How do you say “eggs” in Korean?

Read and Learn #3

Overview

1. Read content in English or you can skip.

2. Reading Comprehension in Korean- Read and highlight new words

3. Vocabulary - Understand and memorize as many vocabulary as possible.

4. Read again.

5. Answer the MCQ questions.

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Easter Sunday is coming, let’s talk about eggs! Before continuing, can you recall the 2 Korean words for eggs?

계란빵

When watching Korean shows, you may sometimes hear one word but see another in the captions. One of these cases involves the word for “eggs”.

• 계란 (鷄卵) comes from Chinese characters

• 달걀 is a native Korean word and is a phonetically transformed from 닭알 (chicken egg), simplified over time due to ease of pronunciation.

계란 and 달걀 are both correct and usable terms for “egg”. With examples like 계란빵, 계란찜, “계란” was more commonly used, but in recent years, 달걀 has appeared more frequently. 

This is due to the language purification movement, 언어 순화 운동(言語 純化 運動) which encourages native Korean words over Sino-Korean ones, so broadcasting stations are essentially obligated to use 달걀. 

In the public sector, “correct” expressions are listed in the Administrative Work Manual, which serves as the official guideline for public servants. Most Koreans don’t really care about this movement, but since TV producers (PDs) are effectively public servants, they have to use 달걀 over 계란.

Do you think 달걀 or 계란 will be more common in the future. Whichever egg you choose, like the song Fry's Dream, I hope you choose your own path. 

About the song Fry's Dream : AKMU's Chanhyuk wrote this song for IU to perform in their concert in 2014. The song never had an official release as AKMU had gifted the song to IU, but it was finally officially released in 2024 by AKMU themselves. Video links here. 

Reading Comprehension 독해 讀解

부활절이 곧 와요. 그래서 오늘은 eggs에 대해 이야기하려고 해요.

우리가 TV를 볼 때, 사람은 '계란'이라고 말하지만, 자막에는 '달걀'이라고 나오는 경우가 있어요.

• 계란(鷄卵)은 한자에서 온 말이에요.


• 달걀은 고유어예요. 닭알이라는 말에서 발음이 바뀌어서 생긴 단어예요.

계란과 달걀은 모두 맞는 말이에요. 둘 다 ‘닭이 낳은 알’을 말해요. 하지만 요즘은 '달걀'이라는 말이 더 많이 쓰여요.

예전에는 ‘계란’ 이라는 말을 더 자주 썼어요. 예를 들면, 계란빵이라는 간식이 있어요. 그런데 한국에는 ‘우리말을 더 쓰자’는 운동이 있어요. 이 운동을 언어 순화 운동이라고 해요.

그래서 방송국에서는 '달걀'을 자주 사용해요. 또 공무원도 공식 문서에서 달걀이라는 말을 써야 해요.

한국 사람들은 보통 이 차이를 크게 신경 쓰지 않아요. 하지만 방송국 PD(피디)처럼 방송 일을 하는 사람들은 달걀이라는 말을 써야 해요.

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2. VOCABULARY 어휘

	한국어	한자	영어
1	경우	境遇	case
2	고유어	固有語	native Korean word
3	곧	–	soon
4	공무원	公務員	public servant
5	공식 문서	公式文書	official document
6	바뀌다	–	to be changed
7	부활절	復活節	Easter
8	신경 쓰다	–	to pay attention
9	자막	字幕	captions

3. Multiple Choice Questions 객관식 문제

when I took the lift in Thailand with trays of eggs.