Japanese and Korean Translation

The expressiveness of Asian Languages

There are many similarities between Japanese and Korean languages. They have some shared vocabulary, mostly borrowings from Chinese. They have similar grammatical principles: both rely on particles and verb endings for most grammatical functions, both have counters, adjectives are treated similarly to verbs in both.

On the other hand, similar does not mean the same. While the main principle may be similar, details and nuances can be very different. This is especially true for expressive language and idiomatic expressions. Many Japanese idioms do not have exact word-for-word Korean equivalents, so when translating from the same English source text, you cannot expect it to have the same expression in Japanese and Korean. Similarly, other widely-used languages with a different linguistic background such as English and Chinese do not have a literal translation. 

When  translating from English to Japanese and  Korean, whether you translate documents, presentations, fiction, or any other type of text, it is important to understand the author’s intent and take into account the whole sentence before you begin translating it. It is crucial to take into account the cultural and linguistic differences of each language and apply the correct interpretation to avoid word-for-word translation.

Honorifics

Both Japanese and Korean have highly developed systems of honorifics, probably two of the most developed in the world. Honorifics are words and particles used to show respect, signify social status, and to be polite.

While the idea of honorifics is present in both languages, the system is not exactly the same as well as the use of it in speech. For example, Koreans tend to be a bit more formal and they often do not drop the honorifics even when speaking to close friends.

Navigating these two honorific systems in Japanese and Korean translation can be very tricky. Our translation company in Singapore can offer you the highest quality Korean translation services and expert translators who can deal with nuanced texts and documents. As the Top translation agency in Asia Pacific, we are able to translate from popular Asian languages such as Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay, Tamil, Chinese, Japanese and Korean to English to support your bueinss expansion in these Asian markets.

Over 2000 years old?

Japanese is quite an old language. There is evidence that Proto-Japonic, the common ancestor of the Japanese and Ryukyuan languages, was brought to Japan by settlers in the early- to mid-2nd century BCE. However, very little is known of the Japanese of that period.  

The earliest attested form of the Japanese language is Old Japanese that developed around 1500 years ago. It has undergone quite a few changes to become the Japanese we know today but there are still traces of the old roots present.

Not just another pictorial language

Korean is frequently grouped together with Chinese and Japanese as a hieroglyphic language. While the Korean script may appear unusual to the untrained eye, it is actually an alphabet called Hangul. 

There are 24 letters in Hangul: 14 consonants and 10 vowels. It’s written in syllabic blocks, with letters organised in two dimensions, one above/under the other and one after the other. Hangul was once written from top to bottom, right to left, but the majority of texts are now written horizontally from left to right.

One of the world’s top languages

With around 130 million speakers, Japanese is the world’s 13th most spoken language. It is also quite popular among foreign language learners. Japanese is also one of the most used languages on the Internet – according to some estimates, it is 3rd, after English and Spanish.

Korean is quite a widely-spoken language as well. The popularity of the two languages and the connections between the two countries account for the high demand for Japanese and Korean translation nowadays.