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In this lesson, you will learn five Hanja characters related to marriage.
婚 = 혼 = Marriage
(혼인할 혼)
Here’s where Hanja study starts paying dividends! I remember when I first learned the word 再婚하다. I heard it in conversation and luckily I knew what 再 meant from my Hanja studies. I was able to infer right away that it referred to a remarriage!
婚
新婚 = newlywed
重婚 = bigamy
再婚 = remarriage
미婚 = unmarried
결婚 = marriage
新婚여行 = honeymoon
新婚부부 = newly married couple
婦 = 부 = Married Woman
(며느리 부)
Two Korean words I find funny are 夫婦 (부부) and 賣買 (매매). You learned about 賣買 in Hanja Lesson 31. Two characters with the same Korean sound but with opposite meanings. One means “buy,” the other means “sell.” 夫婦 is similar in a sense. 夫 refers to a man, 婦 refers to a woman, but they both have the same Korean sound.
婦
新婦 = bride
情婦 = mistress
主婦 = housewife
婦人 = one’s wife
産婦人科 = gynecology
新婚부婦 = newly married couple
産婦人科醫師 = gynecologist
부婦 = married couple
임신婦 = pregnant woman
夫 = 부 = Husband
(지아비 부)
夫
夫婦 = married couple
新婚부婦 = newly married couple
新婚夫婦 = newlywed couple
工夫 = study
農夫 = farmer
漁夫 = fisherman
고母夫 = uncle (paternal aunt’s husband)
伴 = 반 = Companion
(짝 반)
As with 昨 in the previous lesson, you can see how you can sometimes guess the Korean sound of a Hanja character based on what it looks like. In Hanja Lesson 12, you learned about 半, which is also pronounced “반” in Korean.
伴
同伴 = companion
同伴者 = companion
伴奏 = accompaniment (in music)
便 = 편 = Convenient
(편할 편)
Most of the words here refer to some sort of convenience or comfort. However, one of them (男便) refers to a husband.
便
不便 = uncomfortable
男便 = husband
便紙 = letter
便安 = comfort
긴便 = simplicity
便의 = convenience
便의店 = convenience store
Many Hanja characters actually have two meanings, sometimes with two pronunciations. Usually one pronunciation and meaning is much more common than the other. 便 can also be pronounced as “변” and has the meaning of “human excrement.” Therefore, you also see this character in a lot of words that refer to that as well.
便 = 변 = Human Excrement
(똥오줌 변)
大便 = poop
小便 = pee
便기 = toilet