English’s Expanding Linguistic Foothold in K-pop Lyrics - A Mixed Methods Approach

Aug 28, 2026

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English’s expanding linguistic foothold in K-pop lyrics analyzes how English use grows within internationally successful Korean popular music. Using a mixed methods design, the study quantifies the balance of English versus Korean in 58 singles by BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and Itzy from 2015–2022, tracking changes in the proportion of English types. It also examines code ambiguation in Itzy’s 2019 debut ‘DALLA DALLA’ and how an English re-release reformulates meanings to address both local and global audiences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background: The internationalization of K-pop

English Today [cambridge.org/eng](cambridge.org/eng) Research Article Cite this article: Schneider I (2024). English’s expanding linguistic foothold in K-pop lyrics. English Today 40, 105–112. [https://doi.org/10.1017/](https://doi.org/10.1017/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.1017/)S0266078423000275 First published online: 11 October 2023 Corresponding author: Ian Schneider; Email: [ian.schneider@uky.edu](ian.schneider@uky.edu) © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence ([http://](http://)[ ](http://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. English’s expanding linguistic foothold in K-pop lyrics A mixed methods approach Ian Schneider Department of Linguistics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, US 1. Introduction Korean popular music (K-pop) has expanded its cultural reach among Western audiences over the past 20 years (Lie, 2015), and groups like BTS and BLACKPINK have achieved unprecedented global success recently (McIntyre, 2022) . As K-pop evolves into a global cultural export, scholars have paid more attention to the code-mixing of English within its lyrics (Yeo, 2018; Ahn, 2021) . While early scholarship on English code-mixing in K-pop lyrics identified English asa medium of expressing taboo topics and indexing cosmopolitanism (Lee, 2004), recent analyses reinterpret English use as an index of fun and globality (Ahn, 2021) . Yeo (2018: 112–113) proposes that K-pop producers employ moderation, managing the proportion of English and Korean language within song lyrics to balance evolving market conditions, and reformulation, the creation of a ‘nonnative’ brand of English use to simultaneously index a global and distinctly Korean identity. In other words, Yeo (2018) proposes that English use in K-pop reflects the genre’s expanding reach beyond Korean and Pan-Asian contexts. Linguistic studies on English use in K-pop have identified syntactic patterns of borrowing (Lawrence, 2010; Yang, 2012), appropriation of African American Language (AAL) (Lee, 2007; Garza, 2021), code ambiguation (Ahn, 2021; Lee, 2022), and English use in artist names and song titles (Yeo, 2018; Kang, 2022) . However, few (if any) studies have quantitatively examined Yeo’s proposed phenomenon of moderation within the lyrics themselves. In other words, what is the balance of English and Korean language use in the lyrics of globally successful K-pop groups? Has that balance shifted as K-pop’s fanbase has expanded? Quantitatively, this article focuses on 58 singles released by four idol groups from 2015 to 2022: BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and Itzy. These four groups have demonstrated substantial European and Pan-American listenership by surpassing six million monthly listeners on the streaming application Spotify in 2021 . By analyzing the number of English and Korean types (unique words) in each song, this analysis will show that the threshold of moderation, or the proportion of English types to total types in these songs have steadily increased from 2015 to 2022 . In other words, as K-pop shows more sustainable growth in Western markets, producers seem to expand artists’use of English to widen the linguistic foothold, or ‘points of entry’ for listeners more familiar with English (Takacs, 2014: 130) . Next, this paper examines code ambiguation, or an utterance that carries meaning in both English and Korean, within the title and hook of Itzy’s 2019 debut single ‘DALLA DALLA.’ However, this code ambiguation seems to undergo reformulation into a new lexeme within an emerging register ofK-pop English (Yeo, 2018) within a re-released English version of the song. It is possible that such reformulation serves to balance Itzy’s appeal between local Korean-speaking and g

FAQs

What research questions does the article address about English and Korean in K-pop lyrics?

It asks how rapid internationalization influences the balance of English and Korean language use in lyrics, and how Itzy’s English choices in the original and English re-release of its debut track reflect K-pop’s internationalization.

Which groups and time span does the quantitative analysis cover?

The analysis covers 58 singles released by four idol groups—BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE, and Itzy—from 2015 to 2022.

How does the study investigate code ambiguity in Itzy’s debut track?

It examines code ambiguation in the title and hook of Itzy’s 2019 single ‘DALLA DALLA’ and considers how the meaning is reformulated in a re-released English version within an emerging K-pop English register.

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Đào