Sooo I thought it would be interesting to make a post on how the members specifically speak in Korean since that obviously plays a huge part in their personalities and English subtitles/translations can never fully do justice to the nuances of their speech styles/patterns.
Obviously, you don't need to understand Korean in order to know what the members are like since English translations exist but I think being able to understand the specific way they talk in their own language can help get a better sense of their personalities/who they are.
I tried my best to watch more recent clips of the members from their comeback to get the most accuracy of how they speak currently.
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Bangchan
I think he's really good for learning Korean as he seems to have a very clear and crisp pronunciation.
he always translates his bubble messages himself which I think is actually so amazing since it shows exactly how he wants to express himself in both languages without any machine translation mistakes. and even if the machine translation is technically correct there's always a level of nuance/culture that cannot be conveyed so him translating the messages himself shows precisely how he personally chooses to convey his messages between the korean texting culture and the english texting culture.
I feel like he tends to punctuate certain parts of his pronunciations while speaking. like his speech really flows up and down with staccatos. so like pretty animated and lively I guess
I mentioned this in the comments of one of my other posts but both him and felix sound basically 100% fluent in korean and no native korean speaker would ever question their korean abilities just based off of their speaking skills.
he also says "wah" (wow in korean) a lot. I feel like his reaction to anything is just 와~~~ lol and according to the low poolside skz code he says 그치 (geu-chi) a lot too which means "yeah"
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Lee Know
the way he fluctuates his tone when speaking is much more monotone compared to other members
i think this also contributes to how he speaks super deadpan
like a lot of what makes his humour so funny is how emotionless and dry he says the funniest things which obviously comes off through english subtitles but i swear its a 100x funnier in korean.
this could just be me but I feel like he has a certain diction to his voice that makes him sound very naturally gentle and understanding no matter what he's actually saying.
like he could be roasting the shit out of you but it still sounds loving lmao
and as shown in the low poolside skz code, a filler word that Lee Know often uses is 그냥 (geu-nyang) which means "just"
I feel like there's so much more to say about how Lee Know speaks but I don't know how to properly formulate it into English lol
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Changbin
he does have a more "macho" way of speaking which i'm sure is clear through english translations as well
but despite that vibe he may give off, I actually think he is quite eloquent in his speech patterns compared to the other members when he's talking about something in a serious context. I've heard kstays say he has fantastic diction and vocabulary, which is a trait I think is largely shared with Seungmin as he also has a pretty impressive vocabulary and word choice.
i really don't know how else to explain it but the way he speaks when playing around or bickering with others gives off condescending but in a really warm and kind way lmaooooo like he reminds me of an uncle making fun of and scolding his nieces and nephews with the way he always calls the younger members names like 임마 (im-ma), 이 자식아 (ee ja-shik-ah), etc which would kinda translate into like "you little punk", "you scoundrel", etc. A lot of the noises he makes are also common among korean middle aged men lol I'd love to see what he's like when he's 50.
I feel like he has an insane level of wit and humour that works well in both informal and formal situations that really resonates/delivers well in korean which explains why so many other people in the korean entertainment industry always say that Changbin genuinely has a great personality to interact with.
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Hyunjin
I feel like the way he speaks is very clearly polarized in Korean. Like when he's with the members he's much more crass and informal but with others he immediately switches to super polite and reserved which I know is reflected in his body language but his speech definitely shows it too.
Obviously no matter the language everybody behaves and talks differently depending on the context they're in but I feel like the shift is much more blatant in Hyunjin, almost like a goody two shoes vibe (in the most positive way possible lmao).
I've heard some korean learners say that Hyunjin speaks very mumbly and slurred so therefore it's hard to understand him but on the other hand I've also heard other korean learners say that they can understand him very clearly so uhhh?
he tends to say 야 ya (hey) A LOTTTTT. like imagine starting every single sentence in english with "yo"
I have read a bit from non-korean speaking stays about how they feel like Hyunjin speaks in a certain way that stands out but I honestly don't hear it?? like he really just sounds like the average korean guy to me lol
I've mentioned in my I.N dialect post that Hyunjin has a Seoul accent but I'm sure everybody in the group actually has a Seoul accent. some characteristics of the Seoul accent are:
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a lot of words with the 오 (o) sound get turned into a 우 (u) sound such as 그리고 turning into 그리구, 나도 turning into 나두, etc
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아 (a) sounds get turned into 어 (uh) sounds such as the word 맞아 turning into 맞어
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the 요 (yo) sound in the polite ending turns into a 여 (yuh) sound
I think Hyunjin's Seoul accent is a bit more noticeable than the other members which is why other people have pointed it out before and I thus also mentioned it in my I.N dialect post. but after listening to all the members more carefully I think all of them have the Seoul accent to an extent.
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Han
super super super witty like seriously him and Lee Know both structure their sentences in a way that's always just so funny and joyful to listen to. like it truly doesn't translate into English with the same level of humour which saddens me that international stays won't get the full extent of their wit. in particular, I genuinely love whenever Han speaks since he naturally speaks in a way that has a tinge of hilarity to it.
what's different compared to Lee Know is that Han's wit is also very diverse in grammatical nuances and thus comical whereas Lee Know's is more deadpan and dry.
someone asked me on tumblr if there's any way to explain Han's, Lee Know's, and Changbin's wittiness with english examples but I honestly don't know how because it really just comes down to the way they grammatically form their sentences and the specific nuances within their tone in korean that doesn't exist/equate in english. basically just think of the funniest comments you've ever read on tiktok and that would be the closest english equivalent lmao.
if you're ever watching any kind of skz content and there's a part where everybody's laughing their asses off but you don't understand why it's that funny then it's probably because the joke has layers of nuance that doesn't translate well into english.
idk if you can tell from my yapping but in terms of speech style Han is definitely my favourite member to listen to speak lmaoo he's so entertaining.
he seems to use filler words often in general like 아니 (ani), 근대 (geundae), 되게 (dwae-ge), etc as well as 야 (ya) like Hyunjin.
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Felix
he often unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?) pronounces Seungmin's name as Seum-min which I feel like might even just be a native english speaker trait of having difficulty in properly pronouncing the korean final G sound when speaking quickly. (I say this because I remember Matthew, a Korean-Canadian member of ZB1, having trouble pronouncing the final G in Jiwoong's name and instead saying Jiwoon)
and when he speaks English Koreans have pointed out that he pronounces it more as sseungmin (씅민) with a strong double S sound which again could just be a characteristic of english speakers pronouncing korean letters.
maybe I'm crazy but I feel like there's a few times where he's thinking of a word in english while speaking korean so he either directly translates the english word or says the next most similar word to it and inserts it into his korean sentence which at times can sound strange/funny/unnatural to korean speakers. I say this because there are some times where he says something in korean that sounds completely normal and understandable in english but the other members would react to it like "huh??" while laughing. it doesn't make him sound any less fluent it just makes him sound peculiar lol
there are also moments where another member would use a more advanced piece of grammar and then felix would incorporate the grammar into his own sentences right afterwards almost as if he's like "oh yeah I forgot that kind of sentence structure existed lemme use it real quick". I learned a lot of new vocabulary from him too lol
this is solely based off of the more recent horror skz code episode: a key thing I noticed is that whereas the other members spoke to the ghosts formally, Felix spoke to his ghost in an informal casual register. but the way Felix spoke informally very much gave off a friendly/warm vibe rather than a rude or disrespectful vibe due to the way he inflects his tone and structures his grammar. on the other hand Lee Know was mostly formal but in a very nonchalant and indifferent manner rather than kindness lmao.
A word I noticed he uses quite often is 오히려 (o-hi-ryeo) which kind of means "rather, on the contrary, actually", etc.
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Seungmin
a lot of natural aegyo such as ending words with a "-ng" sound (eg. gamsahamnidang instead of gamsahamnida) and using the D sound in place of S sounds (eg. hae-ddeo 해떠 instead of hae-sseo 했어), koreans often say he has an "on-nyang-nyang"/"ddya-ddya" speech style which I know doesn't make much sense in English but think of it as a "nomnom" speech style or something lol.
but this is for when he's speaking more relaxed and faster
during more formal events or when he's just conversating normally his voice becomes much more clearer and easy to understand
the vocabulary and way he structures sentences makes him sound the most "proper" and just in general he seems to be the member that keeps his speech on the more formal and well-mannered side which may sound strange since we all know how savage he is. when I say a member has a more formal or proper speech style I'm specifically referring to their grammar usage and complexity of vocabulary, not necessarily the way they behave.
there are some rare instances where he has a slight Busan accent which is attributed to the fact that his father is from Busan and he also has I.N to speak with. I also talked about him in my I.N post. this tiktok shows him speaking in the dialect while talking with I.N
I feel like Seungmin and Hyunjin are more witty in a savage way that can easily be reflected universally which is why I specifically singled out Han, Lee Know, and Changbin as the truly witty and cleverly humourous members since their levels of wit in Korean seriously can't be conveyed 100% into English.
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I.N
the way he naturally speaks is honestly so reminiscent of a korean boomer it's no wonder he plays the grandma I.N role so well lmaoo
even before I knew about his whole grandma character I always felt like the way he speaks when being playful/joking around is more old-fashioned??
like imagine seeing a teenage boy tripping and yelling out "oh great heavens!"
he does have a bit of a Busan accent (but definitely not as heavy as other Busan-born idols). since I have an entire post dedicated to his accent I won't go into detail.
other than that I don't think there's anything in particular about the way he speaks that really stands out to me at the moment.
there's probably a lot more things to say about each members' speech if I were to really delve deep into all their content but for now I think this is it.
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this is something specific I noticed pretty early on when consuming skz content but the entire group as a whole seems to especially like using the word "까비" (kkabi) which is slang in Korean for "that was a close one", "that was so close!" etc.
like out of all the kpop groups I know skz are the only ones I've really heard use that term which is really interesting because I feel like each individual kpop group actually has their own general style of speaking and speaking habits among the members that differentiates each group from each other.
of course I'm just a singular person and there are probably things I've missed out on so if any other Korean speakers have anything to add or correct please feel free to do so. I don't have the best ears and maybe I was hallucinating some of this lmao. this is also just based off of what I've personally seen, heard, and know as a 교포 so please don't take anything too seriously either.
!!!! these are all observations from their skz codes and other videos/clips of the members speaking on variety shows where the atmosphere is more lighthearted and loose. this post doesn't reflect how they're necessarily like during formal interview settings or other formal occasions so pls keep that in mind.