Originally published November 2017
This month we are going to look at the character 所 which is pronounced 소(“So”) in Korean and which means ‘place’. It also has the meaning “That which is ____”. We will take a look at the words where it means ‘place’ first, since these are the easiest to recognize.
For example, the word 사무소 (事務所 – “Sa-mu-so”) means office.
It is a combination of 사무(事務- “Sa-mu”) which means ‘office work’ and 소 (所 – “So”) which means place. So together the combined word literally means “office-work-place”.
Example Sentence:
해당 지역의 발권 사무소에 문의하십시오.
(“Hae-dang Ji-yeok-eui Bal-gwon Sa-mu-so-e Mun-ui-ha-ship-shi-o”)
Please contact your local ticket office.
The word 세탁소 (洗濯所- “Se-tak-so”) means cleaners (as in a place that cleans clothes, like a dry cleaner). It is formed by combining 세탁 (洗濯- “Se-tak”) which means laundry and 소 (所 – “So”) which means place. Together the combined word literally means “laundry-place”.
Example Sentence:
현주는 세탁소에서 일했다.
(“Hyun-ju-neun Se-tak-so-e-seo Il-het-da”)
Hyun Joo worked at the dry cleaner’s.
The word 연구소 (硏究所 – “Yeon-gu-so”) means research laboratory. The first part 연구 (硏究 – “Yeon-gu”) means research, and the second part 소 (所 – “So”) which means place. When combined the word literally means ‘research-place’.
Example Sentence:
연구소에서 샘플이 오기를 기다리는 중이에요.
(“Yeon-gu-so E-seo Saem-pul-i O-gi-reul Gi-da-ri-neun Jung-i-e-yo”)
We’re still waiting for some samples to come back from the lab.
Here are some more common words where 所 (소 – “So”) means place:
숙소 (宿所 – “Suk-so”): Lodging
이발소 (理髮所 – “I-bal-so”): Barbershop
장소 (場所 – “Jang-so”): Place, spot, location
주소 (住所 – “Ju-so”): Address
파출소 (派出所 – “Pa-chul-so”): Police substation, Police box
Next we will look at the second definition of 所 (소 – “So”) where it takes the meaning of ‘that which is ____’.
Our first example will be the word 소망 (所望 – “So-mang”) which is a noun that means ‘a wish’. The first character 所 (소 – “So”) means ‘that which is ____’ and the second character 望 (망 – “Mang”) means ‘to wish’. The resulting word 소망 (所望 – “So-mang”) literally means ‘that which is wished for’.
The word 소문 (所聞 – “So-mun”) means rumor. The first character 所 (소 – “So”) means ‘that which is ____’ and the second character 聞 (문 – “Mun”) means ‘to hear’. The resulting combination 소문 (所聞 – “So-mun”) literally means ‘that which is heard’.
The word 소용 (所用 – “So-yong”) means usefulness. The first character 所 (소 – “So”) means “that which is ____” and the second character 用 (용 – “Yong”) means ‘to use’. The result is 소용 (所用 – “So-yong”) or ‘that which is used’.
The word 소위 (所謂 – “So-wi”) means ‘so-called’. Once again, the first character 所 (소 – “So”) means “that which is ____” and the second character 謂 (위 – “Wi”) means ‘to-call’. By combining the characters we get the resulting word 소위 (所謂 – “So-wi”) whose literal meaning is ‘that which is called’.
Here are some other common Korean words that follow the same pattern:
소득 (所得 – “So-deuk”): Income, earnings. Literally ‘that which is earned’.
소속 (所屬 – “So-sok”): Affiliation. Literally ‘that which is joined’.
소원 (所願 – “So-won”): Wish, hope. Literally ‘that which is wished for”.
소유 (所有 – “So-yu”): Ownership, possession. Literally “that which is owned”.
소중 (所重): Precious, valuable, dear. Literally ‘that which is heavy’.
I admit that this month’s Hanja Time was a bit more complicated than most because of that second definition of 所 (소 – “So”) which in Chinese was used as a verb modifier. That a Chinese grammatical marker could find its way into so many Korean vocabulary words is pretty interesting!
Special thanks to Fan Champagne for confirming the Chinese grammar structure was correct!
Hanja Time 