is one of the funniest words I've learned here in Korea so far. 바바리맨 (Babariman) comes from the word "Burberry," the famous British clothing company, and "man." It's someone in a trench coat who likes to flash people. In Asia, rather than streaking in front of a crowd, men like to look conspicuous and flash people when people least expect it. It's also quite interesting that Burberry has become synonymous with trench coats here, similar to how kleenex is to tissue in America.

OTLed 04:40

OTL is a "word" that encapsulates very well what I have been feeling this passed month. If you look carefully, the letters OTL form a stick figure that is about to collapse from exhaustion. The younger generation of kids here in Korea use it to mean tired. I found it quite amusing. 

staying ahead 16:25

This is probably my first negative post since I have been in Korea. There is something called "nunchi" (눈치) here which means something like staying ahead of your friends, family members, co-workers, and acquaintances so as to keep them pleased to avoid any misunderstandings or bad feelings. One has to understand all the niceties of this society as well as people's feelings so that one knows what makes them happy, sad, tick, etc. I heard that it is kind of like a sixth sense. It is a way that Koreans keep harmony within groups even if it means telling a white lie here and there. For me however, I feel like I am walking on broken glass.

My boss has not been the most generous person since the New Year and it seems as though it is getting harder everyday. One of my co-worker was actually on the verge of tears because of all the work that was dumped on her. Now as a Korean, she has this sixth sense and so she is well aware of how to deal with it when it comes to talking to our boss. It is extremely indirect and it actually made cringe when I saw it. I wanted to give my boss a piece of my mind at the time but it probably would have made her cry too.

love 04:57

For New Years I visited my uncle and aunt in Gunsan, a small town along the Yellow Sea. Surprisingly, my grandmother was there and so it was a reunion of some sort. The last time I had seen them was back in 1995 when they visited America. My two cousins were also there. During my stay, we were confined mostly to their home because of a blizzard. This was my first experience with that much snow. It snowed about 8 inches on Friday night. I now understand why people hate snow. 

Since we were home most of the time there, we watched T.V., caught up with each other's lives (with my broken Korean of course), ate, and ate some more. Everyone was convinced that I was starving myself. They had never seen such an emaciated human in their life. They kept feeding me. I think I had at least four meals on Saturday not including the snacks in between. Feeling rather insecure after they almost convinced that I was, I weighed myself. After some calculations (they use kilograms here, not pounds) I figured I had lost close to 15 pounds since I first got to Korea.

All my stories have some sort of connection with a word that I learn and this story is definitely not exempt from it. There is a word called "jeong" (情). The Japanese and Chinese also use this word. It means "feelings." In Korean though, this word goes beyond the generic meaning of feeling. It can mean love, sacrifice, affection, passion, compassion, how well you click with someone, desires... It is used between a mother and child, the mother sacrificing her needs for her child. It is used between friends who share much in common and much of their lives together. It is used when one devotes their time and effort into a person or a project and they become attached to it. It is the connection between family members and their devotion and love to them no matter what the circumstances are. It is an extremely strong word and used sparingly. 

Though I do not know my family here in Korea very well, they treated me as though I had been a long time member. It is that "jeong" that comes into play. They worried about my health, kept feeding me, cried when they saw me go, and sent me away with a LOT of money because of "jeong." I think I understand this word now.  

omija tea 08:43

I find it intellectually stimulating and satisfying when I 'discover' a 'new' word that cannot be accurately described in the English language. It feels as though I have tasted a little more of life.

I was bouncing around Jeju Island this weekend with my two friends Meredith and Seongjik when we happened upon a folk village. A lady gave us a tour and at then end of the tour we were privileged to taste Jejudo Omija Tea. (오미자차) It means five flavored tea. Meredith captured it well when she exclaimed that it was like a rainbow in your mouth.

There is an initial sensation of sweetness and then a shocking tartness. Bitterness and saltiness follow and then a final 떫은 (tteorbun) taste. In the dictionary, this word comes up as astringent and puckery. Obviously, these meanings do little to explain this word. It is that taste one gets when taking a bite out of a persimmon or date that was not as ripe as it could be. It leaves one wanting another bite of something a little more sweet. Eat the peel of an apple without the flesh and you will begin to understand this taste.

the fifth taste 07:38

When we were kids, we were taught that there were only four tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. According to a new study however, we now have a new "fifth" taste called "umami." It was coined by a Japanese scientist about a hundred years ago. It is best described as a "savory, meaty, and satisfying" taste. I think in Korean it would be best described as 짭짤하다 (Chapchalhada). So the next time you eat anchovies or parmesan cheese see if you can sense "umami." Apparently, Asians have known about it for hundreds of years but now since a study was done, I guess it can be taught. Check out the full article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119706514515417586.html.

i 03:57

In Japanese, you must choose your I's and you's depending on your relationship with the person you are speaking to.

私 watashi - used by both men and women in formal situations.

私 watakushi - an extremely formal way of saying 'I.'

我 ware - another formal 'I.' Used in places like the Bible.

俺 ore - used by males between friends. A very masculine usage of 'I.'

僕 boku - more polite than ore but more casual than watashi.

あたし atashi - used by females between friends. Seen as cute.

あたくし - a more formal version of atashi.

あなた anata - the generic, polite 'you.'

あんた anta - a 'you' that expresses some anger, contempt.

お前 omae - used to condescend in certain situations.

手前 temae - a rude and confrontational 'you.'

貴様 kisama - the hostile 'you' when you want to pick fights.

君 kimi - an informal 'you' used in a lot of love songs.

blue 00:59

This is another one of those untranslatable words. Sort of. In the Korean Language, the two most commonly used words for blue is 'paran' (파란) and 'pureun' (푸른). The first word 'paran' is the general word for blue. Blue car, blue house, blue crayon. Interestingly, it can be used to refer to somethings that are green as well. One will sometimes hear older people say the leaves, grass, or the green street light are blue! Otherwise, not a difficult word to translate. The second word however requires more thought. When used to describe things, it carrys a connotation of freshness and cleanliness. For instance, a 'pureun bada' (blue ocean) would be roughly translated as a blue, clean, and enviromentally friendly ocean. A 'pureun gil' (blue road) could be translated as a 'good and healthy road to take in life.' It is especially used by companies on billboards these days to avert or at least their attempt to avert global warming and pollution. It resonates with the Koreans very well.

huh? 00:25

The other day, I had an interesting conversation with my students about the word 'huh.' Apparently, their previous teacher used the word 'huh' after everything she said and they would laugh everytime. "Did you do your homework, huh?, Where is he going, huh?" I unknowingly used it and out of the blue, they all bursted out in laughter. The previous teacher had never explained to them what it had meant, so I spent the next ten minutes trying to get them to understand. What an undertaking. In the end, we all laughed and agreed that it was quite a strange sound.

a traveling dog 10:30

Different sounds made by a dog in different countries.

U.S. - ruff ruff or woof woof

Korea - meong meong (멍멍)

Japan - wan wan (ワンワン）

Russia - gaf gaf (гаф гаф)

Germany - wau wau

France - ouah ouah

Portugal - au au

Spain - guau guau

Italy - bau bau

Denmark - vov vov 

Netherlands - waf waf or woef woef 

Iceland - voff voff

Finland and Poland - hau hau 

Anyone know what dogs sound like in other countries?

humans are from dirt 18:47

I came by some interesting facts about how the word 'human' in multiple languages mean or are closely related to the word for 'ground' or 'dirt.' I find that fascinating because obviously the first thing that comes to mind is the story of Creation and Adam. Here is my stab at trying to piece together some linguistical history. Most of my information comes from dictionaries.

1) In c.1250 the French word 'humain' came into the English vocabulary and became the word 'human' that we know of today. The French word was derived from the Latin word 'humanus' meaning earthly beings. This word 'humanus' is a direct cognate of the Latin word 'humus' meaning earth or soil and both words had come from an original Indo-European root. In Danish and Swedish, it is pronounced 'human,' in Portuguese and Spanish 'humanos,' and in Persian 'humana.' I am pretty sure in other Indo-European languages, the words are very closely related.

2) The Hebrew word for man is 'adam.' This word for ground is 'adamah.'

3) On the other side of the world, I find out that the Korean word for human 사람 (saram) is very closely related to the word for dirt and soil. First, one must see that the words 사람 (saram) 'human,' 살다 (sarda) 'to live,' 삶 (sarm) 'life', 흙 (heolk) 'soil and dirt' are all cognates of the word 살 (sal) meaning flesh. The word 흙 (heolk) was pronounced 슭 (seolk) back in ancient times. The idea of flesh, life, and human is interestingly bounded to the idea of soil and dirt.

Obviously, this being only a few languages out of a menagerie of hundreds and thousands does not prove anything. But it definitely is something to look more into. And I also thought about citing but this is only a blog so I do not want to spend more time doing that. : P