Yeong-gam or Younggam (

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

:영감, in

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

:令監) is a

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

or Korean honorific for an old man in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. Yeong-gam was historically an honorific title for second-level and third-level civil servants; Vice-Minister, Assistant Secretary of the

n Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon dynasties. Over time the word became an honorific or nickname for a judge, county governor,이 대단한 분
중도일보 2004-03-22 head of a township or old man. In recent years, yeong-gam has come to be used primarily as a nickname for elderly men. Yeong-gam has been used in

for more than a thousand years.

History

Joseon-Portrait of Cha Jegong-Black danryeongpo

Yeong-gam was first used as an

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

for a lower level civil servants [금요칼럼
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/nowiki> 겉만 번지르르한 '실버 공약'">/nowiki>금요칼럼">[금요칼럼
/nowiki> 겉만 번지르르한 '실버 공약'Busanilbo 2007.12.14 of the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon dynasties, though the first instance of its use is unknown. Nyeong-gam(녕감, 령감), was the first spelling used for this name, it was later changed to yeong-gam. The term yeong-gam comes after public office and peerage titles in a man's name. In the Joseon dynasty, men over their 80th birthday were bestowed the honorary position Assistant Secretary. At their 90th birthday they were given the honorary position of Vice-Minister. With the fall of Joseon, the position of 'Sang-gam(상감)'. Along with the change in the meaning of these positions, Korean patriarchal perspectives were added to the usages of young-gam, which became a common designation; 1. When judges refer to each other 2. When others who are not judges refer to judges 3. When people refer to the mayor 4. When people refer to their elders 5. When women refer to their husbands. After the Joseon dynasty, the use of yeong-gam continued in Japan and Colonial Korea as an honorific for the position of country governor, judge, prosecutor, and district attorney.[한마당-염성덕
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/nowiki>_영감과_영감탱이2010.09.13__

_Modern_usage

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/nowiki> 영감과 영감탱이2010.09.13

Modern usage

After 1962, the Supreme court">Supreme Court of South Korea sought to eliminate the habit of using the term ‘Young-gam’ for judges since it was considered to be an anti-democratic thought. In modern

'Young-gam’ is commonly used as a suffix that comes after the last name of elderly men.‘영감’에 깃든 우리말 변천사
한국경제 2011/03/25 During the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon dynasties yeong-gam followed one's title, in modern use yeong-gam is used by itself.

Homographs

Young-gam is a

homograph A homograph (from the el, ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and γράφω, ''gráphō'', "write") is a word that shares the same written form as another word but has a different meaning. However, some dictionaries insist that the words must also ...

. It is not only a title for elderly men, it means 'inspiration' in Korean (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

References

External links

삼도수군통제사 이순신 조선시대 고위직 '종2품'
hangyorye 2005.02.20
‘영감’에 깃든 우리말 변천사
한국경제 2011/03/25
[한마당-염성덕
/nowiki>_영감과_영감탱이.html" ;"title="/nowiki>한마당-염성덕">[한마당-염성덕
/nowiki> 영감과 영감탱이">/nowiki>한마당-염성덕">[한마당-염성덕
/nowiki> 영감과 영감탱이국민일보 2010.09.13
[엽기인물 한국사
/nowiki> 5. 조선의 국제적 포주②] 스포츠경향 2007년 09월 17일
일상에 남은 옛말의 흔적
한국경제 2011/04/01

브레이크뉴스
[한마당-염성덕
/nowiki>_영감과_영감탱이.html" ;"title="/nowiki>한마당-염성덕">[한마당-염성덕
/nowiki> 영감과 영감탱이">/nowiki>한마당-염성덕">[한마당-염성덕
/nowiki> 영감과 영감탱이2010.09.13 {{in lang, ko
[성석제의 길위의 이야기
/nowiki> 대감과 마누라] 한국일보 Society of South Korea South Korean culture History of Korea Goryeo Joseon dynasty Korea under Japanese rule Popular culture language

History

_Modern_usage

Modern usage

Homographs

See also

References

External links