Honorific category and Malcharim category, the important expression means of politeness in Korean

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said:

"In the realm of linguistics they should properly resolve the problems that arise in exalting the brilliance of our language, both spoken and written, and in developing a refined and cultured way of speaking throughout society."

As the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said, in the realm of linguistics, it is an important task to further develop and enrich the Korean language and conduct socio-linguistic life in a refined and cultured way as required by the building of a powerful socialist country.

Courtesy is a mode of behavior that enables people to maintain harmonious relationships based on certain rules of etiquette and adherence to politeness is of great importance in close interpersonal relationships and in facilitating communication.

There are language courtesy, greeting etiquette, table manners and manners of behavior, among which language courtesy plays an important role in ensuring good communication between people.

The means of polite expression in Korean include the honorific category and the Malcharim(showing different degrees of respect) category.

First of all, the honorific category is a grammatical category in which the speaker expresses politeness to the person on the topic.

In this case, the honorific particle "시"(si) is added to the predicate verb to show respect for the subject of action on the topic.

Ex: 아버님이 신문을 읽으신다. (Father is reading the newspaper.)

As shown in the example, in order to show respect for the "father" who is the person on the topic, the honorific particle "시" is given to the predicate verb "읽다"(read) to form "읽으신다".

In general, nearly all verbs in Korean can express respect for the subject of action on the topic by adding the honorific particle "시" as in the example. However, some verbs cannot be followed by the honorific particle "시". In this case, the other honorific words are used to express the respect for the subject of action on the topic instead of those which are unable to express respect.

Here are that kinds of examples below.

Next, the Malcharim category is a grammatical category that expresses the politeness for the other person listening, that is, it is the grammatical category which shows the respect of the speaker for the listener.

This is performed by adding a terminative particle to the predicate verb.

In general, in Korean, the predicate verbs with terminative particles refer to three states; respect, equal, and humble.

Let's take the Korean verb "가다"(go) as an example.

In case of respect, it changes into "갑니다" in declarative sentences, "갑니까?" in interrogative sentences and "가십시오" and "가십시다" in imperative sentences, while in case of equal state, "간다" in declarative sentences, "가니?" in interrogative sentences and "가오" and "가자" in imperative sentences.

In case of humble state, it changes into "가마" in declarative sentences, "가냐?" in interrogative sentences and "가라" and "가자꾸나" in imperative sentences.

Thus, the honorific category and Malcharim category are actively used as the means of polite expression in Korean, contributing to the people's linguistic life.