LESSON 2

KOREAN LANGUAGE

I. HISTORY

Modern Korean descends from Middle Korean, which in turn descends from Old Korean,
which descends from the Proto-Koreanic language which is generally suggested to have
its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria. Whitman (2012) suggests that the proto-
Koreans, already present in northern Korea, expanded into the southern part of the Korean
Peninsula at around 300 BC and coexisted with the descendants of the Japonic Mumun
cultivators (or assimilated them). Both had influence on
each other and a later founder effect diminished the
internal variety of both language families.

Chinese characters arrived in Korea (see Sino-

Xenic pronunciations for further information) together
with Buddhism during the Proto-Three Kingdoms era in
the 1st century BC. They were adapted for Korean and
became known as Hanja, and remained as the main script
for writing Korean through over a millennium alongside The oldest Korean dictionary (1920)
various phonetic scripts that were later invented such
as Idu, Gugyeol and Hyangchal. Mainly privileged elites were educated to read and write in Hanja.
However, most of the population was illiterate.

In the 15th century, King Sejong the Great personally developed an alphabetic featural
writing system known today as Hangul. He felt that Hanja was inadequate to write Korean and
that this was the cause of its very restricted use; Hangul was designed to either aid in reading
Hanja or replace Hanja entirely. Introduced in the document "Hunminjeongeum", it was called
"eonmun" (colloquial script) and quickly spread nationwide to increase literacy in
Korea. Hangul was widely used by all the Korean classes but often treated as "amkeul" (script for
female) and disregarded by privileged elites, whereas Hanja was regarded as "jinseo" (true text).
Consequently, official documents were always written in Hanja during the Joseon era. Since most
people couldn't understand Hanja, Korean kings sometimes released public notices entirely
written in Hangul as early as the 16th century for all Korean classes, including uneducated
peasants and slaves. By the 17th century, the elite class of Yangban exchanged Hangul letters
with their slaves, suggesting a high literacy rate of Hangul during the Joseon era. Today, Hanja is
largely unused in everyday life due to its inconvenience, but it is still important for historical and
linguistic studies. Neither South Korea nor North Korea opposes the learning of Hanja, though
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they are not officially used in North Korea anymore, and their usage in South Korea is mainly
reserved for specific circumstances, such as newspapers, scholarly papers, and disambiguation.

Since the Korean War, through 70 years of separation, North–South differences have
developed in standard Korean, including variations in pronunciation and vocabulary chosen, but
these minor differences can be found in any of the Korean dialects, which are still largely mutually
intelligible.

II. NAMES

The Korean names for the language are based on the names for Korea used in both South
Korea and North Korea.

The English word "Korean" is derived from Goryeo, which is thought to be the first Korean
dynasty known to Western nations. Korean people in the former USSR refer to themselves
as Koryo-saram and/or Koryo-in (literally, "Koryo/Goryeo person(s)"), and call the
language Koryo-mal.

In South Korea, the Korean language is referred to by many names including hanguk-
eo ("Korean language"), hanguk-mal ("Korean speech") and uri-mal ("our language"). In
"hanguk-eo" and "hanguk-mal", the first part of the word, "hanguk" was taken from the name of
the Korean Empire (대한제국; 大韓帝國; Daehan Jeguk). The "Han" (韓) in Hanguk and Daehan
Jeguk is derived from Samhan, in reference to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (not the ancient
confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula),[15][16] while "-eo" and "-mal" mean "language"
and "speech", respectively. Korean is also simply referred to as guk-eo, literally "national
language". This name is based on the same Han characters, meaning "nation" + "language"
("國語"), that are also used in Taiwan and Japan to refer to their respective national languages.

In North Korea and China, the language is most often called Joseon-mal, or more
formally, Joseon-o. This is taken from the North Korean name for Korea (Joseon), a name retained
from the Joseon dynasty until the proclamation of the Korean Empire, which in turn was annexed
by the Empire of Japan.

In mainland China, following the establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1992,
the term Cháoxiǎnyǔ or the short form Cháoyǔ has normally been used to refer to the standard
language of North Korea and Yanbian, whereas Hánguóyǔ or the short form Hányǔ is used to
refer to the standard language of South Korea.

Some older English sources also use the spelling "Corea" to refer to the nation, and its
inflected form for the language, culture and people, "Korea" becoming more popular in the late
1800s according to Google's NGram English corpus of 2015.

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III. VOCABULARY

The core of the Korean vocabulary is made up of native Korean words. A significant
proportion of the vocabulary, especially words that denote abstract ideas, are Sino-Korean
words, either directly borrowed from written Chinese, or coined in Korea or Japan using Chinese
characters.
Most of the vocabulary consists of two sets of words; native Korean and Sino-Korean
respectively. It is similar to that of English — native English words and Latinate equivalents such
as water-aqua, fire-flame, sea-marine, two-dual, sun-solar, star-stellar. Therefore, just like other
Korean words, Korean has two sets of numeral systems. However, unlike English and Latin which
belong to the same Indo-European languages family and bear a certain resemblance, Korean and
Chinese are genetically unrelated and the two sets of Korean words differ completely from each
other. All Sino-Korean morphemes are monosyllabic as in Chinese, whereas native Korean
morphemes can be polysyllabic. The Sino-Korean words were deliberately imported alongside
corresponding Chinese characters for a written language and everything was supposed to be
written in Hanja, so the coexistence of Sino-Korean would be more thorough and systematic than
that of Latinate words in English. To a much lesser extent, some words have also been borrowed
from Mongolian and other languages.
The vast majority of loanwords other than Sino-Korean come from modern times,
approximately 90% of which are from English. Many words have also been borrowed
from Western languages such as German via Japanese (아르바이트 (areubaiteu) "part-time
job", 알레르기 (allereugi) "allergy", 기브스 (gibseu or gibuseu) "plaster cast used for broken
bones"). Some Western words were borrowed indirectly via Japanese during the Japanese
occupation of Korea, 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 of
Germany), the first part of whose endonym Deutschland [ˈdɔʏ̯t͡ʃ.lant] the Japanese approximated
using the kanji 獨逸 doitsu that were then accepted into the Korean language by their Sino-
Korean pronunciation: 獨 dok + 逸 il = Dogil. In South Korean official use, a number of other Sino-
Korean country names have been replaced with phonetically oriented "Hangeulizations" of the
countries' endonyms or English names.
Because of such a prevalence of English in modern South Korean culture and
society, lexical borrowing is inevitable. English-derived Korean, or 'Konglish' (콩글리쉬), is
increasingly used. The vocabulary of the South Korean dialect of the Korean language is roughly
5% loanwords (excluding Sino-Korean vocabulary).[36] However, due to North Korea's isolation,
such influence is lacking in North Korean speech.
Korean uses words adapted from English in ways that may seem strange to native English
speakers. For example, fighting (화이팅 / 파이팅) is a term of encouragement like 'come on'/'go
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(on)' in English. Something that is 'service' (서비스) is free or 'on the house'. A building referred
to as an 'aparteu' (아파트) is an 'apartment' (but in fact refers to a residence more akin to a
condominium) and a type of pencil that is called a 'sharp' (샤프) is a mechanical pencil. Like other
borrowings, many of these idiosyncrasies, including all the examples listed above, appear to be
imported into Korean via Japanese, or influenced by Japanese. Many English words introduced
via Japanese pronunciation have been reformed as in 멜론 (melon) which was once called 메론
(meron) as in Japanese.
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
influences on the Korean language in the North. In the early years, the North Korean government
tried to eliminate Sino-Korean words. Consequently, South Korean may have several Sino-Korean
or foreign borrowings which are not in North Korean.

IV. SPEECH AND HONORIFICS

The relationship between a speaker or writer and his or her subject and audience is vital
in Korean grammar. The relationship between speaker/writer and subject referent is reflected
in honorifics, whereas 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 they are 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 they are 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.
Honorifics in traditional Korea were strictly hierarchical. The complicated structure of the Korean
honorific system flourished in traditional culture and society. Honorifics in contemporary Korea
are now used for people who are psychologically distant. Honorifics are also used for people who
are superior in status. For example, older people, teachers, and employers.

SPEECH LEVELS

There are seven 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 (the person spoken of)
—speech levels are used to show respect towards a speaker's or writer's audience (the person
spoken to). The names of the seven levels are derived from the non-honorific imperative form of
the verb 하다 (hada, "do") in each level, plus the suffix 체 ("che"), which means "style".
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 The three levels with high politeness (very formally polite, formally polite, casually polite)
are generally grouped together as jondaenmal (존댓말), whereas the two levels with low
politeness (formally impolite, casually impolite) are banmal (반말) in Korean. The remaining two
levels (neutral formality with neutral politeness, high formality with neutral politeness) are
neither polite nor impolite.

Nowadays, younger-generation speakers no longer feel obligated to lower their usual

regard toward the referent. It is common to see younger people talk to their older relatives with
banmal (반말). This is not out of disrespect, but instead it shows the intimacy and the closeness
of the relationship between the two speakers. Transformations in social structures and attitudes
in today's rapidly changing society have brought about change in the way people speak.

V. KOREAN ALPHABET

OFFICIAL NAME

The Korean alphabet was originally named Hunminjeong'eum (훈민정음) by King Sejong
the Great in 1443. Hunminjeong'eum (훈민정음) is also the document that explained logic and
science behind the script in 1446.

The name hangeul (한글) was coined by Korean linguist

Ju Si-gyeong in 1912. The name combines the ancient Korean word han (한), meaning "great",
and geul (글), meaning "script". The word han is used to refer to Korea in general, so the name
also means "Korean script". It has been romanized in multiple ways:
 Hangeul or han-geul in the Revised Romanization of Korean, which the South
Korean government uses in English publications and encourages for all purposes.
 Han'gŭl in the McCune–Reischauer system, is often capitalized and rendered without
the diacritics when used as an English word, Hangul, as it appears in many English dictionaries.
 Hānkul in the Yale romanization, a system recommended for technical linguistic studies.
North Koreans call the alphabet Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글), after Chosŏn, the North Korean name for
Korea. A variant of the McCune–Reischauer system is used there for romanization.

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OTHER NAMES

Until the mid-20th century, the Korean elite preferred to write using Chinese
characters called Hanja. They referred to Hanja as jinseo (진서/真書) or "true letters". Some
accounts say the elite referred to the Korean alphabet derisively as 'amkeul (암클) meaning
"women's script", and 'ahaetgeul (아햇글) meaning "children's script", though there is no
written evidence of this.

Supporters of the Korean alphabet referred to it as jeong'eum (정음/正音) meaning

"correct pronunciation", gukmun (국문/國文) meaning "national script",
and eonmun (언문/諺文) meaning "vernacular script".

CREATION
Koreans primarily wrote using Classical Chinese alongside native phonetic writing systems
that predate Hangul by hundreds of years, including Idu script, Hyangchal, Gugyeol and Gakpil.
However, many lower class Koreans were illiterate due to fundamental differences between the
Korean and Chinese languages, and the large number of Chinese characters. To promote literacy
among the common people, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, Sejong the Great, personally
created and promulgated a new alphabet.

The Korean alphabet was designed so that people with little education could learn to read
and write. A popular saying about the alphabet is, "A wise man can acquaint himself with them
before the morning is over; even a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days."

The project was completed in late December 1443 or January

1444, and described in 1446 in a document
titled Hunminjeong'eum (The Proper Sounds for the Education of the
People), after which the alphabet itself was originally [Link]
publication date of the Hunminjeongeum, October 9,
became Hangul Day in South Korea. Its North Korean equivalent,
Chosŏn'gŭl Day, is on January 15.

Another document published in 1446 and

titled Hunminjeong'eum Haerye ("Hunminjeong'eum Explanation A page from the Hunminjeong'eum
Eonhae. The Hangul-only column,
and Examples") was discovered in 1940. This document explains that
third from the left (나랏말ᄊᆞ미),
the design of the consonant letters is based on articulatory
has pitch-accent diacritics to the left
phonetics and the design of the vowel letters are based on the
of the syllable blocks.
principles of yin and yang and vowel harmony.

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STYLE

The Korean alphabet may be written either vertically or horizontally. The traditional
direction is from top to bottom, right to left. Horizontal writing in the style of the Latin script was
promoted by Ju Si-gyeong, and has become overwhelmingly prevalent.

In Hunmin Jeongeum, the Korean alphabet was

printed in sans-serif angular lines of even thickness. This
style is found in books published before about 1900, and
can be found in stone carvings (on statues, for example).

Over the centuries, an ink-brush style

of calligraphy developed, employing the same style of lines
and angles as traditional Korean calligraphy. This brush
style is called gungche (궁체), which means "Palace Style"
because the style was mostly developed and used by the maidservants (gungnyeo, 궁녀) of the
court in Joseon dynasty.

Modern styles that are more suited for printed media were developed in the 20th century.
In 1993, new names for both Myeongjo (明朝) and Gothic styles were introduced when Ministry
of Culture initiated an effort to standardize typographic terms, and the names Batang (바탕,
meaning "background") and Dotum (돋움, meaning "stand out") replaced Myeongjo and Gothic
respectively. These names are also used in Microsoft Windows.

A sans-serif style with lines of equal width is popular with pencil and pen writing and is
often the default typeface of Web browsers. A minor advantage of this style is that it makes it
easier to distinguish -eung from -ung even in small or untidy print, as the jongseong ieung (ㅇ) of
such fonts usually lacks a serif that could be mistaken for the short vertical line of the letter ㅜ (u).

ROMANIZATIONS OF HANGEUL

The Revised Romanization of Korean (국어의 로마자 표기법 gugeoui romaja pyogibeop.
op; lit. "Roman-letter notation of the national language") is the official Korean language
romanization system in South Korea. It was developed by the National Academy of the Korean
Language from 1995 and was released to the public on 7 July 2000 by South Korea's Ministry of
Culture and Tourism in Proclamation No. 2000-8.
The new system corrected problems in the McCune–Reischauer system, such as
phenomena where different consonants and vowels became indistinguishable in the absence of
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special symbols. To be specific, under the McCune–Reischauer system, Korean consonants
"ㄱ(k), ㄷ(t), ㅂ(p) and ㅈ(ch)" and "ㅋ(k'), ㅌ(t'), ㅍ(p') and ㅊ(ch')" became indistinguishable
when the apostrophe was removed. In addition, Korean vowels "어(ŏ)" and "오(o)" and "으(ŭ)"
and "우(u)" became indistinguishable when the breve was removed. Especially in internet use
where omission of apostrophes and breves is common, this caused many Koreans as well as
foreigners confusion. Hence, the revision of the Romanization of Korean was made with the belief
that if the old system was left unrevised, it would continue to confuse people, both Koreans and
foreigners.

McCune–Reischauer Romanization (/mɪˈkjuːn ˈraɪʃaʊ.ər/) is one of the two most widely

used Korean language romanization systems. A modified version of McCune–Reischauer was the
official romanization system in South Korea until 2000, when it was replaced by the Revised
Romanization of Korean system. A variant of McCune–Reischauer is still used as the official
system in North Korea.

The system was created in 1937 by George M. McCune and Edwin O. Reischauer. With a
few exceptions, it attempts not to transliterate Korean hangul but to represent the phonetic
pronunciation.

Sources

[Link]
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[Link]
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