Yaminjeongeum (Korean야민정음; Hanja野民正音) is a South Korean Internet meme which disassembles Hangul characters of a word and replaces them with others which appear similar to the correct form. For example, daejang (대장, "chief") is changed into meojang (머장), since dae (대) resembles meo (머). The name Yaminjeongeum is a blend of Hunminjeongeum and Yagael (야갤); Yagael is short for Gungnae Yagu Gallery (국내야구 갤러리; 國內野球 갤러리), the domestic baseball league section of DC Inside.

There are various ways to convert a word into yaminjeongeum: just replacing its consonants or vowels, rotating it, compacting it, or even using Latin alphabet. Some word plays are often considered as Yaminjeongeum, though they existed before it. There is no standard of the meme, only popular forms. The following are some common examples of it:

Type of replacement Examples
Original form Yaminjeongeum References
Hangul RR Meaning Hangul RR
Replacing 근 (geun) with ㄹ (r) 박근혜 Bak Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (former president of South Korea) 박ㄹ혜 Bak R-hye [1]
Replacing ㅠ (yu) with ㅡ + ㄲ (eukk) as a stop consonant 유재석 Yu Jae-seok Yoo Jae-suk (comedian) 윾재석 Euk Jae-seok [2]
Replacing 과 (gwa) with 파 (pa) 광주 Gwangju Gwangju (major city) 팡주 Pangju [3]
Replacing 대 (dae) with 머 (meo), or vice versa 멍멍이 meongmeong-i Doggy 댕댕이 daengdaeng-i [4]
대전광역시 Daejeon Gwangyeoksi Daejeon Metropolis 머전팡역시 Meojeon Pangyeoksi [5]
Replacing 며 (myeo) with 띠 (tti) 명곡 Myeonggok Well-known song 띵곡 Ttinggok [4]
Replacing 귀 (gwi) with 커 (keo) 귀엽다 gwiyeopda Cute 커엽다 keoyeopda [1]
Replacing ㅗ + ㅇ (-ong) with ㅎ (h) as a stop consonant 세종대왕 Sejong Daewang Sejong the Great 세종머앟 Sejong Meoat [6]
Replacing hanja 長 (장) (the surname Jang) with 튽 (Teunj) 김장훈(金長훈) Gim Jang-hun Kim Jang-hoon (rock singer) 숲튽훈 Sup Teun-hun [1]
Rotating a whole phrase by 180º 폭풍눈물 pokpung nunmul Bursting into tears 롬곡옾눞 romgok omnup [5]
Rotating hangul blocks by 90º 비버 Bibeo Beaver or Bieber 또뜨, 뜨또 Ttotteu, Tteutto [7]
Compacting multiple syllable blocks into one ㅗㅜㅑ(오우야) ouya An interjection pya [8]

Popularity

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There is no definitive source of the origin of Yaminjeongeum.[1] It is commonly used in public, especially by teens,[4] and even appears on TV advertisements.[9]

Critics state that the meme destroys Hangul and is a type of verbal violence, but supporters state that it is just a part of culture and improves the Korean language.[6][10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "야민정음이란? - 서울시립대신문". press.uos.ac.kr (in Korean). 30 September 2015. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  2. ^ "SNL코리아로 촉발된 급식체 논란". 데일리안 (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  3. ^ "세종머앟도 놀랄 야민정음". 경남도민일보 (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  4. ^ a b c "롬곡롬곡·댕댕이·띵곡…'야민정음' 아세요". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  5. ^ a b "[ESC] 롬곡옾높". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 2017-12-28. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  6. ^ a b "세종머앟?… 세종대왕이 울고갈 '야민정음'" [Sejong Meoa? Sejong Daewang crying over 'Yaminjeongeum']. Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). July 18, 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
  7. ^ 임휘준 (2015-12-07). "| 저스틴 비버의 왼팔에는 한글이 있다.."'뜨또'가 뭐야?"텐아시아". 텐아시아 (in Korean). Archived from the original on Dec 2, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  8. ^ "[급식체를 아시나요]퍄… 극한으로 줄여쓴다". The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). 5 June 2018. Archived from the original on Dec 2, 2018. Retrieved 2018-12-02.
  9. ^ Lifeplanet라이프플래닛 (2018-03-13), 교보라이프플래닛_"댕댕이 여러분"(60's) 펫사랑m정기보험 런칭CF, retrieved 2018-10-30
  10. ^ "야민정음, 발랄한 문자 놀이". Seoul University Journal (in Korean). 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2018-10-30.