Standard Korean in the North and South differs from each other. In 1954, the North Korean spelling rules "Joseon choljabop", (조선어 철자법) were issued, and although it introduced very small changes, the language of the North and South began to separate from this time.
On January 3, 1964, Kim Il Sung, developing the ideas of Juche, released a collection of thoughts on the development of the Korean language, Several Problems in the Development of the Korean Language ( 조선어를 발전시키기 위한 몇 가지 문제 , Joseon-ryul paljeongsihigi wihan myet kaji munjae), and on May 14, 1966 - the essay “About proper development national characteristics Korean language" ( 조선어의 민족적 특성을 옳게 살려 나갈 데 대하여 , Chosonoi minjokchok teuksong-eul olkhe salryo nagal te tehayo). In the same year, the National Language Committee published the "Rules of the Literary Korean Language" (조선말규범집, Joseonmal-gyubomjeep). These documents increased the differences between the dialects of the North and the South. In 1987, North Korea revised its spelling rules; as of 2011, this is the current version of the rules. Additionally, in 2000, “Rules for Spacing in Written Korean” (조선말 띄여쓰기규범) was released. Joseonmal ttiyossigigyubom); in 2003, these rules were replaced by the “Space Rules” (띄여쓰기규정, Ttiyossygigujon).
Several linguists, concerned about the estrangement of the DPRK and ROK language variants, have been working to create a 330,000-word pan-Korean dictionary since the mid-1980s.
This article uses the International Phonetic Alphabet and symbols:
- vertical bar | | for morphophonemes;
- slash // for phonemes;
- square brackets for allophones.
For more accurate transcription, the letter ㅓ is transcribed as /ʌ/ when describing South Korean and general Korean words, and as /ɔ/ when describing words from the North.
Chamo
The North and South use the same Hangeul letters (Chamo). However, in the North, the stroke that distinguishes ㅌ |tʰ| from ㄷ |t| written above the letter, and not inside, as in the South.
In the South, the compound vowels are ㅐ |ɛ|, ㅒ |jɛ|, ㅔ |e|, ㅖ |je|, ㅘ |wa|, ㅙ |wɛ|, ㅚ |ø|, ㅝ |wʌ|, ㅞ |we|, ㅟ |y|, ㅢ |ɰi| and doubled consonants ㄲ |k͈|, ㄸ |t͈|, ㅃ |p͈|, ㅆ |s͈|, ㅉ |tɕ͈| are not considered independent letters, unlike North.
Some Chamo are called differently in the North and South.
| Chamo | South Korean name | North Korean name |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ |k| | 기역, kiyok | 기윽, kiik |
| ㄷ |t| | 디귿, tigyt | 디읃, tiyt |
| ㅅ |s| | 시옷 [ɕiot̚], siot | 시읏 [ɕiɯt̚], siyt |
| ㄲ |k͈| | 쌍기역, ssankyeok | 된기윽, twengyeuk |
| ㄸ |t͈| | 쌍디귿, ssandigyt | 된디읃, twendyit |
| ㅃ |p͈| | 쌍비읍, ssanbyup | 된비읍, twenbyeup |
| ㅆ |s͈| | 쌍시옷, sansyot | 된시읏, twensiyt |
| ㅉ |tɕ͈| | 쌍지읒, ssanjiit | 된지읒, twenjiit |
In the South, the Chamo names are used from the 1527 treatise “Hunmon Chahwe” (훈몽자회, 訓蒙字會), and the names in the DPRK were invented according to the scheme “letter + 이 + 으 + letter”. Doubled consonants are called "double" (쌍- /s͈aŋ-/) in the South, and "strong" (된- /tøːn-/) in the North.
Chamo order
Vowels| South: | ㅏ | ㅐ | ㅑ | ㅒ | ㅓ | ㅔ | ㅕ | ㅖ | ㅗ | ㅘ | ㅙ | ㅚ | ㅛ | ㅜ | ㅝ | ㅞ | ㅟ | ㅠ | ㅡ | ㅢ | ㅣ |
| [a] | [ɛ] | [ʌ] | [e] | [o] | [ø] | [u] | [y] | [ɯ] | [ɰi] | [i] | |||||||||||
| North: | ㅏ | ㅑ | ㅓ | ㅕ | ㅗ | ㅛ | ㅜ | ㅠ | ㅡ | ㅣ | ㅐ | ㅒ | ㅔ | ㅖ | ㅚ | ㅟ | ㅢ | ㅘ | ㅝ | ㅙ | ㅞ |
| [a] | [ɔ] | [o] | [u] | [ɯ] | [i] | [ɛ] | [e] | [ø] | [y] | [ɰi] |
| South: | ㄱ | ㄲ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄸ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅃ | ㅅ | ㅆ | ㅇ | ㅈ | ㅉ | ㅊ | ㅋ | ㅌ | ㅍ | ㅎ | |
| [k] | [n] | [t] | [l] | [m] | [p] | [s] | [∅]/[ŋ] | [h] | ||||||||||||
| North: | ㄱ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅅ | ㆁ | ㅈ | ㅊ | ㅋ | ㅌ | ㅍ | ㅎ | ㄲ | ㄸ | ㅃ | ㅆ | ㅉ | ㅇ |
| [k] | [n] | [t] | [l] | [m] | [p] | [s] | [ŋ] | [h] | [∅] |
In the North, diphthongs are considered separate chamos, their place in the alphabet is after pure vowels. In the South, diphthongs are found among pure vowels: after ㅏ comes ㅐ, a combination of ㅏ and ㅣ; after ㅗ come ㅘ, ㅙ and ㅚ, starting with ㅗ. In the North the letters are divided ㆁ |ŋ|, called " Yesiyn"and located between ㅅ And ㅈ , and actually " iyn" for a zero initial, located at the very end of the alphabet and found in syllables beginning with a vowel. In the south, the letters for the zero initial and final [ŋ] are considered to be one letter ㅇ, placed between ㅆ and ㅈ.
Pronunciation
Southern and Northern Korean have the same number of phonemes, but there are differences in the pronunciation of these phonemes. The South Korean standard is based on the Seoul dialect, while the North Korean standard is based on Pyongyang.
Consonants
In Seoul pronunciation, the consonants ㅈ, ㅊ and ㅉ are usually pronounced with the alveolo-palatal affricates , , , while in Pyongyang the same letters correspond to the alveolar affricates: , , . The syllables 지 and 시 in the North can be pronounced without palatalization: , .
Words borrowed from China sometimes omit the initial ㄴ |n| and all ㄹ |l|. Both ㄴ and ㄹ are always written and pronounced. For example, a common surname 이 [i], in the North is written and pronounced as 리 [ɾi], Ri. In Russian, this surname is known as Li. Korean word Yoja, 여자, "woman", written in the North 녀자 (pronounced nyoja, ). But since this pronunciation was artificially introduced, older North Koreans may have difficulty pronouncing ㄴ and ㄹ at the beginning of words.
Vowels
The vowel sound ㅓ /ʌ/ in North Korean is rounded, unlike in South Korean. In IPA notation, the South Korean sound will look like [ʌ̹] or [ɔ̜], and the Pyongyang sound will look like [ɔ]. Due to the North Korean rounding, Seoulians may mistake North Korean ㅓ for ㅗ /o/. In addition, the difference between ㅐ /ɛ/ and ㅔ /e/ in the speech of young Seoulians is gradually disappearing, but it is unknown whether the same is happening in the speech of North Koreans.
Musical Accent
Korean has musical accent, a kind of two-tone system: a syllable can be pronounced in a high or low tone. North Korean musical accents are different from South Korean ones, but there is very little research on this issue. On the other hand, the Joseonmal Daesajeong (조선말대사전), published in 1992, lists the accents for some words. For example, the word "kwekkori" (꾀꼬리, - Korean nightingale) is described as having the accent "232" ("2" is a low tone and "3" is a high tone). It should be noted that the speech of announcers on North Korean television is very tense, they almost shout, which may indicate that their pronunciation cannot be relied upon as the speech of “typical Pyongyang people.”
Spelling
Conjugation
어 / 여
Words ending in ㅣ |i|, ㅐ |ɛ|, ㅔ |e|, ㅚ |ø|, ㅟ |y|, ㅢ |ɰi|, in forms that in the South are formed by adding -어 /-ʌ/ to the ending , in the North they add -여 /-jɔ/. In the South, pronunciation with /-jʌ/ is also found.
| Conjugated word | Southern conjugation | Northern conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 피다 | 피어 (펴) | 피여 | blossom |
| 내다 | 내어 | 내여 | give |
| 세다 | 세어 | 세여 | count |
| 되다 | 되어 (돼) | 되여 | become |
| 뛰다 | 뛰어 | 뛰여 | jump |
| 희다 [çida] | 희어 [çiʌ] | 희여[çijɔ] | be white |
Exceptions to ㅂ-
When the root of a conjugated word consisting of two or more syllables ends in ㅂ, for example, 고맙다, then vowel harmony has been ignored in conjugation in the South since 1988, while in the North it has been preserved. If the root contains a single syllable, the harmony is preserved in the south (돕다).
Indication of consonant tension after endings with -ㄹ
Words ending in ㄹ |l| are written -ㄹ까 |-l.k͈a| according to southern spelling. and -ㄹ쏘냐 |-l.s͈.nja| to indicate the tension of consonants. In the North, such words are written -ㄹ가 |-l.ka|，-ㄹ소냐 |-l.so.nja|. Also in the South until 1988 the ending -ㄹ게 |-l.ɡe| was written as -ㄹ께 |-l.k͈e|, but with a change in the rules, the spelling changed to the same as in the North: -ㄹ게.
Borrowed from Chinese words
Initial ㄴ / ㄹ
Initial ㄴ |n| and ㄹ |l|, which were in words borrowed from Chinese, are preserved in the North, but are subject to changes in the South (두음법칙, tight ass, "initial consonant rule"). Words starting with ㄹ followed by [i] or [j] (i.e. ㄹ + ㅣ |i|, ㅑ |ja|, ㅕ |jʌ|, ㅖ |je|, ㅛ |jo|, ㅠ |ju| ), ㄹ is replaced by ㅇ |∅|; if the initial ㄹ is followed by any other vowel, it is replaced by ㄴ |n|.
Likewise, Chinese loanwords beginning with ㄴ |n| followed by [i] or [j] lose the ㄴ in the South, but retain the ㄴ in the North.
| South | North | Hancha | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 이승 | 니승 | 尼僧 | nun |
| 여자 | 녀자 | 女子 | woman |
Sometimes the difference persists even in the South, mainly to distinguish the surnames 유 (柳) and 임 (林) from 유 (兪) and 임 (任), the latter may be pronounced 류 (柳 [ɾju]) and 림 (林 [ ɾim]).
Pronunciation of hanchi
If a loanword in the South is written 몌 |mje| or 폐 |pʰje|, then in the North the spelling 메 |me|, 페 |pʰe| is used. But even in the South such words are pronounced 메 /me/, 페 ) /pʰe/.
Some hanchi signs are pronounced differently in the North and South.
In the North, furthermore, hancha 讐 "revenge" is usually pronounced 수, but in the single word 怨讐 ("enemy") it is pronounced 쑤. This probably avoids homophony with the word 元帥 (“marshal”), which is one of the titles of Kim Jong Il, which is written 원수 |wɔn.su|.
Difficult words
Sai Siot
“Sai siot” (사이 시옷, “middle ㅅ”) is a phenomenon in which -ㅅ is inserted into compound words derived from indeclinable words. This phenomenon does not occur in the North, but the pronunciation is the same in the two countries.
Endings in compound words
Usually ending components V difficult words are written down, but when the etymology of a word is not traced, endings may be omitted, and for native speakers, accordingly, etymology and spelling may cause disagreements:
In the first example, in the South, the 올 part indicates that the etymology is lost, and the word is written phonetically as 올바르다. In the North, the word is believed to come from 옳다, so it is written as 옳바르다 (pronounced the same). Another example is that in the South the word 벚꽃 is considered to be composed of 벚 and 꽃, but in the North the individual parts are no longer recognized, so the spelling 벗꽃 is used.
Inserting spaces
In the South, the rules for separating words with spaces are not officially defined, but in the North, on the contrary, they are specified very precisely. In general, South Korean texts tend to have more spaces.
Non-independent words
Non-independent words in the North are called purwanjeong myeongsa (불완전명사, 不完全名詞 , “incomplete nouns”), and in the South - Uijeon Myungsa(의존 명사, 依存名詞, “dependent nouns”). These are nouns that cannot be used alone, for example, counting words and words such as chul (줄, such and such a method), ri (리, such and such a reason): they must be preceded by a verb. Non-independent words are preceded by a space in the South, but not in the North.
Auxiliary verbs
In the South, there is usually a space between the main and auxiliary verbs. There is never a gap in the North.
| South | North | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 먹어 보다／먹어보다 | 먹어보다 | try to eat |
| 올 듯하다／올듯하다 | 올듯하다 | appear to be advancing |
| 읽고 있다 | 읽고있다 | read |
| 자고 싶다 | 자고싶다 | want to sleep |
In the South, in the examples above, auxiliary verbs after -아/-어 or the nominative case can be written without a space, but the space after -고 cannot be omitted.
Unseparable compound words
Words made up of two or more, meaning some independent object or phenomenon, are written with spaces in the South, but together in the North. Personal names and terms can be written without spaces in the South.
It should be taken into account that although the rules for placing spaces in the South are codified, spelling may change depending on the opinion of the speaker: for example, the word 국어 사전 is considered by some to be two words, writing it with a space, while others are considered to be one word and written together.
Highlighting in text
Dictionary
Literary South Korean is based on the Seoul dialect, while North Korean is based on Pyongyang. However, the vocabulary of both dialects is based on "Sajonghan josono pyojunmal moeum" ( 사정한 조선어 표준말 모음 ), published by the Korean Language Committee in 1936. The differences in vocabulary between adverbs are thus minimal. However, due to the fact that different political forces dominate in the South and the North, the vocabularies of the South and the North are replenished with different neologisms, and the differences will only increase in the future.
Difference in words caused by political and social reasons
| South | North | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 한반도 (韓半島) | 조선 반도 (朝鮮半島) | Korean Peninsula |
| 한국 전쟁 (韓國戰爭) | 조 국 해방 전쟁 (祖國解放戰爭) | Korean War |
| 초등 학교 (初等學校) | 소학교 (小學校) | Primary School |
| 친구 (親舊) | 동무 | Friend |
The North Korean word for "friend" (동무, dongmu) was also used in the South before the separation. However, after the separation, North Koreans began to use the word as a translation of the Russian word for "comrade"; the meaning of “tonmu (comrade)” spread to the South, after which it fell into disuse.
Difference in borrowed words
South Korea has borrowed many English words, and Northern - a number of Russians, in addition, even words borrowed from the same language can have different meanings in the South and North. In the South, transliteration of the English toponym is used for foreign place names, and in the North, the local one is used.
| South | North | Meaning | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Korean | Transliteration | Origin | Korean | Transliteration | Origin | |
| 트랙터 | thyrekho | English tractor | 뜨락또르 | ttytractors | rus. tractor | tractor |
| 스타킹 | sythakhkhin | am. English stocking | 스토킹 | Sytkhokhin | British English stocking | stocking |
| 폴란드 | Phollands | English Poland | 뽈스까 | Ppolsykka | floor. Poland | Poland |
Other differences in the dictionary
The remaining differences boil down to dialectal differences between Seoul and Pyongyang
The words 강냉이 and 우 are found in South Korean dialects.
There are North Korean words for which there are no South Korean equivalents. Verbs 마스다 (masyta, break, destroy) and its passive voice마사지다 (to be broken, to be destroyed) have no South Korean counterparts.
In South and North Korea, as well as in the Chinese autonomous region of Yanban, the official language is Korean. This language is also alive within various other countries: from Kyrgyzstan to Canada and Japan. After all, a huge Korean diaspora lives in their territories, preserving their traditions.
In order to travel to a foreign country, you need to familiarize yourself with all the details that will be needed during your stay. Learning Korean from scratch will be useful for those who plan to move to permanent place residence in the relevant country (or simply visit it as a tourist), get acquainted with the culture and way of life, and it will also be useful for polyglots who are eager to learn new foreign language. To speak this amazing dialect, you need to follow simple rules and learn step by step.
First step
To begin with, as with learning other languages, you need to learn the alphabet. It is essential for reading and writing. Learning the Korean language from scratch on your own may cause some difficulties at the first stage, but once you overcome them, the language itself will attract the student.
It's worth talking a little about the alphabet. For people who use it in their speech it will seem a little strange. However, among the trio of Asian languages - Japanese, Chinese and the one described - it is the easiest. Korean was invented in 1443. And since then it has 24 letters, of which 10 are vowels. In the early stages, this knowledge will be enough to master the basic language.
Korean has diphthongs, and hanchu. There are 16 of the first two. Accordingly, the complete alphabet consists of 40 different letters. What is khancha? A few centuries ago, when the Korean language was developing, many Chinese words began to appear in it, which have never found analogues in the described structure to this day. Therefore, the average Korean knows about 3 thousand. And if in Japanese words of foreign pronunciation have become part of everyday conversations, then Korean keeps their distance - they are used only in official letters, texts on religious topics, dictionaries and classical works. It is worth noting that hancha is not used on the territory.
Why is the alphabet so easy? Knowing basic information will, of course, help with such a time-consuming process as learning the Korean language from scratch on your own. Unlike Japanese and Chinese, which use hieroglyphs, words are made up of letters. And the individual symbols that make up the alphabet mean only one (sometimes two, if we're talking about about a pair of voiced-voiceless) letters.
Step two
Having mastered the alphabet, you should begin to study numerals. The main thing here is to immediately understand the difference when the Korean number system is used and when the Chinese one is used. The first is usually necessary for counting from 1 to 99 and when indicating the age of any matter. For example, one is “khana”, two is “tul”, three is “set”. The second is used by the population when counting after 100, in the names of streets, houses, dates, money and telephone numbers. For example, one is “il”, two is “and”, three is “himself”. At the same time, letters are used in their writing, and it may also seem difficult, but further it is even more difficult, and without mastering this, it will be very difficult to develop further. After all, such a task as learning the Korean language from scratch cannot be compared with trying to master some Slavic system native to Russian.
Step three
Step three involves learning small phrases and several dozen basic words. You just have to start and you will immediately notice how Korean combinations themselves begin to pop into your head.
It is imperative to have a small notebook with you where you can write down how to pronounce certain words. A great way to learn Korean from scratch is to stick stickers with phrases in prominent places. This way the brain will better assimilate new information.
The most important process in the third step is to learn not only the Korean-Russian translation, but also the Russian-Korean translation. So it will be possible to learn to speak the language, and not just understand it.
Step four
When learning Korean from scratch on your own, you should not forget about basic words like “hello” or “bye.” They are necessary even for the most uneducated polyglots and will always help out when talking with a native speaker. Among the standard words are the following: yes (“ne”), no (“ani”), thank you (“kamsamnida”), hello (“annen”).
Step five
In Korean culture, there is a clear division between official and unofficial forms of the language. Which one to use when communicating with a certain person, should be determined from the following factors: the age of the interlocutor, his profession and achievements, social status. Formality in dialogue has three stages:
- Official. Used to talk with elders, boss and unfamiliar people.
- Unofficial. It is more suitable if the opponent is a close friend, relative or younger in age.
- Respectful. It is not used in everyday speech, but can often be heard on television in scientific and news programs, as well as in the army.
For those learning Korean from scratch, this division is important to understand. Those who do not adhere to formalities are considered impolite, and thereby the person himself spoils relationships with others.
Step six
Now you should master the grammar. It is difficult only in one way - in huge numbers. various forms the same verb. And you need to know all of them.
Among the most common grammar rules are the following:
- The verb in the sentence is placed in the very last place.
- The subject is used only if it is not clear from the context or from the previous sentence what or who is being talked about.
Step seven
The important step is practice. How more people speaks and writes, the better his skills become.
Don't be afraid to start learning Korean from scratch. This is morally difficult, although technically not difficult. The main thing is desire and perseverance. Good luck!
Features of the Korean language
Korean language is one of the most unique languages of the world, spoken by about 60 million people.
Since ancient times, the Korean language has been written in written characters. The Korean alphabet ZS±Y (Hangul) is unique, and this is also an aspect of Korean culture. ZS±Y (Hangul) was created by a group of Korean scientists in 1443 or 1444 by order of the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, Sejong the Great (јјБѕґлїХ). It was from this time that Koreans began to use perfect phonetic writing for writing. Before this, Korea used Chinese characters, but they pronounced them differently. The reason for creating their own alphabet was that using Chinese characters is very difficult to learn ordinary people, and at that time only nobles were taught to read and write, and in order to combat illiteracy of the population and increase its cultural level, ZS±Y (Hangul) was created.
Currently, Hangul firmly holds the position of the Korean national script, the scope of its use is extremely wide. Newspapers and magazines are printed in Hangul (although Chinese characters are still found in newspapers), poetry and prose works are written, a variety of specialized literature is published, and government decrees and documents are published in it.
The modern Korean alphabet consists of 40 letters - 24 basic and 16 compound. Of these, 19 are consonants and 21 are vowels.
In the Korean language, there are 14 simple and 5 compound letters to represent consonants. Among the vowel letters in the Korean language, there are 10 simple and 11 compound letters.
The graphic design of the letters is very simple, while the design of consonants differs sharply from the design of vowels. Characteristic feature Hangeul is that individual letters are formed into syllabic marks. One syllabic sign can contain from two to four letters.
Nowadays, Koreans write exactly the same way as we do - in a line from left to right. However, back in the middle of the last century, a spelling similar to Japanese was used - in a column from right to left.
The creation of consonants is based on 5 initial letters:
The creation of vowels is based on 2 letters:
The outline of vowel letters consists of three elements:
A horizontal line symbolizing the Earth as the beginning of all things.
A dot symbolizing the Sun, otherwise energy (later, when drawn with a brush, the dot turned into a short line).
A vertical line symbolizing man as an entity located between Earth and Heaven.
Korean is a language in which the verb always comes at the end of the sentence. Other members of the sentence, except the verb, can be rearranged relatively freely, although the usual and preferred word order is as follows: subject - object - verb. In sentences, a noun takes one or more various service morphemes, but there are a huge number of endings attached to the verb, and all these endings carry important grammatical functions. The endings mark tense, or indicate whether the sentence is interrogative, affirmative, or imperative. Other endings determine the flow of speech that is appropriate in a given situation and the personality of the interlocutor.
In the Korean tradition, a polite style of communication is of great importance - it is customary to talk in a polite style, for example, with parents, teachers or with interlocutors who are only 2-3 years older, and at the same time the interlocutor can answer in a familiar style, since you are younger than him and this is acceptable. Unlike the Russian language, which has only two levels of politeness - “You” and “you”, in the Korean language the range of such levels is much wider - polite and familiar styles are divided into a number of sublevels. An incorrectly chosen verb ending can lead to serious misunderstandings.
In Korean, adjectives also take endings, which means that in essence, the functions of adjectives almost completely coincide with the functions of verbs.
Nouns are distinguished by a richness of case forms, grammatical categories of clarification, and the absence of grammatical gender.
IN morphological structure words may contain a root, stem, affixes (prefixes are only derivational, suffixes are also inflectional), a connecting morpheme and inflections (in predicates).
Names (nouns, pronouns, numerals) do not have a grammatical gender category. The category of animate/inanimate intersects with the category of person/non-person.
Pronunciation in Korean is one of the most difficult aspects for foreigners
- 1) the presence of such vowel phonemes as va, ve, vo (vu), vi, which do not exist in the Russian language
- 2) the absence of whistling and hissing sounds (zh, ch, sh, shch, s, z) and sound combinations with them
- 3) the presence of one two-faced consonant phoneme, which is something in between IL.
The Korean language has a rich composition of vowels and consonants, including ten simple vowels and three series of stop consonants and affricates: simple, aspirated and glottalized.
This variety of sounds creates difficulties for foreigners starting to learn the Korean language.
The phonemes of a series of simple stops are realized at the beginning of a word as voiceless, in the intervocalic position (in the position between a sonorant and a vowel) as voiced, and as implosive sounds (not leading to an explosion) at the end of a word. For example, “kap” [kap] - “box” and “kap-e” [kabe] - “in a box”. The smooth phoneme is realized as “r” in intervocalic position and as “l” at the end of a word. For example, “tar” [tal] - “moon” and “tar-e” [tare] - “under the moon”.
Another feature of modern Korean is that it does not allow a consonant cluster or a smooth consonant at the beginning of a word. Therefore, Koreans pronounce the word “stop” in two syllables as sy-thop and replace “l” and “r” in foreign words with “n”. However, in Lately There has been a tendency to pronounce a smooth sound at the beginning of words borrowed from Western languages.
There are many features that significantly distinguish the Korean language from other languages. But recently, words borrowed from European languages, mainly from English, are increasingly penetrating into the Korean language.
korean alphabet hangul language grammatical
The Korean language is one of the oldest languages in the world, which, despite centuries-old Chinese cultural influence, Japanese military occupation and the American presence after the end of World War II, nevertheless managed to preserve its identity and originality, reflecting national character, centuries-old traditions and inner world every Korean, and the Korean people as a whole.
According to many linguists, the Korean language is part of the family of Altai languages, which appeared in northern Asia. It is noted that although the historical relationship between Korean and Japanese has not been established, both languages have strikingly similar grammatical structures.
There is a hypothesis that Korea and Japan were at the end of two routes of global movement of peoples: a northern route from Inner Asia, and a southern route from southern China or Southeast Asia. At the same time, the movement from Inner Asia had a disproportionately greater impact on the Korean language than on the Japanese language. Chinese culture, Confucianism, Chinese writing, Chinese words, as well as Buddhist written texts reached Japan after they were absorbed by Korea. All this is reflected in the fact that the Korean and Japanese languages have some common features.
The most significant of them is the one that allows these two languages to be classified as the so-called “polite, courteous” language. That is, to a language that uses different styles of oral and written communication with the interlocutor, depending on his age, degree of relationship, social status in society, etc. etc. These communication styles differ in the use of certain words and expressions.
Two people who meet for the first time will use a formal style of communication, but when they become friends they will switch to a less formal style. Young people invariably use a formal-official style of communication when addressing elders, while elders use a more informal style in relation to those who are younger than them or are at a lower social level.
Usage various styles communication is a reflection of the character of Koreans, who are very sensitive to nuances in human relationships. Politeness styles express the Confucian ethical rules of social and moral relations enshrined in the grammar of the language. Knowing and properly using these styles in oral and written communication is an extremely complex and nuanced matter.
It is unclear to what extent the "polite" language and its grammatical forms are preserved in North Korea. Let us only note that Kim Il Sung demanded that the people use a special, very polite and respectful system of communication in relation to him and his family. In the work “Our Party's Language Policy,” published in Pyongyang in 1976, rules were formulated that determined the norms of linguistic communication in the DPRK based on Kim Il Sung's style of speech and writing.
Inconvenience is the mother of invention. Until the mid-15th century, the Korean language was written using Chinese characters - Hanja. That is, Korean sounds were transmitted in writing using Chinese characters. This was, however, inconvenient for two reasons: First, the types of sounds used in both languages differ significantly. This is partly a reflection of their different backgrounds. As a result, it was impossible to reflect “pure Korean sounds” in Chinese characters when writing. Secondly, the Chinese writing system is not phonetic, which made it difficult to learn.
In the early 1440s, King Sejong (1418–1450) commissioned a group of Korean scholars to develop a writing system that would be suitable for representing the phonetic features of the Korean language and easy to learn.
In the course of their phonological research, Korean scientists studied languages and scripts neighboring countries: Japan, Mongolia, Manchuria and China. They also studied Buddhist texts and probably Indian phonetic scripts. As a result, the alphabetic system “Hunmin Jeongum” (“Correct sounds for teaching the people”) was invented, which included 28 letters 2. This alphabetic system responded to the principle: one letter - one phoneme. Two, three, four letters form syllables that are grouped in the form of a hieroglyph. In turn, one or more syllables form a word. Each syllable begins with a consonant followed by a vowel. Syllables can end with one or two consonants. Diphthongs can also be constructed using a combination of two vowels. These features have determined different approaches to teaching and using the alphabet over more than 500 years of its existence.
Several years after its creation, teaching the alphabet as an independent language was rarely carried out. It was taught exclusively as part of the study of Hanja in order to take into account the sounds of the letters of the alphabet and their written meanings. In the 19th century, women, children, workers and peasants learned the alphabet through the use of special tables that showed diagrams of the formation of syllables. These tables were hung on the walls of schools, houses, etc.
During the Japanese occupation and the Second World War, teaching the alphabet, even as part of the study of Hanja, was practically non-existent. At the end of World War II, alphabet teaching resumed. Children first learned individual letters of the alphabet and their phonemes, and then learned to form syllabic blocks from them. However, such teaching method, aimed at children learning sound units - phonemes, and requiring them to have a certain ability to analyze and synthesize sounds, turned out to be difficult for children's perception and understanding.
In 1948, a different methodology was used as the basis for teaching: from phoneme - letter to sentence. However, the construction of syllables and the study of the composition of syllables and words were not affected by this technique. It was not until the 1960s that the use of syllables, syllable construction, and syllable blocks became a major focus of teaching. Special diagrams of syllable composition and construction of syllable blocks were developed. These diagrams were placed at the beginning school textbooks, were hung in classrooms, in rooms in school and student dormitories, in apartments, etc.
Currently, the syllable block has become the main element of the learning process. In Korean, a syllable is more significant than a phoneme. Often a single syllable itself represents a morpheme or a single word.
The Chinese hieroglyphic script, Hanja, has always been and continues to be used in the Korean language. Korean scholars who were adherents of Confucianism gave Hanja the prestige that it continues to have today in various circles of modern Korean society. But at the same time, in Korea (Republic of Korea), especially after colonial Japanese rule, a movement developed for the exclusive use of the Korean alphabetic system - Hangul, as a national script. The use of Hanja has been criticized by nationalist linguists and educators, but defended by cultural conservatives who fear that the loss of knowledge of Chinese character writing will deprive future generations of Koreans of an important part cultural heritage nation. As a result, despite the fact that Hangeul has been approved as the official national script, and despite the fact that the study of Hanja has been removed from school plans, schools continue to study Chinese characters (at least 1000, called “Chong Cha Mun“). Moreover, Hanja continues to be used in newspapers and in writing scientific articles.
In light of this problem, we note the position of the Korean Society for the Study of Hangeul: “Statements about the limited use of Hanja are a great harm to the use of Hangeul, and, on the contrary, the absolute use of Hangeul is the enemy of effective reading, while the limited use of Hanja is its friend.”3 .
Unlike Chinese, the Korean language does not contain dialects that are mutually incomprehensible (with the exception of the dialect spoken by the population of Jeju Island). There are, however, regional differences in the words used and their pronunciation.
Despite the fact that the Republic of Korea has a universal general education system, there are clear differences in the pronunciation of educated people and residents from working-class and agricultural areas. For example, the so-called “Standard Language (Pyejun-o)” owes its origin to the inhabitants of Seoul and the areas surrounding the city.
The beauty of Hangul is that a language learner does not have to learn 2,000 unrelated graphs for 2,000 syllables. The learner simply has to learn the 24 letters and the rules for building them into syllabic blocks. They are easy to learn thanks to intuition, special instructions and practice in constructing them.
Once a language learner realizes that he has learned to recognize and construct syllable blocks, he will have only one difficulty - choosing the right one among the known, the unknown, or just plain nonsense. And he has no need to communicate with a dictionary when pronouncing or writing a syllable or word.
Linguists classify the Korean language as a member of the Ural-Altaic group, which also includes Turkish, Mongolian, Hungarian and Finnish languages. Today it is spoken by about 78 million people, the vast majority of whom live on the Korean Peninsula. There are also Korean communities scattered all over the world.
1. The Korean language has five main dialects in South Korea and one in North Korea. Despite the geographical and socio-political differences of the dialects, Korean is a relatively homogeneous language. Speakers from different backgrounds can understand each other effortlessly.
2. Korean is considered one of the most polite languages in the world. And this creates many difficulties for Europeans to study it. The fact is that in order to communicate correctly, it is necessary to take into account the status of the interlocutor and use the appropriate words and endings. And this presupposes not only a good knowledge of the language, but also the culture.
3. At first glance, it may seem that Koreans use hieroglyphs for writing. But this is not so, the main (and in North Korea - the only) alphabet of the Korean language is Hangul (한글, Hangul), specially developed by a group of scientists in 1443 at the request of the ruler (wan) Sejong the Great. However, there is also a legend according to which this alphabet was invented by the Buddhist monk Sol Cheon. Learning Hangul may take some time, but you can speed up the process with .
4. Before the advent of Hangul, Koreans used a writing system called “hancha” (from the Chinese “hanzi” - “writing”), which was based on Chinese characters. Interestingly, it has survived to this day in South Korea, where hanja is sometimes used in literature and science. For example, in dictionaries, words of Chinese origin are usually displayed in both systems. However, this is rather a tribute to tradition, since any modern Korean word can be written using Hangul. In North Korea, a real war was declared, the purpose of which was the rejection of everything foreign.
5. It is not known exactly what exactly scientists were guided by when creating Hangul. The most common assumption is that it was based on the Mongolian square script. Another legend says that the idea for such letters came to Sejong the Great when he saw a tangled fishing net. Another assumption is that such movements are made by the human mouth, pronouncing the corresponding sounds. And finally, there is also a frankly obscene theory that was actively propagated by the Japanese during the occupation of Korea from 1910-1945. In this way, the occupiers sought to belittle the value of the population’s native language.
6. About 50% of words in the Korean language are of Chinese origin. Of course, after all, China owned the territory of the Korean Peninsula (on which South and North Korea are now located) for about 2000 years. There are also many borrowings from Japanese and Vietnamese.
7. For last decades A lot of borrowings came into the Korean language from. Moreover, they often acquired additional meanings. Thus, the word “service” has become 서비스 (seobiseu), which, in addition to its basic meaning, is used to denote something additional that is provided for free. For example, a free dessert in a restaurant or an additional free service in a hotel.
8. A Swiss army knife is called 맥가이버칼 (maekgaibeo kal) in Korea. Moreover, the word 칼 (kal), meaning “knife”, is of Korean origin. And the first part came from the name MacGyver. The fact is that Koreans became acquainted with this tool thanks to the American TV series “Secret Agent MacGyver”, main character who, thanks to him, managed to get out of the most unimaginable situations.
9. Some borrowings appeared in the Korean language in a rather complex way. So, other words came from the Japanese, who were an ally of Germany in World War II and occupied Korea. For example, the word 아르바이트 (aleubaiteu) means “underemployment.”
10. Many concepts in the Korean language are formed according to the principle of a constructor. And you can guess their meaning by knowing the translation of the components. It all looks quite poetic. For example, the word “vase” (꽃병, kkochbyeong) is formed by combining the words “flower” (꽃, kkoch) and “bottle” (병, byeong). And “nostril” (콧 구멍, kos gumeong) is “nose” (코, ko) and “hole” (구멍, gumeong).
11. Modern Korean names usually consist of three syllables. In this case, the first syllable refers to the surname, and the other two to the personal name. For example, Kim Il Sung or Lee Myung Park. However, most names do not have any characteristics that indicate gender. That is, they can belong to both a man and a woman. It is important to note that calling by name is only allowed between close relatives or friends. An outsider may perceive this as an insult. When addressing someone, a word is often used that indicates a person’s position: “mister”, “teacher”
12. The Korean language uses two various types numerals: originally of Korean and Chinese origin. The first ones are usually used for numbers less than a hundred, the second ones for large ones, as well as when counting time. But in general, the rules for using various numerals are quite confusing, which can cause certain difficulties for language learners.
