# 민자 약주



## moondeer

Hi, I know what yakju is, but any idea what 민자 약주 means? I don't think 민자 here means "private investment." I couldn't find an explanation in Naver or in a Google search.

Here's the sentence it comes from, about making fragrant wine: "즉, 지에밥과 누룩만으로 만든 약주를 민자 약주라고 하며, 이 만자 약주를 만드는 과정에서 송순을 넣으면 송순주, 인삼을 넣으면 인삼주가 된다."

I know I could just write "minja yakju," but I prefer to translate the word in parentheses. 민 probably has something to do with people/folk. Do you think the hanja for it could be 民者? Then "minja yakju" might translate to something like "the people's wine?"


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## lkjhg811

I have searched the internet for the hanja for it but I couldn't find anything about it. 
"민자" is the name"


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## moondeer

Thank you!


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## azipkaone

In Korea "민자" usually means "artless". So in this sentence, "민자약주" means "artless-brewing alcoholics". 

In slang, you can use "민자" when you talk about teenagers without identification. 

Thank you.


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## Hejhej

Hello, in Korean, "약주" means "alcohol"
"약" means pharmacy,
"주" means alcohol,
so, "약주" means sometimes 1) alcohol for health, medicinal alcohol or elixir liquer.
2) Or, it is also used for honorific form of 술(alcohol)

For example, if your father is drunken (any kind of alcohol, Soju, Beer - not good for health), you can say "아버지, 약주를 너무 많이 드셨어요" = Dad, you drunk lots of alcohol.
Even, your younger brother drunk same kind of alcohol, you can say to your younger brother "너 술을 많이 마셨구나" = you drunk lots of alcohol.

I don't know and my parents also don't know, why Koreans call 약주 as honorific forms of alcohol. I suspected, alcohols which is drunken by senior, people regard it as essential, healthy?? LOL. 
(It never respect alcohol, but it is a word used to respect for the senior person- for example, 진지(honorific form of 밥, 식사)
To your daddy, 아버지, 진지 드셨어요?
To your friends,  Tom, 밥 먹었니?


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## lkjhg811

azipkaone said:


> In Korea "민자" usually means "artless". So in this sentence, "민자약주" means "artless-brewing alcoholics".


I don't agree with you that "민자" in the sentence means "artless".
The context is insuffient to allow readers to determine the meaning of it.


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## wtfeverynicknameusing

moondeer said:


> Hi, I know what yakju is, but any idea what 민자 약주 means? I don't think 민자 here means "private investment." I couldn't find an explanation in Naver or in a Google search.
> 
> Here's the sentence it comes from, about making fragrant wine: "즉, 지에밥과 누룩만으로 만든 약주를 민자 약주라고 하며, 이 만자 약주를 만드는 과정에서 송순을 넣으면 송순주, 인삼을 넣으면 인삼주가 된다."
> 
> I know I could just write "minja yakju," but I prefer to translate the word in parentheses. 민 probably has something to do with people/folk. Do you think the hanja for it could be 民者? Then "minja yakju" might translate to something like "the people's wine?"


There are some additional meaning of “민자”. It sometimes mean “minor” which is opposite meaning of adults. Kind of slang expression.
Pronunciation is not [minja], you have to pronounce it [minzza].
But in my opinion, 민자 and 약주 is incompatible. I think we need to consider some contexts.


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## moondeer

Thanks for all your suggestions. The author of the book has let me know that in this case it means "plain wine."


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## lkjhg811

moondeer said:


> Thanks for all your suggestions. The author of the book has let me know that in this case it means "plain wine."


In my view, they're misusing the word "민자". The word "민자" couldn't mean "plain" but the prefix "민-" could.


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## moondeer

Thanks, I decided to put quotation marks around "minja yakju" because it might not be familiar to readers. The phrase may be archaic because it's found in the text _Imwonsimnyukji, _which was published in 1827.


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## lkjhg811

moondeer said:


> Thanks, I decided to put quotation marks around "minja yakju" because it might not be familiar to readers. The phrase may be archaic because it's found in the text _Imwonsimnyukji, _which was published in 1827.


Considering that the author intended "민자" to mean "plain", "민자" is a typo for "민짜". You can find a definition of the word "민짜" using Naver or Google search.


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## moondeer

Ah, that sounds right. Thanks!


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## CharlesLee

민자약주 is plain alcohol. Originally, especially '청주' in the Choson dynasty period.


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