International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 2, No.

1, March 2016

Similarities between Korean and Japanese

Seyoung Oh and Taeseon Yoon

similarities which are related to the usage of postposition and

arrangements of word. Unlike western languages, Korean and
Japanese have a form of [S(subject)+O(object)+V(verb)].
This is a very special trait limited to Korean and Japanese,
because Chinese language which shares same back ground
has a [S(subject)+V(verb)+O(object)] unlike Japanese or
Korean. In case of postposition, as there are many kinds of
postpositions and as same postpositions can be used in
different meaning in different environment, if we try to say
that postposition is a similar point then it should be verified in
many kinds of situation. For example, similarities
betweenand Korean - (eo) can be a great example of
similarities in postposition. Therefore aggregating all these
kinds of similarities, this research would like to study about
speech-act similarities between Korean and Japanese.

AbstractAs Korea and Japan has long time of history for

exchanging each others cultural aspects, they have many kinds
of similar things. Among them, language is one of the most
things which have many kinds of similar aspects. By portraying
similarities between two languages, we could find out each
languages developmental stages and through this
understanding each languages consciousness structure becomes
easier. However, as relationship between Korea and Japan
becomes deteriorated due to many kinds of political and
historical issues, contrastive researches between two languages
lost interests from many researchers. This paper, in recognition
of necessities to undergo the research about similarities between
two languages, intends to find the intimate traits between two
languages related to grammatical traits and conversation
culture. Through this paper, supposition that Korean and
Japanese are similar because of their shared historical traits
would become clearer.
Index TermsSimilarity, Japanese and Korean, grammatical
trait, conversation culture.

II. PROCEDURE FOR PAPER SUBMISSION

The related researches are scattered in various fields but it
could be categorized in 3 big areas. They are contrastive
research related to honorific system between Korean and
Japanese, sentence structures between two languages and
finally, how meaning of postpositions could be realized in
different environment. As my research is trying to verify the
similarities between these two languages, this paper will
cover all of these categories and each fields research result
can be used as supporting basis. This concentrates on the
similarities between Korean and Japanese sentences
application of predicates. As both Japanese and Korean
languages make much of its meaning through usage of helping
verbs and modification of word final it is focusing on the
order of helping verbs and ending [1]. This reported a
research on contrastive researches between Korean
postposition -(ui) and Japanese postposition . It
concentrated on skip and realization of and applied
results into Korean sentences. And using this method this
research tries to find out suitable way to teach Japanese to
Korean as foreign language [2]. This reported a research on
differences between Korean postpositions -(eo)and
-(eo-seo). After finding out differences it is trying to
apply its semantic context into Japanese postpositions
and . By applying this semantic context into Japanese,
this research ultimately aims to teach differences of Korean
postpositions to Japanese who are learning Korean [3]. This
reported a contrastive research on honorific system between
Korean and Japanese. It targets a honorific system after
World War II. As this research is a contrastive research, it
both targets on similarities and differences between two
languages. Also it prospects future of the honorific system [4].
Through this related research, we could find out that
attempts to find out similarities between Korean and Japanese

I. INTRODUCTION
Since both Korean and Japanese can be categorized as a
language which is affected by Chinese language and character
there are many kinds of similarities which can be traced in a
cultural area of Chinese character. First, one is that both
languages have a complex system of honorific system. In
western language even though there could be expressions
which show respect to others there is no fixed honorific
system which must be used in specific cases in specific form.
However, in case of Korean and Japanese there is a fixed
honorific system. This system can be divided into 2 different
systems which are humble system and admiration system. The
former system is realized by using an expression that lowers
narrator himself, but the latter is realized by using an
expression which respects other peoples action. For instance,
and (muk-da) which means ask in Japanese and
Korean respectively can be realized into 2 honorific systems
which I mentioned above. If we use the former system,
becomes or and becomes
(yeo-zzub-da) which are lowering narrators action
in order to show respect to a companion of conversation. On
the other hand, if we use the latter system which is used in
order to directly give respects to interlocutors action,
becomes or and
becomes (mul-ui-si-da). There are also
Manuscript received December 26, 2015; revised March 11, 2016.
Seyoung Oh is with the Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, Yonginsi,
South Korea (e-mail: seval0301@naver.com).
Taeseon Yoon was with Korea University, Seoul, South Korea. He is now
with Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, Yonginsi, South Korea (e-mail:
tsyoon@hafs.hs.kr).

doi: 10.18178/ijlll.2016.2.1.58

International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2016

Japanese is used in order to honor the listener (in this

case grandmother). However, this kind of expression is not
found in English. In case of example <11> the thing which is
important is that honorific system can be changed in different
situations. Naturally, honorific system must be used to
(sa-jang-nim) and . However, as there is a
guest who is not in speakers group, guest should be honored
much more than or who shares a same group
with a speaker. For this reason, honorific system is not used to
both and . In example <12> an expression
which lowers speakers action is used in order to talk in a
polite way. In this case speakers action is lowered through a
usage of a special verb, and through that, naturally object
becomes higher. In example <13> we could find out that
special verb is used which only has a meaning of
honorification. In case of (keo-sib-ni-da),
(ik-sub-ni-da) which just simply made through
applying grammatical formula could be used. However, a
level becomes much higher by using of special verb rather
than just applying grammatical formula. It is also found in
Japanese as a special verb is used rather than
using a which just simply applied a grammatical
formulation. Finally, in example <14> we could find out the
fact that there is a special word which is used in honorification.
In case of Korean and Japanese a word father has a different
form of /(a-pa/a-beo-ji)or /. This
is one of the most important features of Korean and Japanese
because this fact shows that these 2 languages could diversify
honorification not only transformation of verb but also usage
of special noun and other language elements.

have developed in various fields. This paper will make a

comprehensive survey of research related to this field.

III. EXPERIMENT
A. Similarities
TABLE I: SIMILARITIES OF WORD ORDERS BETWEEN KOREAN AND
JAPANESE
Korean

Active voice<6>
Passive voice<7>

Past supposition
phrase<8>

Negative
supposition
phrase<9>

Japanese

English

He would
have taken
a sleep.

I have
meal.

A fish was
eaten by a
bear.

This snack
doesnt
look good
at all.

Through Table I the fact that word orders between Korean

and Japanese are similar could be easily found out. Lets see
example <6>. (Starting from now I will only use number in
order to quote an example easily.) It is a basic form which
doesnt have any kind of other grammatical devices. As we
can find out, unlike English word order which takes a form of
S(subject)+V(verb)+O(object), Korean and Japanese
sentence
follows
a
word
order
of
S(subject)+O(object)+V(verb) which is different from that of
English. This trait is also found in example <7>. In case of
Korean and Japanese adverb comes right after the subject. So
the
structure
of
sentence
becomes
[S(subject)+A(adverb)+V(verb)] which is totally nonsense in
English. In example <8> a position of helping verb could be
find out. In Korean and Japanese instead of using helping verb,
an ending is transformed into different form. Also, although
helping verb comes before main verb in case of English,
Korean and Japanese takes a structure of transformation after
main verb. In example <9>, we could find out that one English
sentence can be translated into two different Korean and
Japanese sentences which have different structures. Korean
and Japanese can express a negative supposition into 2 ways.
They can use a word which means negative supposition or
they deny the supposition by using a helping verb which is a
negative phrase.
Table II gives an example of honorific system which is
essential in both Korean and Japanese. There are many
categories of honorific system that Korean and Japanese share
similarities. In example <10> we could find an honorific
system. In case of Korean (sub-ni-da), and

TABLE II: SIMILARITIES OF HONORIFIC SYSTEM BETWEEN KOREAN AND

JAPANESE
Honorific
System.<10>

Korean

Japanese

English
Grandmoth
er, I had a
meal.

Division of
group<11>

Honorific
system<12>

Sir, CEO
hasnt come
yet.

I asked a
question to
teacher.

.
Usage of special
verb<13>

Is there a
teacher?

Specific
expression<14>

()

Father

Usage of postposition which are mentioned in Table III is

one of the most important features that are shared between
Korean and Japanese. In example <15> and is both
6

International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2016

used in order to express ones possession. Unlike English,

both Korean and Japanese dont have to use verb in order to
express ones possession. In example <16> it points out a
unique feature that is shared between Korean and Japanese. In
Korean and Japanese, postpositions can be unified. In English
a very limited group of preposition can be unified in a very
limited situation. However, in case of Korean and Japanese
post positions can be unified relative easily. Not only
postpositions which are mentioned above there many kinds of
unified forms of postpositions. In example <17> this
postposition is important because this postposition can be
used only in a place where action is occurred. It is different
from English because in case of at it covers not only place
but time. Unlike at, - and - could be used only in a
place [5]. In example <18>, it shows a case that postpositions
can be used as a noun. 3 examples which I mentioned before
only show a postpositions roles that could be translated into a
role of preposition. However, in example <4> we could find
out that postposition can be also used as a noun. What is
important is that, in this case only and can be used.
Finally, in example <19> we could commonly say that this is
the main role of - and [6]. As we can find out in this
example, postposition acts as a conjunction of noun phrases
or it can act as a qualifier. This kind of usage is frequently
found in both Korean and Japanese. - and can both
act as an English conjunction or linker.

both in Korean and Japanese this word could only be united

with a word lie. In case of example <21>, <22>, <23>, <24>,
arrangements of postpositions and verb are same. Interesting
point related to this category is that although this is habit of
each language it is not related to grammatical facts because it
doesnt have fixed rules. Secondly, in case of paradigmatic
collocation it is closely related to meaning rather than
expression. In case of <27> these two sentences have a same
meaning which means that he lends a book to her. However,
sentences which have same meaning can be changed in
formation through modification of postpositions and verbs,
and these kinds of formation show a same form between
Korean and Japanese. Also, Korean and Japanese antonym
system can be categorized into 4 groups. In case of example
<26>, it shows 4 categories which are size, opposite action,
opposite situation, and finally fact of existence or
nonexistence. In example <25>, we can find out that both
languages have a same synonym structure and even same
word expressions.
TABLE IV: SIMILARITIES OF COLLOCATION EXPRESSION BETWEEN KOREAN
AND JAPANESE
Classification
Examples
Examples
Classification by
by meaning
(Korean)
(Japanese)
relation
Syntagmatic
Emphasis<20>

Collocation

()

TABLE III: SIMILARITIES OF USAGE OF POSTPOSITIONS BETWEEN KOREAN

AND JAPANESE
Korean
Possession<15>

Japanese

English
Thats
mine.

A students
duty.

I work at
bank.

I saw him
going
to
bank.

.
Unification of
postpositions<16>

Place of
action<17>

Case or
Situation<18>

.(

.
Functioning
<21>

.
Listing noun or
modification<19>

That is a
rose
of
Sharon
which
is
Korean
national
flower.

.
Creation
<22>

We can find out many kinds of similarities between Korean

and Japanese in Table IV. First collocation expression is
especially detected in Korean because it is related with the
usage of verb, subject and postpositions. First category is
syntagmatic collocation which is related to a structure of
sentence. As we can find out in these examples, Korean and
Japanese languages show a same collocation structure in case
of syntagmatic collocation. For instance, in example <20>
underlined word could be translated into reddest. However,

Disappear
<23>

Deterioration
<24>

International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2016
Paradigmatic
Collocation

Synonym <25>

[7]. For example, in case of word orders they are only

detected
(which
have
a
form
of
subject+predicate+modifier+modificand)
in
case
of
Ural-Altaic language. Also, realizing various kinds of
meaning through the application of ending of a verb shows an
agglutinative languages trait. And this kind of characteristic
is only detectable in case of Ural-Altaic languages. Secondly,
in case of honorific system this would be related to similar
socio-economic conditions between Korea and Japan. Korea
and Japan both had a fixed class system which has never been
changed for more than thousands of years. So, honorific
system would be a language system which would be different
between classes, and this system would be changed into a
contemporary honorific system as class system is collapsed.
In fact, honorific system of Japan was change in 1868 when
the Meiji Restoration was occurred due to a collapse of class
system [8].
Finally, usage of certain postpositions would be related to
the influence of Japan. Among them can be the best
example. In Korean - which has same meaning as
Japanese had rarely been used until the middle of 18th
century. It has been started to use widely after Japanese
started to widen their power in Korea, and it finally took a root
for a period of Japanese colonial era against Korea.

.
Antonym <26>

/.
/
.

/
.

/.

/.
Switching role
<27>

IV. CONCLUSION

The limitation of this research is that subtle differences

between Korean and Japanese are not considered sufficiently.
Even though most of the things which are mentioned in this
paper are similarities there could be slight differences. But as
there are many other arguments it is hard to mention them in
this paper. Also there is another limitation which is related to
precise explanation. As definition of phraseology is little bit
vague, it might cause confusion. However, even though there
might be slight differences, as overall features are similar and
there are many related researches about similarities between
Korean and Japanese it would be alright to say that both
languages share similarities. Whats more, even though it is
mostly considered that Korean and Japanese share similarities,
yet it is not considered carefully. As mutual relation between
languages becomes much more important, I hope that this
research will serve as catalyst in order to increase a study
related to contrastive research between Korean and Japanese.
Also this research has a value that it tries to find out reasons
for similarities between two languages. This research not only
dealt with philological aspect but dealt with both
socio-economical and historical aspects. This research can
show that both Korea and Japan share not only linguistic
likeness but also socio-economical and historical similarities.

REFERENCES

B. Reason
Then how can it be possible that these two languages have
such similarities? In this paper we could point out 3 reasons
which are related to similarities. First reason is that 2
languages have Ural-Altaic language systems. Even though
there are many controversies related to stratum of Japanese,
majority of researchers are arguing that Japaneses stratum is
either Ural-Altaic or mixture of Ural-Altaic and South-Indian

[1]
[2]

[3]

M. Kim, The Contrastive Study of Korean and Japanese Predicate

Structure, 2002.
G. Bang, A contrastive study of politeness expressions in early
twentieth century Korean and Japanese language, The Japanese
Modern Association of Korea the Japanese Modern Association of
Korea, pp. 37-52, 2008.
M. Lee, Reviewing the methodology of contrastive study of Korean
and Japanese Focusing Onshite-shimau, Journal of Japanese
Language and Culture, pp. 157-175, 2007.

International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2016
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]

[8]

M. Park, A Comparative Research of Honorification in Korean and

Japanese, 1998.
S. Jung, The Study of Acquisition of Semantic functions of 'e' and
'eseo' by Japanese learners of Korean, 2015.
S. Cho, A Comparative Study on the Postposition 'ui' of Japanese and
'no' Korean Languages, 1996.
N. Lee, The Problem of the Genetic Relationship between the
Japanese Language and the Korean Language and the Methods of
Comparative Study.
K. Mabuchi, Japanese Root and Korean, the Japanese Language and
Literature Association of Korea.

Taeseon Yoon was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1972. He

got a Ph.D. degree in computer education from the
Korea University, Seoul, Korea, in 2003.
From 1998 to 2003, he was with EJB analyst and
SCJP. From 2003 to 2004, he joined the Department
of Computer Education, University of Korea, as a
lecturer and Ansan University, as an adjunct
professor. Since December 2004, he has been with the
Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, where he was a
computer science and statistics teacher.
Authors formal
photo

Seyoung Oh was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1998. He

was a student of Joongdong Academy from 2011 to
2013. He has been a student of HAFS (Hankuk
Academy of Foreign Studies) since 2014. He is now
major in humanities and Japanese.