So many 장 so little time!

There are some words in Korean that have multiple meanings. Most of the time this is because they come from Sino-Korean roots. One of those words is: 장.

Many people might know 장 from it’s inclusion in sauces, primarily fermented sauces like 고추장 or 쌈장, but there are so many more!

So why does one syllable carry this much weight? Because Sino-Korean words come from a huge pool of Chinese characters, and Korean pronunciation erased many of the differences between them.

Here are the most common characters hiding behind 장:

장 — place
시장 (market), 공장 (factory), 운동장 (sports field/schoolyard), 주차장 (parking lot), 헬스장 (gym), 목욕장 (bathhouse), 야영장 (campsite).

장 — chief, head, elder in rank
사장(님) (company president/CEO), 회장 (chairman), 부장 (department head), 과장 (section chief), 팀장 (team lead), 반장 (class president), 교장 (school principal), 시장 (mayor, combining the characters for "city" and "head," a homophone of the "place" 시장 above).

장 — fermented sauce or paste
간장 (soy sauce), 고추장 (gochujang), 된장 (doenjang), 쌈장 (dipping sauce for wraps), 춘장 (black bean sauce used in jajangmyeon).

장 — cabinet, storage furniture
옷장 (wardrobe/closet), 책장 (bookshelf), 찬장 (kitchen cupboard), 냉장고 (refrigerator, literally "cold storage cabinet"), 신발장 (shoe cabinet).

장 — chapter, section
1장, 2장 (chapter 1, chapter 2), 문장 (sentence, literally "patterned section"), 헌장 (charter, as in 유엔 헌장, the UN Charter).

장 — flat sheet (counter word)
종이 한 장 (one sheet of paper), 사진 두 장 (two photos), 티켓 석 장 (three tickets).

장 — intestine
대장 (large intestine), 소장 (small intestine), 위장 (stomach, literally "stomach-intestine"), 직장 (a homophone trap: one 직장 means "workplace," the other means "rectum," and only context tells you which).

장 — document, certificate, formal paper
초대장 (invitation), 상장 (award certificate), 졸업장 (diploma), 영장 (warrant, as in 체포영장, arrest warrant), 소환장 (summons).

장 — funeral, burial
장례식 (funeral), 장지 (burial site), 국장 (state funeral), 화장 (cremation, a homophone of 화장 meaning "makeup," written with a different character).