Korean Language

The official language of Korea is Korean. The Korean language is defined as “a language used mainly around the Korean Peninsula by the Korean people.” At present the Korean language is used by roughly 70 million people in both South and North Koreas and about 3.5 million ethnic Koreans living overseas.

Lineage of the Korean language

The most prevailing theory is that the Korean language belongs to the Altaic language family.

 

  • Altaic language

    • A branch of the Korean language, which includes the Tungus language spoken from Siberia to the Volga River region, Mongolian, and Turkish.

     

  • Korean and the Altaic language family

    • Linguists consider the Korean language a part of the Altaic language family because Korean and other Altaic languages share certain structural features. Those characteristics include vowel harmony, initial sound rule, and the agglutinative nature of word derivatives.

Languages of South and North Koreas

 

A long period of division has widened the language gap between the two Koreas. In spite of the differences in vocabulary and usage and the coining of new words, the two sides have no problem communicating, so the language differences between the South and the North can be regarded as regional dialects. Nonetheless, linguists from both sides have worked to narrow the language gap.

Dialects

 

Dialects are classified by region. There are roughly six regional dialects in Korea.

 

  • Northeastern dialect: Used in North and South Hamgyeong, and Yanggang Provinces in North Korea
  • Northwestern dialect: Used in North and South Pyeongan, and Jagang Provinces, and northern part of Hwanghae Province in North Korea
  • Southeastern dialect: Used in North and South Gyeongsang Provinces and surrounding areas
  • Southwestern dialect: Used in North and South Jeolla Provinces
  • Jeju dialect: Used in Jeju Island and adjacent islands
  • Central dialect: Used in Gyeonggi, North and South Chungcheong, and Gangwon Provinces in South Korea and most of Hwanghae Province in North Korea
Hangeul

Hangeul is Korea’s own unique alphabet.

 

Creation of Hangeul

 

Hangeul was created in 1443 (the 25th year of King Sejong’s reign) under the leadership of King Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, and proclaimed three years later in 1446. Hangeul was originally called “Hunminjeongeum,” which means “the right sounds to enlighten the people.” Hangeul is a phonemic alphabet composed of 28 letters - 17 consonants and 11 vowels – and each syllabic block is made up of at least two letters, a beginning consonant sound and a middle vowel sound, and, when necessary, an ending consonant sound.

 

Official script

 

Official documents were still recorded in Chinese characters even after Hunminjeongeum was proclaimed. A royal decree was issued in November 1894 to mandate Korean as the official written language of Korea. Thus, Hangeul became Korea’s official script 450 years after Hunminjeongeum was created.

 

Modern day Hangeul

 

The name “Hangeul” was coined by famed scholar Ju Si-gyeong in 1913. The term began to be used widely when a periodical titled “Hangeul” was published in 1927. Meaning “the writing of the Korean country,” “grand letters,” and “the greatest script in the world,” the term Hangeul and Huminjeongeum are threaded by a common theme. In accordance with the unified Hangeul spelling system established by the Joseon Language Institute in 1933, four letters were discarded from the original set, leaving 24 letters (14 consonants and 10 vowels) of today.

 

Structure

 

One syllabic block, composed of at least two of the 24 Hangeul letters, makes up one syllable. One syllable consists of as many as three sounds – beginning, middle, and ending sounds. Beginning sound: One of 14 consonants is used. The actual number of consonants that can be used for a beginning sound exceeds 14, because some consonants are doubled to form tensed consonants. Middle sound: One of 10 vowels is used. The actual number of middle vowel exceeds 10, because some vowels are in the form of diphthongs. Ending sound: Same as the beginning sound. Some syllabic blocks do not have ending sounds.

 

Characteristics

 

Hangeul is logical and easy to learn, since a consonant is always accompanied by a vowel to form a syllable.

 

  • The most logical script in the world

    • Hangeul is recognized worldwide as the most scientific writing system. It is marked by the ingenuity and efficiency that comes from combining alphabet letters. Consonants and vowels are easily distinguished, and each syllabic block is arranged in a square shape to appear orderly. Hangeul is applauded as the most scientific script because the design of each consonant is modeled after the physical morphology of the mouth, palate, teeth and throat.

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