What does 'Namdongsaeng (남동생)' mean in Korean

What does '남동생' mean in Korean?

남동생 (NamDongSaeng) : Younger Brother, Little Brother

 

 

ㄴ	N
ㅏ	A
ㅁ	M

 

ㄷ	D
ㅗ	O
ㅇ	~ Ng * First sound ㅇ doesn't have sound     Last sound ㅇ sounds '~ng'  ex. 오빠 (   + O + PP + A)       형     (H + Yeo + ~ng)

 

ㅅ	S
ㅐ	AE / E
ㅇ	~ Ng * First sound ㅇ doesn't have sound     Last sound ㅇ sounds '~ng'  ex. 오빠 (   + O + PP + A)       형     (H + Yeo + ~ng)

 

 

- NamDongSaeng [Noun] 남동생

 

  NamDongSaeng or NamDongSeng are both accurate since it is only a romanization word to pronounce the Korean word. But as you know you cannot pronounce a foreign language based on English because different languages don't always have the perfectly matching sound with the other language's pronunciation system.

It's like you cannot read the brand name 'CHANEL' as 'CHAE-NL [ˈtʃænl ]'. 

  The best way to understand the Korean word is pronouncing the word base on Hangul (Korean Alphabet)

 

Older brother and Younger brother

 

 

1. Younger brother (Family)

 

  Case1. Rose (Older sister), Mark (Younger brother)

 

Rose : "Mark is my younger brother"

           "마크는 내 남동생이야."

           [MaKeuNeun Nae NamDongSeng-i-Ya.]

 

  Case 2. Tom (Older brother), Mark (Younger brother)

 

Tom : "Mark is my younger brother"

           "마크는 내 남동생이야."

           [MaKeuNeun Nae NamDongSeng-i-Ya.]

 

 

 

'NamDongSaeng' 

= 남 + 동생

  Nam + DongSaeng

* Nam : Male

* DongSaeng : Younger one

 

 

There are certain ways to call the person depending on that person's age and gender in S. Korea.

 

"Hyeong"

Younger male > Older male

 

There's no specific word for younger male so normally just calls that person's name

Older male > Younger male

 

"OPPa (OBBa)"

Younger female > Older male

 

There's no specific word for younger female so normally just calls that person's name

Older male > Younger female

 

"Nuna (Noona)"

Younger male > Older female

 

There's no specific word for younger male so normally just calls that person's name

Older female > Younger male

 

"EonNi (UnNi)"

Younger female > Older female

 

There's no specific word for younger female so normally just calls that person's name

Older female > Younger female

 

 

  Whenever the older one wants to call the younger one there is a word for the younger one which is '동생(DongSeng)'

But this word doesn't use for calling someone. Usually, this word doesn't use to call that younger person directly but only addresses the status.

 

ex.

 

Rose (Older sister), Mark (Younger brother)

 

Rose : "Mark is my younger brother"

           "마크는 내 동생이야."

           [MaKeuNeun Nae DongSeng-i-Ya.]

 

Rose : "Mark"

          "마크야"

          [MaKeu-Ya]

 

Mark : "Why sis?"

            "왜 누나?"

             [Woe NuNa?]

 

 

Tom (Older brother), Mark (Younger brother)

 

Tom : "Mark is my younger brother"

           "마크는 내 동생이야."

           [MaKeuNeun Nae DongSeng-i-Ya.]

 

Tom : "Mark"

          "마크야"

          [MaKeu-Ya]

 

Mark : "Why bro?"

            "왜 형?"

             [Woe Hyeong?]

 

 

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