THE hanjaalso called “Sino-Korean characters”, are the Chinese ideograms previously used forKorean writing. Did you know that there are more than 10 000 ? The little book of hanja presents us with the 150 premiers.
Its author, Charles-Emmanuel VeillardEast Korean and French as a foreign language teacher. He makes hanja his favorite subject during the doctorate in Korean linguistics at the Sorbonne which he is currently pursuing. His thesis subject concerns theteaching Chinese characters in Korea and to strangers. He is, so to speak, THE French-speaking specialist in hanja. He notably worked on the overhaul of the Dictionary of Chinese-Korean Characters by Li Jin Mieung and he is co-author of the Hanja application.
What is a hanja ?
Quick definition of hanja (chinese character) : from Chinese 漢字 (hanzi), literally “Chinese character” (漢/he of the “Chinese Han dynasty” and 字/day “letter”), hanja are the Chinese ideograms which were used to write “traditional Korean” before the invention ofalphabet current, the hangul (korean). They are also called ” Sino-Korean characters “. THE hanja are written using Chinese ideograms, but their pronunciation is in Korean. Their current use is extremely limited in Korea. We still find hanja in newspapers, on historic buildings or to differentiate men's toilets (男/linger : other/nam) and women (女/nǚ : female/yeo ou girl/nyeo) For example.
Although the hanja are no longer commonly used, learning them remains interesting for understanding the Korean language and culture. It is estimated thatabout 60% of Korean vocabulary comes from Chinese characters. THE hanja are replaced in words by their Korean pronunciation in hangul (Korean alphabet). For example, the word gatepronounced dae-munmeans “ big door “. He comes from doorwhere 大 pronounced 대/dae means “ grand » and 門 pronounced 문/will means “ porte “. In everyday writing, 大門 is no longer used and is replaced by its pronunciation in hangul : main gate/dae-mun. However, we can still see 大門 in hanja on historic gates like Namdaemun (남대문) in Kaesong, North Korea. We can read Mondainan on the building, literally “grand-south door”, or in hangul Daenam Moon/mun-sleep-meat.
Credits: excerpt from the show Tales Of Two Cities on Suwon and Kaesong broadcast on JTBC in September 2019.
In North Korea, 3 000 hanja are taught to students atuniversité. Au Sud, 1 817 are studied by middle school students et high school students. These are classified by levels, ranging from 8 has 1where 8 is the level the easiest and 1 the level the most difficult.
Summary of Little book of hanja
The little book of hanja presents the 150 premiers hanja learned by South Korean students. They correspond to the levels 7 and 8the simplest, of theChinese-Korean character knowledge ability exam. These 150 characters are also among those studied in the North.
The book is divided into several parts. First of all, the hanja are presented in the form of cards numbered from 1 to 150. Each sheet includes the hanjason trace by trait, its clefin pronunciation and its transcription in hangulin translation in Korean and in Frenchan explanation of visual from which it draws inspiration and a list of vocabulary using it.
Following these 150 detailed sheets, you can find in the appendices:
- A summary table of the 150 hanja
- An index by pronunciation
- An index by total number of strokes
- One index per key
- Drawing exercise pages
My opinion on The little book of hanja
The content of the Little book of hanja
The little book of hanja is a book that I have been waiting for for a long time!
L’Korean writing is no longer done with Chinese ideograms like in the past, unlike Japanese which always includes them. We can then legitimately ask what purpose thelearning of hanja. I concede that it is unlikely to come across hanja in writing, so knowing how to read and write them is not essential. THE hanja however enter into the construction of many Korean words. It's their etymological value that it is very interesting to know, especially their sound transcription. Indeed, the words inherited from even hanja all have a its in common. For example, in the sheet opposite, the words derived from hanja Southwhich means “ sud », all contain the syllable other/nam : gang-nam (” river-sud “, which designates the district of Seoul “south of the river”), nam-san (« sud-mountain”, i.e. “southern mountain”), nam-hae (« sud-sea”, understand “sea of sud »)…
Good points: transcriptions are carried out within the two systems of romanization of hangul and one double translation in Korean is given if the different uses between the North and the South.
The format of the Little book of hanja
Learn vocabulary starting Korean is not easy. I myself have always had difficulty remembering thematic word lists. If, like me, you need understand the composition of words to remember them, The little book of hanja is the tool you need! Each entry presenting a hanja is arranged like a little review sheetwith all the necessary information and little text to read. They go toessential and make learning almost magical.
For Japanese learners, this format should not be unfamiliar. The author himself declares that he was inspired by Little book of kanji by Kuniko Braghini published in 2021 in an interview for Japan Magazine: “I saw by chance in a bookstore The little book of kanjifor French speakers learning Japanese. It is so well made for this format, I said to myself that it would be very useful to adapt it for hanja in Korean. » Dear author, thank you for this “version hanja » !
Good points: annexes classifying the hanja par pronunciationpar total trait name and by cleffor quick searches like in a dictionary.
Downside: the idea was to put pages of tracing exercises at the end of the book. However, choosing a paperback book does not allow the pages to be fully opened. He is difficult to lay the book flat to write in it. On the other hand, the beautiful slippery paper doesn't make writing easy. The little book of hanja is more of a nice reference book than an exercise book.
Halfway between dictionarytest of linguistic et vocabulary sheets, The little book of hanja is a great tool for complete your Korean learningwhatever its level!
Where to find The little book of hanja ?
The little book of hanja of Charles-Emmanuel Veillard is on sale in bookstores and on the publisher's website. You will also find it in the specialized section on thelearning korean at our partner, Librairie Le Phénix, online and in store (Paris 3ᵉ).
Charles-Emmanuel Veillard, The little book of hanjaParis, Atelier des notebooks, 2024, 208 p., ISBN 979-10-91555-83-8.17 €.
This article was produced in partnership with the publisher l'Atelier des notebooks. We would like to thank the Atelier des Cahiers team for their trust!
Find our other opinions on books from this publisher under the tag L'Atelier des notebooks.
Sources: L’Atelier des notebooks | Bookstore Le Phénix | Miho Choo and William O'Grady, Handbook of Korean Vocabulary : A Resource for Word Recognition and ComprehensionUSA, University of Hawaii Press, 1996, 416 p., ISBN 9780824818159
Image sources: L’Atelier des notebooks | Editions First | JTBC
