Korean-Chinese Culture Viewed through the Address Terms - Focusing on the Generalization of Korean ‘님’ and Chinese ‘亲’ -

Abstract

As a foreign language education, Korean education should not only impart Korean languages and culture. By comparing with other languages and cultures, Korean education will be more effective. Different countries have different languages and cultures. Language and culture are interdependent and influence each other. Language is an important carrier of culture. On the other hand, language and culture also restrict language. The address terms strongly reflect the social attributes and values of both sides of communication, and are closely related to the social culture, national psychology, political background and moral tradition of both sides the of communication. Korean ‘님’and Chinese ‘亲’ are simple terms composed of one syllable. They are widely used by Internet users in Internet space, but they are increasingly extended to daily life. Thinking through the generalization of these two words, the characteristics of Korean and Chinese social culture can be seen clearly. Therefore, through the comparison of the present usage of the Korean address term ‘님’ and Chinese address term‘亲’, this paper aims at understanding the characteristics of Korean and Chinese social culture.