:''This article is mainly about the spoken Korean language. See
Hangul for details on the native Korean writing system.''
'Korean' (/, see
below) is the official
language of both
North Korea and
South Korea. It is also one of the two official languages in the
Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in
China. There are about 80 million Korean speakers, with large groups in various
Post-Soviet states, as well as in other diaspora populations in
China,
Australia, the
United States,
Canada,
Brazil,
Japan, and more recently, the
Philippines.
The genealogical
classification of the Korean language is debated. Many linguists place it in the
Altaic language family, but some consider it to be a
language isolate. It is
agglutinative in its morphology and
SOV in its
syntax. Similar to the
Japanese and
Vietnamese languages, Korean language was influenced by the
Chinese language in the form of
Sino-Korean words. Native Korean words account for about 35% of the Korean vocabulary, while about 60% of the Korean vocabulary consists of Sino-Korean words. The remaining 5% comes from loan words from other languages, 90% of which are from
English.
[2]
Names
The Korean names for the language are based on the
names for Korea used in North and South Korea.
In North Korea and Yanbian in China, the language is most often called ''Chosŏnmal'' (; with
Hanja: 朝鮮말), or more formally, ''Chosŏnŏ'' (; 朝鮮語).
In the Republic of Korea, the language is most often called ''Hangungmal''
(; 韓國말), or more formally, ''Hangugeo'' (; 韓國語) or ''Gugeo'' (; 國語; literally "national language"). It is sometimes colloquially called ''Urimal'' ("our language"; in one word in South Korea, with a space in North Korea).
On the other hand, Korean people in the
former USSR, who refer to themselves as
Koryo-saram (also ''Goryeoin'' [고려인; 高麗人; literally, "
Goryeo person(s)"]) call the language ''
Goryeomal'' (고려말; 高麗말).
Classification
The classification of the modern Korean language is uncertain, and due to the lack of any one generally accepted theory, it is sometimes described conservatively as a
language isolate.
Since the publication of the article of
Ramstedt in 1926, many linguists support the hypothesis that Korean can be classified as an
Altaic language, or as a relative of proto-Altaic. Korean is similar to Altaic languages in that they both lack certain grammatical elements, including
number,
gender,
articles, fusional morphology, voice, and
relative pronouns (Kim Namkil). Korean especially bears some
morphological resemblance to some languages of the Eastern Turkic group, namely
Sakha (Yakut). Vinokurova, a scholar of the Sakha language, noted that like in Korean, and unlike in other
Turkic languages or a variety of other languages surveyed, adverbs in Sakha are derived from verbs with the help of derivational morphology; however, she did not suggest this implied any relation between the two languages.
[3]
It is also considered likely that Korean is related in some way to
Japanese, since the two languages have a similar grammatical structure. Genetic relationships have been postulated both directly and indirectly, the latter either through placing both languages in the Altaic family, or by arguing for a relationship between Japanese and the
Buyeo languages of
Goguryeo and
Baekje (see below); the proposed Baekje relationship is supported additionally by
phonological similarities such as the general lack of consonant-final sounds, and by cognates such as Baekje ''mir'', Japanese ''mi-'' "three".
[4] Furthermore, there are known cultural links between Baekje and Japan; historical evidence shows that, in addition to playing a large role in the founding and growth of Yamato Japan, many of the Baekje upper classes, as well as the artisans and merchants, fled to Japan when the kingdom fell (which is corroborated by Japanese Emperor
Akihito in a speech marking his 68th birthday).
[5]
Others argue, however, that the similarities are not due to any genetic relationship, but rather to a ''
sprachbund'' effect. See
East Asian languages for morphological features shared among languages of the East Asian ''sprachbund'', and
Japanese language classification for further details on the possible relationship.
Of the ancient languages attested in the Korean Peninsula, modern Korean is believed to be a descendent of the languages of
Samhan and
Silla; it is unknown whether these are related to the Buyeo languages, though many Korean scholars believe they were mutually intelligible, and the collective basis of what in the
Goryeo period would merge to become Middle Korean (the language before the changes that the
Seven-Year War brought) and eventually Modern Korean. The
Jeju dialect preserves some archaic features that can also be found in Middle Korean, whose ''arae a'' is retained in the dialect as a distinct vowel.
There are also fringe theories proposing various other relationships; for example, a few linguists such as Homer B. Hulbert have also tried to relate Korean to the
Dravidian languages through the similar syntax in both.
[6]
Dialects
Main articles: Korean dialects
Dialects of Korean
Korean has several
dialects (called ''mal'' [literally "speech"], ''saturi'', or ''bang-eon'' in Korean). The
standard language (''pyojuneo'' or ''pyojunmal'') of South Korea is based on the dialect of the area around
Seoul, and the standard for North Korea is based on the dialect spoken around
P'yŏngyang. These dialects are similar, and are in fact all mutually intelligible, perhaps with the exception of the dialect of
Jeju Island (see
Jeju Dialect). The dialect spoken in
Jeju is in fact classified as a different language by some Korean linguists. One of the most notable differences between dialects is the use of stress: speakers of
Seoul dialect use stress very little, and standard South Korean has a very flat intonation; on the other hand, speakers of the
Gyeongsang dialect have a very pronounced intonation.
It is also worth noting that there is substantial evidence for a history of extensive
dialect levelling, or even
convergent evolution or intermixture of two or more originally distinct linguistic stocks, within the Korean language and its dialects. Many Korean dialects have basic vocabulary that is etymologically distinct from vocabulary of identical meaning in Standard Korean or other dialects, such as South Jeolla dialect /kur/ vs. Standard Korean "mouth" or Gyeongsang dialect vs. Standard Korean "
garlic chives." This suggests that the Korean Peninsula may have at one time been much more linguistically diverse than it is at present. See also the
Buyeo languages hypothesis.
There is a very close connection between the dialects of Korean and the
regions of Korea, since the boundaries of both are largely determined by mountains and seas. Here is a list of traditional dialect names and locations:
| Standard dialect | Where used |
|---|
| Seoul | Seoul (서울), Incheon (인천), Gyeonggi (경기) |
| P'yŏngan (평양) | P'yŏngyang, P'yŏngan region, Chagang (North Korea) |
| Regional dialect | Where used |
|---|
| Gyeonggi | some of Gyeonggi region (South Korea) |
| Chungcheong | Daejeon, Chungcheong region (South Korea) |
| Gangwon | Gangwon-do (South Korea)/Kangwŏn (North Korea) |
| Gyeongsang | Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, Gyeongsang region (South Korea) |
| Hamgyŏng | Rasŏn, Hamgyŏng region, Ryanggang (North Korea) |
| Hwanghae | Hwanghae region (North Korea) |
| Jeju | Jeju Island/Province (South Korea) |
| Jeolla | Gwangju, Jeolla region (South Korea) |
Sounds
Consonants
The Korean consonants
Example words for consonants:
| Phoneme | Example | Romanized | English |
|---|
| ㅂ | | ''bal'' | 'foot' |
| ㅃ | | ''ppalda'' | 'to suck' or 'to wash (clothes)' |
| ㅍ | | ''pal'' | 'arm' |
| ㅁ | | ''mal'' | 'horse' |
| ㄷ | | ''dal'' | 'moon' |
| ㄸ | | ''ttal'' | 'daughter' |
| ㅌ | | ''tada'' | 'to ride' or 'to burn', etc. |
| ㄴ | | ''nal'' | 'day' |
| ㅈ | | ''jal'' | 'well' |
| ㅉ | | ''jjada'' | 'to squeeze' or 'to be salty' |
| ㅊ | | ''chada'' | 'to kick' or 'cold' |
| ㄱ | | ''gada'' | 'to go' |
| ㄲ | | ''kkalda'' | 'to spread; to lay out' |
| ㅋ | | ''kal'' | 'knife' |
| ㅇ | | ''bang'' | 'room' |
| ㅅ | | ''sal'' | 'flesh' |
| ㅆ | | ''ssal'' | 'uncooked grains of rice' |
| ㄹ | | ''baram'' | 'wind' or 'wish' |
| ㅎ | | ''hada'' | 'to do' |
The
IPA symbol <> (a subscript double straight quotation mark) is used to denote the tensed consonants . Its official use in the
Extended IPA is for
'strong' articulation, but is used in the literature for
faucalized voice. The Korean consonants also have elements of
stiff voice, but it is not yet known how typical this is of faucalized consonants. They are produced with a partially constricted
glottis and additional subglottal pressure in addition to tense vocal tract walls, laryngeal lowering, or other expansion of the larynx.
Sometimes the tense consonants are indicated with the apostrophe-like symbol <>, but this is inappropriate, as IPA <> represents the
ejective consonants, with their piston-like upward glottal movement and non-pulmonic air pressure, which the Korean tense consonants do not feature.
Vowels
 The short vowel phonemes of Korean |  The long vowel phonemes of Korean |  The Korean vowels |
| Monophthongs | /i/ ㅣ, /e/ ㅔ, /ɛ/ ㅐ, /a/ ㅏ, /o/ ㅗ, /u/ ㅜ, /ʌ/ ㅓ, /ɯ/ ㅡ, /ø/ ㅚ |
|---|
Vowels preceded by intermediaries,
or Diphthongs | /je/ ㅖ, /jɛ/ ㅒ, /ja/ ㅑ, /wi/ ㅟ, /we/ ㅞ, /wɛ/ ㅙ, /wa/ ㅘ, /ɯi/ ㅢ, /jo/ ㅛ, /ju/ ㅠ, /jʌ/ ㅕ, /wʌ/ ㅝ |
|---|
( ㅢ is the only true diphthong in the Korean language.)
Monophthongs
Korean has 8 different vowel qualities and a length distinction for each. Two more vowels, the
close-mid front rounded vowel (IPA: , Hangul: ㅚ) and the
close front rounded vowel (IPA: , Hangul: ㅟ), can still be heard in the speech of some older speakers, but they have been largely replaced by the diphthongs and respectively. In a 2003 survey of 350 speakers from Seoul, nearly 90% pronounced the vowel 'ㅟ' as . Length distinction is almost completely lost; length distinction for all vowels can still be heard from older speakers, but almost all younger speakers either do not distinguish length consistently or do not distinguish it at all. The distinction between and is another decreasing element in the speech of some younger speakers, mostly in the area of Seoul, whereas in other dialectal areas the two vowels can be distinctly heard. For those speakers who do not make the difference seems to be the dominant form. Long is actually for most speakers.
[7]
| Short vowel | Long vowel |
|---|
| /i/ (''sijang'' [ɕiˈʥaŋ], 'hunger') | /iː/ (''sijang'' [ˈɕiːʥaŋ], 'market') |
| /e/ (''begae'' [peˈɡɛ], 'pillow') | /eː/ (''beda'' [ˈpeːda], 'cut') |
| /ɛ/ (''taeyang'' [tʰɛˈjaŋ], 'sun') | /ɛː/ (''taedo'', [ˈtʰɛːdo], 'attitude') |
| /a/ (''mal'' [ˈmal], 'horse') | /aː/ (''mal'' [ˈmaːl], 'word, language') |
| /o/ (''bori'' [poˈɾi], 'barley') | /oː/ (''bosu'' [ˈpoːsu], 'salary') |
| /u/ (''guri'' [kuˈɾi], 'copper') | /uː/ (''subak'' [ˈsuːbak], 'watermelon') |
| /ʌ/ (''beol'' [ˈpʌl], 'punishment') | /əː/ (''beol'' [ˈpəːl], 'bee') |
| /ɯ/ (''eoreun'' [ˈəːɾɯn], 'seniors') | /ɯː/ (''eumsik'' [ˈɯːmɕik], 'food') |
| /ø/ (''gyohoe'' [ˈkjoːhwe, ˈkjoːhø, ], 'church') | /øː/ (''oetu'' [ˈweːtʰu, ˈøːtʰu], 'overcoat')7 |
Diphthongs and glides
and are considered to be components of diphthongs rather than separate consonant phonemes.
| j | w | ɯ |
|---|
| | | | | wi | [twi] | ''dwi'' | 'back' | ɯi | [ˈɯisa] | ''uisa'' | 'doctor' |
| je | [ˈjeːsan] | ''yesan'' | 'budget' | we | [kwe] | ''gwe'' | 'box' | | | | |
| jɛ | [ˈjɛːgi] | ''yaegi'' | 'story' | wɛ | [wɛ] | ''wae'' | 'why' | | | | |
| ja | [ˈjaːgu] | ''yagu'' | 'baseball' | wa | [kwaːˈil] | ''gwail'' | 'fruit' | | | | |
| jo | [ˈkjoːsa] | ''gyosa'' | 'teacher' | | | | | | | | |
| ju | [juˈɾi] | ''yuri'' | 'glass' | | | | | | | | |
| jʌ | [jʌgi] | ''yeogi'' | 'here' | wʌ | [mwʌ] | ''mwo'' | 'what'7 | | | | |
Phonology
becomes an
alveolo-palatal before or for most speakers (but see
Differences in the language between North Korea and South Korea). This occurs with the tense fricative and all the affricates as well. At the end of a syllable, /s/ changes to /t/ (Example: beoseot (버섯) 'mushroom').
may become a
bilabial before or , a
palatal before or , a
velar before , a voiced between voiced sounds, and a elsewhere.
become voiced between voiced sounds.
becomes alveolar flap between vowels, and or at the end of a syllable or next to another . Note that a written syllable-final 'ㄹ', when followed by a vowel or a glide (''i.e.'', when the next character starts with 'ㅇ'), migrates to the next syllable and thus becomes .
Traditionally, was disallowed at the beginning of a word. It disappeared before , and otherwise became . However, the inflow of western loanword changed the trend, and now word-initial (mostly from English loanwords) are pronounced as a free variation of either or . The traditional prohibition of word-initial became a morphological rule called "initial law" (두음법칙) in South Korea, which pertains to Sino-Korean vocabulary. Such words retain their word-initial in North Korea.
All
obstruents (plosives, affricates, fricatives) are
unreleased at the end of a word.
Plosive stops become nasal stops before nasal stops.
Some of these phonetic
assimilation rules can be seen in the following:
★ is pronounced as
★ as
Hangul spelling does not reflect these assimilatory pronunciation rules, but rather maintains the underlying
morphology.
One difference between the pronunciation standards of North and South Korea is the treatment of initial , and initial . For example,
★ "labour" - north: '''r'odong'' (로동), south: '''n'odong'' (노동)
★ "history" - north: '''ry'ŏksa'' (력사), south: '''y'eoksa'' (역사)
★ "female" - north: '''ny'ŏja'' (녀자), south: '''y'eoja'' (여자)
Phonotactics
Korean syllables may not start or end with
consonant clusters, except in a few cases. Consequently, consonant clusters in Korean are usually limited to clusters of two consonants where two syllables have been joined.
Only seven consonant allophones are found at the end of utterances: and . Utterance-final plosives are all
unreleased.
Vowel harmony
'Korean Vowel Harmony'| Positive/"light"/Yang Vowels | ㅏ (a) | ㅑ (ya) | ㅗ (o) | ㅛ (yo) |
|---|
| ㅐ (ae) | ㅘ (wa) | ㅚ (oe) | ㅙ (wae) |
| Negative/"heavy"/Yin Vowels | ㅓ (eo) | ㅕ (yeo) | ㅜ (u) | ㅠ (yu) |
|---|
| ㅔ (e) | ㅝ (wo) | ㅟ (wi) | ㅞ (we) |
| Neutral/Centre Vowels | ㅡ (eu) | ㅣ (i) | ㅢ (ui) |
|---|
Traditionally, the Korean language has had strong
vowel harmony; that is, in pre-modern Korean, as in most Altaic languages, not only did the inflectional and derivational affixes (such as
postpositions) change in accordance to the main root vowel, but native words also adhered to vowel harmony. It is not as prevalent in modern usage, although it remains strong in
onomatopoeia,
adjectives and
adverbs,
interjections, and
conjugation. There are also other traces of vowel harmony in Korean.
There are three classes of vowels in Korean: positive, negative, and neutral. The vowel eu is considered partially a neutral and negative vowel. The vowel classes loosely follow the negative and positive vowels; they also follow orthography. Exchanging positive vowels with negative vowels usually creates different nuances of meaning, with positive vowels sounding diminutive and negative vowels sounding crude.
Some examples:
★ 'Onomatopoeia:'
★
★ 퐁당퐁당 (pongdangpongdang) and 풍덩풍덩 (pungdeongpungdeong), light and heavy water splashing
★ 'Emphasised Adjectives:'
★
★ 노랗다 (norata) means plain yellow, while its negative, 누렇다 (nureota) means very yellow
★
★ 파랗다 (parata) means plain blue, while its negative, 퍼렇다 (peoreota) means deep blue
★ 'Particles at the end of verbs:'
★
★ 잡다 (japda) (to catch) → 잡았다 (Jabatda) (caught)
★
★ 접다 (jeopda) (to fold) → 접었다 (Jeobeotda) (folded)
★ 'Interjections:'
★
★ 아이고 (aigo) and 어이구 (eoigu) meaning "oh!"
★
★ 아하 (aha) and 어허 (eoheo) meaning "indeed" and "well" respectively
Grammar
Sentence structure
Korean is an
agglutinative language. Modifiers precede the modified word. The basic form of a Korean sentence is
Subject Object Verb, but the verb is the only required and immovable element.
:'A': "가게에 가세요?" (''gage-e gaseyo?'')
:'B': "네." (''ne.'')
''Literal translation'':
:'A':
★ "store+[location marker] go+[polite interrogative marker]?"
:'B': "Yes."
''English equivalent'':
:'A': "Are [you] going to the store?"
:'B': "Yes."
Parts of speech
Verb
Korean
verbs (, ''dongsa'', 動詞) are also known in English as "action verbs" or "dynamic verbs" to distinguish them from (, ''hyeong-yongsa'', "adjectives"), which are also known as "descriptive verbs" or "stative verbs".
Examples include (''hada'', "to do, to have") and (''gada'', "to go"). For a larger list of Korean verbs, see .
Unlike most European languages, Korean does not conjugate verbs using agreement with the subject, and nouns have no gender. Instead, verb conjugations depend upon the verb tense, aspect, mood, and the social relation between the speaker, the subjects, and the listeners.
The system of speech levels and honorifics loosely resembles the
T-V distinction of most
Indo-European languages. For example, different endings are used based on whether the subjects and listeners are friends, parents, or honoured persons.
Adjective
Words categorized as Korean
adjectives (, ''hyeong-yongsa'', 形容詞) conjugate similarly to verbs, so some English texts call them "descriptive verbs" or "
stative verbs", but they are distinctly separate from 동사 (''dongsa'').
English does not have an identical grammatical category, so the English translation of Korean adjectives may misleadingly suggest that they are verbs. For example, (''bukda'') translates literally as "to be red" and (''aswipda'') often best translates as "to miss", but both are 형용사 (''hyeong-yongsa'', "adjectives"). For a larger list of Korean adjectives, see .
Determiner
Korean
determiners (, ''gwanhyeongsa'') are also known in English as "determinatives", "adnominals", "pre-nouns", "attributives", and "unconjugated adjectives". Examples include (''gak'', "each") and (''neurin''). For a larger list, see .
Noun
Korean
nouns (, ''myeongsa'') are also known in English as "substantives". Examples include (''gajok'', "household") and (''mat'', "flavor"). For a larger list, see .
Pronoun
Korean
pronouns (, ''daemyeongsa'') include (''na'', "I") and (''geu''). For a larger list, see .
Adverb
Korean
adverbs (, ''busa'') include (''tto'', "also") and (''gadeuk'', "fully"). For a larger list, see .
Particle
Korean
particles (, ''josa'') are also known in English as "
postpositions". Examples include (''neun'', topic marker) and (''reul'', object marker). For a larger list, see .
Interjection
Korean
interjections (, ''gamtansa'') are also known in English as "exclamations". Examples include (''ani'', "no"). For a larger list, see .
Number
Korean
numbers (, ''susa'') are also known in English as "numerals".
Speech levels and honorifics
Main articles: Korean honorifics
The relationship between a speaker or writer and his or her subject and audience is paramount in Korean, and the grammar reflects this. The relationship between speaker/writer and subject referent is reflected in '
honorifics', while that between speaker/writer and audience is reflected in 'speech level'.
Honorifics
When talking about someone superior in status, a speaker or writer usually uses special nouns or verb endings to indicate the subject's superiority. Generally, someone is superior in status if he/she is an older relative, a stranger of roughly equal or greater age, or an employer, teacher, customer, or the like. Someone is equal or inferior in status if he/she is a younger stranger, student, employee or the like.
Speech levels
There are no fewer than 7 verb
paradigms or 'speech levels' in Korean, and each level has its own unique set of verb endings which are used to indicate the level of formality of a situation. Unlike "honorifics" — which are used to show respect towards the referent of a subject — 'speech levels' are used to show respect towards a speaker's or writer's audience. The names of the 7 levels are derived from the non-honorific
imperative form of the verb 하다 (''hada'', "do") in each level, plus the suffix 체 ('che',
Hanja:
體), which means "style."
The highest 5 levels use final verb endings and are generally grouped together as ''jondaemal'' (존대말), while the lowest 2 levels (해요체 ''haeyoche'' and 해체 ''haeche'') use
non-final endings and are called 반말 (''banmal'', "half-words") in Korean. (The ''haeyoche'' in turn is formed by simply adding the non-final ending -요 (''-yo'') to the ''haeche'' form of the verb.)
Vocabulary
The core of the Korean vocabulary is made up of native Korean words. More than 50% of the vocabulary (up to 70% by some estimates), however, especially scholarly terminology, are
Sino-Korean words, either
★ directly borrowed from
Written Chinese, or
★ coined in Japan or Korea using
Chinese characters.
Korean has two
number systems: one native, and one borrowed from the Chinese.
To a much lesser extent, words have also occasionally been borrowed from
Mongolian,
Sanskrit, and other languages.
Conversely, the Korean language itself has also contributed some loanwords to other languages, most notably the
Tsushima dialect of Japanese.
In modern times, many words have been borrowed from
Japanese and
Western languages such as
German ('' ‘part-time job’, ''allereugi'' ‘allergy’) and more recently
English. Concerning daily usage vocabulary except what can be written in hanja, more words have possibly been borrowed from English than from any other language. Some Western words were borrowed indirectly via Japanese, taking a Japanese sound pattern, for example ‘dozen’ > ダース ''dāsu'' > 다스 ''daseu''. Most indirect Western borrowings are now written according to current hangulization rules for the respective Western language, as if borrowed directly. There are a few more complicated borrowings such as ‘German(y)’ (see
Names for Germany), the first part of whose
endonym the Japanese approximated using the
Kanji 獨逸 ''doitsu'' that were then accepted into the Korean language by their Sino-Korean pronunciation: ''dok'' + ''il'' = ''. In South Korean official use, a number of other Sino-Korean country names have been replaced with phonetically oriented hangulizations of the countries' endonyms or English names.
North Korean vocabulary shows a tendency to prefer native Korean over Sino-Korean or foreign borrowings, especially with recent political objectives aimed at eliminating foreign (mostly Chinese) influences on the Korean language in the North. By contrast, South Korean may have several Sino-Korean or foreign borrowings which tend to be absent in North Korean.
Writing system
Main articles: Hangul
In ancient times, the languages of the Korean peninsula were written using
Chinese characters, using
hyangchal or
idu. Knowledge of such systems were lost, and the Korean language was not written at all; the aristocracy used
Classical Chinese for its writing.
Korean is now mainly written in
Hangul, the Korean alphabet, optionally mixing in
Hanja to write
Sino-Korean words. South Korea still teaches 1800 Hanja characters in its schools, while the North abolished the use of hanja decades ago.
Below is a chart of the Korean alphabet's symbols and their canonical
IPA values:
'Consonants'| Hangul | ㅂ | ㄷ | ㅈ | ㄱ | ㅃ | ㄸ | ㅉ | ㄲ | ㅍ | ㅌ | ㅊ | ㅋ | ㅅ | ㅎ | ㅆ | ㅁ | ㄴ | ㅇ | | ㄹ | |
|---|
| RR | ''b'',''p'' | ''d'',''t'' | ''j'' | ''g'',''k'' | ''pp'' | ''tt'' | ''jj'' | ''kk'' | ''p'' | ''t'' | ''ch'' | ''k'' | ''s'' | ''h'' | ''ss'' | ''m'' | ''n'' | ''ng'' | | ''r'',''l'' | |
|---|
| IPA | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|
'Vowels'| Hangul | ㅣ | ㅔ | ㅐ | ㅏ | ㅗ | ㅜ | ㅓ | ㅡ | ㅢ | ㅖ | ㅒ | ㅑ | ㅛ | ㅠ | ㅕ | ㅟ | ㅞ | ㅙ | ㅘ | ㅝ |
|---|
| RR | ''i'' | ''e'' | ''ae'' | ''a'' | ''o'' | ''u'' | ''eo'' | ''eu'' | ''ui'' | ''ye'' | ''yae'' | ''ya'' | ''yo'' | ''yu'' | ''yeo'' | ''wi'' | ''we'' | ''wae'' | ''wa'' | ''wo'' |
|---|
| IPA | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|
Modern Korean is written with
spaces between
words, a feature not found in Chinese or Japanese. Korean
punctuation marks are almost identical to Western ones. Traditionally, Korean was written in columns from top to bottom, right to left, but is now usually written in rows from left to right, top to bottom.
Differences between North Korea and South Korea
Main articles: Korean language North-South differences
The Korean language used in the North and the South exhibits differences in pronunciation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary.
[8]
Pronunciation
In North Korea,
palatalization of is optional, and can be pronounced as in between vowels.
Words that are written the same way may be pronounced differently, such as the examples below. The pronunciations below are given in
Revised Romanization,
McCune-Reischauer and Hangul, the last of which represents what the Hangul would be if one writes the word as pronounced.
| Word | Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|
| North (RR/MR) | North (Hangul) | South (RR/MR) | South (Hangul) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 넓다 | wide | neo'p'tta (nŏ'p'ta) | 넙따 | neo'l'tta (nŏ'l'ta) | 널따 |
| 읽고 | to read
(continuative form) | i'l'kko (i'l'ko) | 일꼬 | i'l'kko (i'l'ko) | 일꼬 |
| 압록강 | Amnok River | am'r'okgang (am'r'okkang) | 암록강 | am'n'okkang (am'n'okkang) | 암녹깡 |
| 독립 | independence | dong'r'ip (tong'r'ip) | 동립 | dong'n'ip (tong'n'ip) | 동닙 |
| 관념 | idea / sense / conception | gwa'll'yeom (kwa'll'yŏm) | 괄렴 | gwa'nn'yeom (kwa'nn'yŏm) | 관념 |
혁신적
★ | innovative | hyeoksinjeok (hyŏksin'ch'ŏk) | 혁씬쩍 | hyeoksinjeok (hyŏksin'j'ŏk) | 혁씬적 |
★ Similar pronunciation is used in the North whenever the hanja "的" is attached to a Sino-Korean word ending in ㄴ, ㅁ or ㅇ. (In the South, this rule only applies when it is attached to any single-character Sino-Korean word.)
Spelling
Some words are spelt differently by the North and the South, but the pronunciations are the same.
| Word spelling | Meaning | Pronunciation (RR/MR) | Remarks |
|---|
| North | South |
|---|
| 해빛 | 햇빛 | sunshine | haetbit (haetpit) | The "sai siot" ('ㅅ' used for indicating sound change) is almost never written out in the North. |
| 벗꽃 | 벚꽃 | cherry blossom | beotkkot (pŏtkkot) | |
| 못읽다 | 못 읽다 | cannot read | monnikda (monnikta) | Spacing. |
| 한나산 | 한라산 | Hallasan | hallasan (hallasan) | When a ㄴ-ㄴ combination is pronounced as ''ll'', the original Hangul spelling is kept in the North, while the Hangul is changed in the South. |
| 규률 | 규율 | rules | gyuyul (kyuyul) | In words where the original hanja is spelt "렬" or "률" and follows a vowel, the initial ㄹ is not pronounced in the North, making the pronunciation identical with that in the South where the ㄹ is dropped in the spelling. |
Spelling and pronunciation
Some words have different spellings and pronunciations in the North and the South, some of which were given in the "Phonology" section above:
| Word | Meaning | Remarks |
|---|
| North spelling | North pronun. | South spelling | South pronun. |
|---|
| 력량 | ryeongryang (ryŏngryang) | 역량 | yeongnyang (yŏngnyang) | strength | Korean words originally starting in ''r'' or ''n'' have their ''r'' or ''n'' dropped in the South Korean version if the sound following it is an ''i'' or ''y'' sound. |
| 로동 | rodong (rodong) | 노동 | nodong (nodong) | work | Korean words originally starting in ''r'' have their ''r'' changed to ''n'' in the South Korean version if the sound following it is a sound other than ''i'' or ''y''. |
| 원쑤 | wonssu (wŏnssu) | 원수 | wonsu (wŏnsu) | enemy | "Enemy" and "head of state" are homophones in the South. Possibly to avoid referring to Kim Il-sung / Kim Jong-il as the enemy, the second syllable of "enemy" is written and pronounced 쑤 in the North. |
| 라지오 | rajio (rajio) | 라디오 | radio (radio) | radio | |
| 우 | u (u) | 위 | wi (wi) | on; above | |
| 안해 | anhae (anhae) | 아내 | anae (anae) | wife | |
| 꾸바 | kkuba (kkuba) | 쿠바 | kuba (k'uba) | Cuba | When transcribing foreign words from languages that do not have contrasts between aspirated and unaspirated stops, North Koreans generally use tensed stops for the unaspirated ones while South Koreans use aspirated stops in both cases. |
| 페 | pe (p'e) | 폐 | pye (p'ye), pe (p'e) | lungs | All hanja pronounced as ''pye'' (''p'ye'') or ''pe'' (''p'e'') in the South are pronounced as ''pe'' (''p'e'') in the North. The spelling is also accordingly different. |
In general, when transcribing place names, North Korea tends to use the pronunciation in the original language more than South Korea, which often uses the pronunciation in English. For example:
| Original name | North Korea transliteration | English name | South Korea transliteration |
|---|
| Spelling | Pronunciation | Spelling | Pronunciaton |
|---|---|
| Ulaanbaatar | 울란바따르 | ullanbattareu (ullanbattarŭ) | Ulan Bator | 울란바토르 | ullanbatoreu (ullanbat'orŭ) |
| København | 쾨뻰하븐 | koeppenhabeun (k'oeppenhabŭn) | Copenhagen | 코펜하겐 | kopenhagen (k'op'enhagen) |
| al-Qāhirah | 까히라 | kkahira (kkahira) | Cairo | 카이로 | kairo (k'airo) |
Grammar
Some grammatical constructions are also different:
| Word | Meaning | Remarks |
|---|
| North spelling | North pronun. | South spelling | South pronun. |
|---|
| 되였다 | doeyeotda (toeyŏtta) | 되었다 | doeeotda (toeŏtta) | past tense of 되다 (doeda/toeda), "to become" | All similar grammar forms of verbs or adjectives that end in ㅣ in the stem (i.e. ㅣ, ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅚ, ㅟ and ㅢ) in the North use 여 instead of the South's 어. |
| 고마와요 | gomawayo (komawayo) | 고마워요 | gomawoyo (komawŏyo) | thanks | ㅂ-irregular verbs in the North use 와 (wa) for all those with a positive ending vowel; this only happens in the South if the verb stem has only one syllable. |
| 할가요 | halgayo (halkayo) | 할까요 | halkkayo (halkkayo) | Shall we do? | Although the hangul differ, the pronunciations are the same (i.e. with the tensed ㄲ sound). |
Vocabulary
Some vocabulary is different between the North and the South:
| Word | Meaning | Remarks |
|---|
| North spelling | North pronun. | South spelling | South pronun. |
|---|
| 문화주택 | munhwajutaek (munhwajut'aek) | 아파트 | apateu (ap'at'ŭ) | Apartment | 아빠트 (appateu/appat'ŭ) is also used in the North. |
| 조선말 | joseonmal (chosŏnmal) | 한국어 | han-gugeo(han'gugeo) | Korean language | |
| 곽밥 | gwakbap (kwakpap) | 도시락 | dosirak (tosirak) | lunch box | |
Others
In the North, 《 and 》 are the symbols used for quotes; in the South, quotation marks equivalent to the English ones, “ and ”, are standard, although 『 』 and 「 」 are sometimes used in popular novels.
See also
★
Hangul
★
Korean romanization
★
★
Revised romanization of Korean
★
★
McCune-Reischauer
★
★
Yale Romanization#Korean
★
★
SKATS
★
Korean numerals
★
Korean count word
★
Korean language and computers
★
Hanja
★
Sino-Korean
★
Korean with mixed script of Hangul and Hanja
★
List of English words of Korean origin
★
Altaic hypothesis
★
List of Korea-related topics
★
Korean profanity
References
1. Korean
2. Sohn, Ho-Min. ''The Korean Language (Section 1.5.3 "Korean vocabulary", p.12-13)'', Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN 0521369436
3.
4. Koguryo, The Language Of Japan's Continental Relatives: the language of Japan's continental, , Christopher I., Beckwith, Brill Academic Publishers, , ISBN 9004139494
5. The emperor's new roots Jonathan Watts
6. Korea's Geographical Significance, , Homer, Hulbert, Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York,
7. Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, International Phonetic Association, , , Cambridge University Press, 1999,
8. Kanno, Hiroomi (ed.) / Society for Korean Linguistics in Japan (1987). ''Chōsengo o manabō'' (『朝鮮語を学ぼう』), Sanshūsha, Tokyo. ISBN 4-384-01506-2
Bibliography
★ Sohn, H.-M. (1999). The Korean Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
★ Song, J.J. (2005). The Korean Language: Structure, Use and Context. London: Routledge.
External links
★
Korean language overview
★
Ethnologue report for Korean
★
Ministry of Education's KOSNET
★
''KOREAN through ENGLISH'' at Ministry of Culture and Tourism
★
Linguistic map of Korea
★
Korean vocabulary
★
Learn to read, write and pronounce Korean
★
Beginners Guide
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
