Korean honorifics

The Korean language has a system of linguistic honorifics that reflects the social status of participants. Speakers use honorifics to indicate their social relationship with the addressee and/or subject of the conversation, concerning their age, social status, gender, degree of intimacy, and situational context.
One basic rule of Korean honorifics is "making oneself lower"; i.e., the speaker uses honorific forms and also humble forms to make themselves lower.
The honorific system is reflected in honorific particles, verbs with special honorific forms or honorific markers and special honorific forms of nouns that includes terms of address.

Impact of social relationships

Age

The age difference between two speakers affects whether or not to use honorifics. Korean speakers in South Korea and North Korea—except in very intimate situations—use different honorifics depending on whether the other person's year of birth is one year or more older, or the same year, or one year or more younger. No matter how close the relationship is to the point where honorifics are not used, if the year of birth is not the same, the hierarchy is determined as hyeong, oppa , nuna, eonni , and dongsaeng, all of which are not regarded as mutual friends. However, some Koreans feel that it is unreasonable to distinguish between the use of honorifics based on a small age difference and try to distinguish between the use of honorifics based on intimacy within a small age difference. Also, regardless of whether or not honorifics are used, if the year of birth is more than a year apart, no matter how close people are, Korean people do not think of each other as friends.
The current age hierarchy customs of current South and North Korea are influenced by the Japanese colonial occupation era and the period when Park Chung-hee, who served in the Japanese military, led the military dictatorship in South Korea.
Before 1945, Japan operated its schools under a strict hierarchy like military, and the age hierarchy was more strict than it is now. These elements of the system of Empire of Japan had a great influence on South and North Korean society. After Japan was defeated in 1945, this hierarchy was greatly weakened in Japanese society due to the disbandment of the Japanese military and the establishment of a civilian government, but in South Korea and North Korea, elements of the Japanese military permeated every corner of the society due to the influence of the dictatorship. Therefore, unlike other countries, it is common in South and North Korea to frequently ask people about their age. Many remnants of the age hierarchy system remain.

Honorific particles

The Korean language can index deference or respect toward a sentence referent in subject or dative position through the application of lexical choices such as honorific particles.

Base noun	Plain Particles		Honorific Particles
Subject particle	After vowel	After consonant	께서
Subject particle	가	이	께서
Dative particle	Inanimate	Animate	께
Dative particle	에	에게	께

There is no honorific expression for inanimate -에. The honorific version of 에게 is 께.
For example, while -선생님- 'teacher' is neutral and -선생님이- denotes the role of the noun as the subject of the sentence, -선생님께서- still means 'teacher', but it indicates that the sentence in which it occurs is an honorific sentence and the speaker is treating the subject, -선생님-, courteously.

Honorific pronouns and nouns

In Korean, the honorific form of first person pronouns are humble forms, which speakers use to refer to themselves with humble pronouns and humble verb forms to make themselves lower.

	Plain form	Humble form	Translation
First person pronouns	나	저	I
First person pronouns	우리	저희	We

Second person pronouns do not appear in honorific conversation and professional titles and kinship terms are used instead, a phenomenon known as pronoun avoidance. The most common terms of address are kinship terms, which are divided into plain and honorific levels.
The honorific suffix -님 is affixed to many kinship terms to make them honorific. Thus, someone may address his own grandmother as 할머니 but refer to someone else's grandmother as 할머님.

Base noun	Honorific	Translation
할아버지	할아버님	'grandfather'
할머니	할머님	'grandmother'
아빠/아버지	아버님	'father'
엄마/어머니	어머님	'mother'
형	형님	'elder brother '
누나	누님	'elder sister '
오빠	오라버니, 오라버님	'elder brother '
언니	형님	'elder sister '
아들	아드님	'son'
딸	따님	'daughter'

Unlike the Japanese language, which allows a title to be used alone for addressing people when an honorific expression is required, Korean does not allow lone titles for addressing people. It is impolite to address someone as 사장 'president' or 교수 'professor' without a suffix such as the honorific suffix -님 —except when addressing social equals or those lower in status.

Addressee honorification

Addressee honorification refers to the way the speaker uses honorifics towards the listener. It is the most developed honorification in Korean, which is mainly realized by the closing expression, which is then largely divided into formal and informal forms, and categorised into six stages according to the degree of honorific.
Formal forms include:

the form, which is the most polite form;
the form, which is moderately addressee-raising;
the form, which is moderately addressee-lowering;
the form, which is the most non-polite form.

Informal forms include:

the form, which is the informal addressee-raising form;
the form, which is the informal addressee-lowering form.

For example, the sentence "Read this book." can be written differently by using different closing expressions, such as:

이 책을 읽으십시오., which uses the form;
이 책을 읽으시오., which uses the form;
이 책을 읽게., which uses the form;
이 책을 읽어라., which uses the form;
이 책을 읽어요., which uses the form;
이 책을 읽어., which uses the form.

One must use honorific endings -습니다 -seumnida and/or -요 -eyo in a formal situation or when addressing acquaintances or strangers, regardless of their age or social status. The following are honorific endings for the four major types of sentences:

Declarative -습니다,
Interrogative -십니까,
Propositive -습시다,
Imperative -시요/-십시오.

However, in informal situations such as speaking to close friends or family members, these honorific endings are usually dropped and substituted with -어 or -아.
The setting, ages, occupations, and other factors contribute to the relations between speaker, addressee, and the referent within this system. Traditionally the Korean honorifics were based on hierarchical relation in society, such as rank in occupations, but this has changed over time to develop into a system based on politeness and closeness. Hierarchical based honorific endings are forgone with relationships such as one between older and younger sibling in which the younger sibling uses the -어/-아 endings in place of -어요/-아요 without change in respect, instead, exhibiting closeness in the relationship. Furthermore, the use of —or honorific language—towards someone who is perceived as close can be perceived as socially awkward or emotionally distant ; whereas, the use of —or crude language—towards one who is a stranger or acquaintance would be perceived as rude.

Honorific verbs

When the subject of the conversation is older or has higher seniority than the speaker, the Korean honorific system primarily index the subject by adding the honorific suffix -시 or -으시 into the stem verb.
Thus, 가다 becomes 가시다. A few verbs have suppletive honorific forms:

Base form	Regular honorific	Translation
가다	가시다	'to go'
받다	받으시다	'to receive'
작다	작으시다	' small'
Base form	Suppletive honorific	Translation
있다	계시다	'to be ; to have'
마시다	드시다	'to drink'
먹다	드시다	'to eat'
먹다	잡수시다	'to eat'
자다	주무시다	'to sleep'
배고프다	시장하시다	'to be hungry'

A few verbs have suppletive humble forms, used when the speaker is referring to themself in polite situations. These include 드리다 and 올리다 for 주다. 드리다 is substituted for 주다 when the latter is used as an auxiliary verb, while 올리다 is used for 주다 in the sense of 'to offer'.

Honorific forms of address

have their own set of polite equivalents; for instance, 저 is the humble form of 나 for the first-person singular pronoun 'I', and 저희 is the humble form of 우리 for the first-person plural pronoun 'we'. However, Korean allows for coherent syntax without pronouns, effectively making Korean a so-called pro-drop language; thus, Koreans avoid using the second-person singular pronoun, especially when using honorific forms. Third-person pronouns are occasionally avoided as well, mainly to maintain a sense of politeness. Although the honorific form of the second-person singular pronoun 너 is 당신, this term is used only as a form of address in a few specific social contexts, such as between people who are married to each other, or in an ironic sense between strangers. Other words are usually substituted where possible; e.g., the person's name, a kinship term, a professional title, the plural 여러분 yeoreobun, or no word at all, relying on context to supply meaning instead.

Spacing spelling convention

The National Institute of Korean Language classifies nim/ssi/gun/yang as dependent nouns that follow a proper noun, and they prescribe that a space should appear between a noun and its dependent noun. This is not to be confused with the affix -nim, used with common nouns, since affixes are written without spaces.

''-a''/''-ya''

Korean has the vocative case markers which grammatically identify a person, animal, or object being addressed so that they eliminate possible grammatical ambiguities. -a or -ya is a casual title used at the end of names, and is not gender exclusive. If a name ends in a consonant, -a is used, while -ya is used if the name ends in a vowel. -a/''-ya is used only between close friends and people who are familiar with each other, and its use between strangers or distant acquaintances could be considered extremely rude. -a/-ya is only used hierarchically horizontally or downwards: an adult or parent may use it for young children, and those with equal social standing may use it with each other, but a young individual will not use -a/-ya'' towards one who is older than oneself or holds a higher status than oneself.
Middle Korean had three classes of the vocative case, but practically only -아/-야 is remaining in everyday life. -여/-이여 is only used in literature and archaic expressions, and -하 has completely disappeared.

''-ssi''

The honorific suffix -ssi is the most commonly used honorific used amongst people of approximately equal speech level, and is equivalent to English honorifics Mr./''Ms./Mrs. It is attached after the full name, or simply after the first name if the speaker is more familiar with someone. Appending -ssi'' to the surname can be considered quite rude, as it indicates the speaker considers themself to be of a higher social status than the person with whom they are speaking.

''-nim''

Nim is the highest form of honorifics and above -ssi. Nim will follow addressees' names on letters/emails and postal packages. It is often roughly translated as "Mr." or "Ms./Mrs.". -nim is used as a commonplace honorific for guests, customers, clients, and unfamiliar individuals. -nim is also used towards someone who is revered and admired for having a significant amount of skill, intellect, knowledge, etc. and is used for people who are of a higher rank than oneself. Examples include family members, teachers, clergy, and gods.

''Seonbae/hubae''

Seonbae is used to address senior colleagues or mentor figures relating to oneself. As with English titles such as Doctor, seonbae can be used either by itself or as a title. Hubae is used to refer to juniors. Usually, people in senior and junior relationships call each other '선배님 ' and '후배님' at the first meeting.

''Gun/yang''

Gun is used moderately in formal occasions, for young, unmarried males. Gun is also used to address young boys by an adult. Yang is the female equivalent of gun and is used to address young girls. Both are used in a similar fashion to ssi, following either the whole name or the first name in solitude.
For example, if the boy's name is '김유겸 ', he can be called as '김유겸 군 ' or '유겸 군 '. And if the girl's name is '임나연 ', she can be called as '임나연 양 ' or '나연 양 '.

Less common forms of address

Gwiha can be seen commonly in formal letters, often used by a company to a client.
Gakha is used only in extremely formal occasions, usually when addressing presidents, high officials, or bishops and archbishops. Somewhat avoided nowadays due to its connotations to Imperial Japan.
Hapha was used to address the father of the king who was not a king, or the oldest son of the crown prince.
Jeoha was only used when addressing the crown prince.
Jeonha was only used when addressing kings, now mostly used to address cardinals.
Pyeha was used only when addressing emperors.
Seongha is used when addressing popes, patriarchates or the Dalai Lama; the equivalent of the English word "His Holiness" or "His Beatitude".
Nari or alternatively, naeuri, was used by commoners in the Joseon dynasty to refer to people of higher status but below daegam, English equivalent of "His Excellency". The honorific is of native Korean origin.

Relative honorifics

When speaking to someone about another person, you must calculate the relative difference in position between the person you are referring to and the person you are speaking to. This is known as apjonbeop 압존법 or "relative honorifics".
Relative honorifics is usually used in the home or relationship between teacher and student. For example, "할아버지, 아버지가 아직 안 왔습니다. " means "Grandfather, father hasn't come yet." Both grandfather and father are in higher position than the speaker, but grandfather is much higher than father. In this special case, Korean do not use honorific expression on father to admire grandfather.
Therefore, in this sentence, "아버지가 " is used rather than "아버지께서 " and "왔습니다 " rather than "오셨습니다 ".
For example, one must change the post positional particle and verb if the person you are speaking to is a higher position than the person you are referring to. "부장님, 이 과장님께서는 지금 자리에 안 계십니다 " translates to 'General Manager, Manager Lee is not at his desk now', with the bolded parts elevating the manager higher than the general manager, even though they both are in a higher position than you. The general manager would be offended by the fact that you elevated the manager above him.
However, relative honorifics in the workplace is far from Korean traditional language etiquette. In front of the superior, lowering another superior who is in a lower position may apply in private relationships, such as between family members and between teacher and student.
Therefore, the above sentence can be modified according to workplace etiquette as follows.

"부장님, 이 과장님은 지금 자리에 안 계십니다. "

Humble speech

Korean also has humble speech, usually denoted with the inclusion of the affix -오- .

Humble suffix

The humble suffix has the effect of lowering the status of the speaker against the addressee, thereby increasing the degree of respect shown by the former toward the latter. The humble suffix, is rare nowadays in Standard Seoul dialect, however, it is employed in religious services as well as historical literary or entertainment media.
The humble suffix appears in four different allomorphs:
1. 오 o:
2. 사오
3. 옵 op:
4. 사옵 ''saop)''

Difference between humble and honorific suffix

The honorific suffix -시/시 and the humble suffix, both employed to express the speaker's respect, are different from one another in that the honorific suffix directs the speaker's respect to the subject of a sentence, whereas the humble suffix directs it to the addressee. And of course the respect shown by the humble suffix is the result of degradation of the speaker's status against the addressee, examples:

선생님이 오셔 'The teacher is coming', whereby a student talking to another student in casual informal style while giving respect to teacher by employing honorific affix 셔
아이가 가옵니다 'The child is going', whereby a servant speaking to master in formal polite style while humbling himself with affix -옵- showing no deference to the subject.
할머님이 오시옵니다 'grandma is coming', whereby a child speaking to an elder such as their grandmother or someone in high authority in a formal and polite style, while still humbling himself or herself with the affix -옵-, and while also showing deference to the subject by employing the honorific affix -시-.

Use in modern speech

The humble affix is still used at certain times for example in "but/even-though" statements as is -오나. For instance, President Yoon Suk-yeol in 2022 was asked a question:

정말 외람되오나 – 'It is very impudent of me but ?'