Everything about Korean Language totally explained
Korean (see
below) is the official
language of both
North Korea and
South Korea and one of the ten most spoken languages in the world. 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
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
China,
Japan, the
United States,
CIS (
post-Soviet states), and more recently the
Philippines.
The genealogical
classification of the Korean language is debated. Some linguists place it in the
Altaic language family, while others consider it to be a
language isolate. It is
agglutinative in its morphology and
SOV in its
syntax. Like
Japanese, the 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.
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: ), or more formally,
Chosŏnŏ (; ).
In South Korea, the language is most often called
Hangungmal
(; ), or more formally,
Hangugeo (; ) or
Gugeo (; ; 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 [;; literally, "
Goryeo person(s)"]) call the language
Goryeomal (; ).
In
mainland China, following the establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992, the term
Cháoxiǎnyǔ (or short form:
Cháoyǔ ) has normally been used to refer to the language spoken in North Korea and Yanbian, while
Hánguóyǔ (or short form:
Hányǔ ) is used to refer to the language spoken in South Korea.
Some older English sources also used the name "Corean" to refer to the language, country, and people.
Classification
The classification of the modern Korean language is uncertain, and due to the lack of any one generally accepted theory, it's 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 didn't suggest this implied any relation between the two languages.
It is also considered likely that Korean is related in some way to
Japanese, since the two languages have a similar grammatical structure, and share a number of possible phonological cognates, as noted by such researchers as
Samuel E. Martin and
Roy Andrew Miller in the late 1960s.
Sergei Starostin (1991) found about 25% of potential cognates in the Japanese-Korean 100-word Swadesh list, which places these two languages closer together than other possible members of the Altaic family.
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 by cognates such as Baekje
mir, Japanese
mi- "three".
The possible relationship between Korean and Japanese can be exemplified by such basic vocabularly items as J.
mizu (Old J.
midu) : K.
mul (Middle K.
mirh) "water",
mot "lake"; J.
ku-ru "come" (Old J.
ku, also cf. irregular root changes as in past tense
ki-ta, negative
ko-nai in Modern J.) : K.
ka-da (go); J.
kata-i "hard" (whence
kata-na "knife, sword") : K.
kud-yn (hard); J.
i-ru "to be" (past tense
i-ta) : K.
i-da "to be"; J.
na,
-en : K.
anh "not", J.
minna (Old J.
mynna) "all, everyone" : K.
manh- "many" (predicate
mana-da), etc. . The same possible cognates are often observed in other members of the potential
Altaic family, esp. in the
Tungusic languages. Cf. Nanay
mue "water",
giagda- "to walk",
anaa, anna "not".
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.
It is presumed that modern Korean may be more closely related to the languages of
Samhan and
Silla than the Buyeo languages; 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.
Dialects
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 very little stress, 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's 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's etymologically distinct from vocabulary of identical meaning in Standard Korean or other dialects, such as South Jeolla dialect /kur/ vs. Standard Korean /ip/ "mouth" or Gyeongsang dialect /ʨʌŋ.gu.ʥi/ vs. Standard Korean /puːʨʰu/ "
garlic chives." This suggests that the Korean Peninsula may have at one time been much more linguistically diverse than it's 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), most of Gyeonggi (경기) |
| P'yŏngan (평안) |
P'yŏngyang, P'yŏngan region, Chagang (North Korea) |
| Regional dialect |
Where used |
| Gyeonggi |
limited areas of the 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) |
Phonology
Consonants
The
IPA symbol <◌͈> (a subscript double straight quotation mark, shown here with a placeholder circle) is used to denote the tensed consonants /p͈/, /t͈/, /k͈/, /ʨ͈/, /s͈/. Its official use in the
Extensions to the 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 isn't 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.
Vowels
| Monophthongs | /i/, /e/, /ɛ/, /a/, /o/, /u/, /ʌ/, /ɯ/, /ø/
|
Vowels preceded by intermediaries,
or Diphthongs | /je/, /jɛ/, /ja/, /wi/, /we/, /wɛ/, /wa/, /ɯi/, /jo/, /ju/, /jʌ/, /wʌ/
|
Phonology
/s/ becomes an
alveolo-palatal [ɕ] before [j] or [i] 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').
/h/ may become a
bilabial [ɸ] before [o] or [u], a
palatal [ç] before [j] or [i], a
velar [x] before [ɯ], a voiced [ɦ] between voiced sounds, and a [h] elsewhere.
/p, t, ʨ, k/ become voiced [b,d, ʥ, g] between voiced sounds.
/l/ becomes alveolar flap [ɾ] between vowels, and [l] or [ɭ] at the end of a syllable or next to another /l/. Note that a written syllable-final 'ㄹ', when followed by a vowel or a glide (
for example, when the next character starts with 'ㅇ'), migrates to the next syllable and thus becomes [ɾ].
Traditionally, /l/ was disallowed at the beginning of a word. It disappeared before [j], and otherwise became /n/. However, the inflow of western loanword changed the trend, and now word-initial /l/ (mostly from English loanwords) are pronounced as a free variation of either [ɾ] or [l]. The traditional prohibition of word-initial /l/ became a morphological rule called "initial law" (두음법칙) in South Korea, which pertains to Sino-Korean vocabulary. Such words retain their word-initial /l/ in North Korea.
All
obstruents (plosives, affricates, fricatives) are
unreleased [p̚,t̚, k̚] at the end of a word.
Plosive stops /p, t, k/ become nasal stops [m,n, ŋ] before nasal stops.
Hangul spelling doesn't 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 [r], and initial [n]. For example,
- "labour" - north: rodong (로동), south: nodong (노동)
- "history" - north: ryŏksa (력사), south: yeoksa (역사)
- "female" - north: nyŏja (녀자), south: yeoja (여자)
Morphophonemics
Grammatical morphemes may change shape depending on the preceding sounds. Examples include 은/는, 이/가 and 을/를. Sometimes sounds may be inserted instead. Examples include 으로/로, 에서/서, 이든지/든지 and 이야/야. However, 으로/로 is somewhat irregular, since it'll behave differently after a rieul consonant.
| After a consonant |
After a rieul |
After a vowel |
| -의 |
| -은 |
-는 |
| -이 |
-가 |
| -을 |
-를 |
| -과 |
-와 |
| -으로 |
-로 |
Some verbs may also change shape morphophonemically.
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 갔어요?"
(gage-e gasseoyo?)
B: "네."
(ne.)
Literal translation:
» A: *"store (가게) + at,to(에) + went(갔어) +[politeinterrogative marker](요)?"
B: "Yes."
English equivalent:
» A: "Did you go to the store?"
B: "Yes."
Parts of speech
Verb
Korean
verbs (
dongsa, ) 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 doesn't 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, ) conjugate similarly to verbs, so some English texts call them "descriptive verbs" or "
stative verbs", but they're distinctly separate from (
dongsa).
English doesn't have an identical grammatical category, so the English translation of Korean adjectives may misleadingly suggest that they're verbs. For example, (
bukda) translates literally as "to be red" and (
aswipda) often best translates as "to lack" or "to want for", but both are (
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"). For a larger list, see .
Noun
Korean
nouns (
myeongsa, ) are also known in English as "substantives". Examples include (
gajok, "household") and (
mat, "flavor"). It doesn't have gender, and it has plural form, but singular fome can be used though it points plural thing. 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
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. Nowadays, there are special endings which can be used on declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences; and both honorific or normal sentences. They are made for easier and faster use of Korean.
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 —
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 6 levels are generally grouped together as
jondaemal (존대말), while the lowest level (
haeche, 해체) is called
banmal (반말) in Korean.
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’ > dāsu > 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 [ˈd̥ɔɪ̯ʧʷ.la̠ntʰ] the Japanese approximated using the kanji 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
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 wasn't written at all; the aristocracy used Classical Chinese for its writing.
Korean is now mainly written in hangul, the Korean alphabet promulgated in 1446 by Sejong the Great; hanja may be mixed in 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 | p |
t |
ʨ |
k |
p͈ |
t͈ |
ʨ͈ |
k͈ |
pʰ |
tʰ |
ʨʰ |
kʰ |
s |
h |
s͈ |
m |
n |
ŋ |
w |
r |
j
|
Vowels>
| Hangul | ㅣ |
ㅔ |
ㅚ |
ㅐ |
ㅏ |
ㅗ |
ㅜ |
ㅓ |
ㅡ |
ㅢ |
ㅖ |
ㅒ |
ㅑ |
ㅛ |
ㅠ |
ㅕ |
ㅟ |
ㅞ |
ㅙ |
ㅘ |
ㅝ
|
| RR | i |
e |
oe |
ae |
a |
o |
u |
eo |
eu |
ui |
ye |
yae |
ya |
yo |
yu |
yeo |
wi |
we |
wae |
wa |
wo
|
| IPA | i |
e |
ø |
ɛ |
a |
o |
u |
ʌ |
ɯ |
ɰi |
je |
jɛ |
ja |
jo |
ju |
jʌ |
wi |
we |
wɛ |
wa |
wʌ
|
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
The Korean language used in the North and the South exhibits differences in pronunciation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary.
Pronunciation
In North Korea, palatalization of /si/ is optional, and /ʨ/ can be pronounced as [z] 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 |
neoptta (nŏpta) |
넙따 |
neoltta (nŏlta) |
널따 |
| 읽고 |
to read
(continuative form) |
ilkko (ilko) |
일꼬 |
ilkko (ilko) |
일꼬 |
| 압록강 |
Amnok River |
amrokgang (amrokkang) |
암록깡 |
amnokkang (amnokkang) |
암녹깡 |
| 독립 |
independence |
dongrip (tongrip) |
동립 |
dongnip (tongnip) |
동닙 |
| 관념 |
idea / sense / conception |
gwallyeom (kwallyŏm) |
괄렴 |
gwannyeom (kwannyŏm) |
관념 |
| 혁신적* |
innovative |
hyeoksinjjeok (hyŏksintchŏk) |
혁씬쩍 |
hyeoksinjeok (hyŏksinjŏk) |
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's attached to any single-character Sino-Korean word.)
Spelling
Some words are spelled differently by the North and the South, but the pronunciations are the same.
| Word spelling |
Meaning |
Pronunciation (RR/MR) |
Remarks |
| North |
South |
|
|
sunshine |
haetbit (haetpit) |
The "sai siot" ('ㅅ' used for indicating sound change) is almost never written out in the North. |
|
|
cherry blossom |
beotkkot (pŏtkkot) |
|
|
|
cannot read |
monnikda (monnikta) |
Spacing. |
|
|
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. |
|
|
rules |
gyuyul (kyuyul) |
In words where the original hanja is spelt "렬" or "률" and follows a vowel, the initial ㄹ isn't 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. |
|
ryeongryang (ryŏngryang) |
|
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's an i or y sound. |
|
rodong (rodong) |
|
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's a sound other than i or y. |
|
wonssu (wŏnssu) |
|
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. |
|
rajio (rajio) |
|
radio (radio) |
radio |
|
|
u (u) |
|
wi (wi) |
on; above |
|
|
anhae (anhae) |
|
anae (anae) |
wife |
|
|
kkuba (kkuba) |
|
kuba (k'uba) |
Cuba |
When transcribing foreign words from languages that don't 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. |
|
pe (p'e) |
|
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. |
|
doeyeotda (toeyŏtta) |
|
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 (for example ㅣ, ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅚ, ㅟ and ㅢ) in the North use 여 instead of the South's 어. |
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gomawayo (komawayo) |
|
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. |
|
halgayo (halkayo) |
|
halkkayo (halkkayo) |
Shall we do? |
Although the hangul differ, the pronunciations are the same (for example 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. |
|
munhwajutaek (munhwajut'aek) |
|
apateu (ap'at'ŭ) |
Apartment |
(appateu/appat'ŭ) is also used in the North. |
|
joseonmal (chosŏnmal) |
|
han-gugeo(han'gugeo) |
Korean language |
|
|
gwakbap (kwakpap) |
|
dosirak (tosirak) |
lunch box |
|
Others
In the North, guillemets 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.
Study by non-native speakers
The United States' Defense Language Institute classifies Korean alongside Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese as a Category IV language, meaning that 63 weeks of instruction (as compared to just 25 weeks for French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian) are required to bring an English-speaking student to a limited working level of profiency in which he or she's "sufficient capability to meet routine social demands and limited job requirements" and "can deal with concrete topics in past, present, and future tense." As a result, the study of the Korean language in the United States is dominated by Korean American heritage language students; they're estimated to form over 80% of all students of the language at non-military universities.
However, Korean is considerably easier for speakers of certain other languages, such as Japanese; in Japan, it's more widely studied by non-heritage learners. The Korean Language Proficiency Test, an examination aimed at assessing non-native speakers' competence in Korean, was instituted in 1997; 17,000 people applied for the 2005 sitting of the examination.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Korean Language'.
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