The Korean language has evolved differently in the North and the South over the more than 60 years the two countries have been divided. One of the main factors distinguishing the two versions of the language is how each adapts to English, with the South more readily using English words and the North more likely to come up with homegrown alternatives.

The North Korean terms have their own logic, which can be seen as a kind of reimagination of the term at hand. The term for “cell phone,” for instance, means “hand phone” if translated literally back to English. We asked illustrator Leslie Agan to play with this idea, and she came up with this series of drawings, including the one at the top of this post. At the top of each drawing is the word in Hangul, the Korean alphabet, followed by the literal English translation below.

The linguistic differences can be one of the biggest challenges facing North Korean refugees who make it to the South, which is why a group of researchers have developed an iPhone app to help with translations of tricky phrases, a story told in the latest World in Words podcast. More.

See: PRI

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