Shared Sino Words: How Kanji Links Korean and Japanese Vocabulary
Same kanji, different pronunciation — Korean vs Japanese readings
The biggest reason Korean and Japanese are close in vocabulary is shared Sino words.
Sharing Rate in Numbers
About 60% of Korean and 50% of Japanese vocabulary is Sino-based. Many of these use the same Chinese characters.
Pronunciation Correspondence Patterns
Same characters have different Korean Hanja and Japanese On'yomi readings, but follow regular patterns.
학(學) → KR: 학 / JP: がく
생(生) → KR: 생 / JP: せい
학생(學生) → KR: 학생 / JP: がくせい
Knowing these patterns lets you infer one language's word from the other.
Words with Nearly Identical Pronunciation and Meaning
Because both Hanja and On\'yomi derive from Middle Chinese, many words have almost identical pronunciation and meaning. This is why Koreans and Japanese can sometimes communicate using Sino vocabulary alone.
| Kanji | Korean | Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 無理 | muri | muri | impossible, unreasonable |
| 無視 | musi | mushi | ignore |
| 詐欺 | sagi | sagi | fraud |
| 温度 | ondo | ondo | temperature |
| 炭酸 | tansan | tansan | carbonic acid |
| 麻薬 | mayak | mayaku | drugs/narcotics |
| 家族 | gajok | kazoku | family |
| 約束 | yaksok | yakusoku | promise |
| 準備 | junbi | junbi | preparation |
| 気分 | gibun | kibun | mood |
| 安心 | ansim | anshin | relief |
| 感動 | gamdong | kandou | being moved |
| 微妙 | mimyo | bimyou | subtle |
These words are essentially free vocabulary when learning the other language.
Diverged Meanings (Caution!)
Some shared characters have different meanings — these are false friends, covered in a separate entry.
Key Points
60% of Korean, 50% of Japanese vocabulary is Sino-based — over half shared
Regular Hanja↔On'yomi correspondence: 학↔がく, 생↔せい
Learning patterns lets you infer vocabulary across languages