Korean language

Korean
한국어 (South Korea) 조선말 (North Korea)
Names for the Korean language written vertically in Hangul. The South Korean name is on the left and the North Korean on the right.
Pronunciation	[ha(ː)n.ɡu.ɡʌ] (South Korea) [tso.sʌn.maɭ][1] (North Korea)
Native to	Korea
Ethnicity	Koreans
Native speakers	81 million (2022)[2]
Language family	Koreanic Korean
Early forms	Proto-Koreanic Old Korean Middle Korean
Standard forms	Pyojuneo (South Korea) Munhwaŏ (North Korea)
Dialects	see Changbai County)
Regulated by	National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원 / 國立國語院) The Language Research Institute, Academy of Social Science (사회과학원 어학연구소社會科學院 語學研究所) China Korean Language Regulatory Commission (중국조선어규범위원회 / 中国朝鲜语规范委员会 / 中國朝鮮語規範委員會)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ko
ISO 639-2	kor
ISO 639-3	kor
Glottolog	kore1280
Linguasphere	45-AAA-a
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

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v t e

Korean (

Beyond Korea, the language is recognised as a

indicative of the formality of any given situation.

Modern Korean is written in the

and the study of historical texts.

Since the turn of the 21st century, aspects of Korean culture have spread to other countries through globalization and cultural exports. As such, interest in Korean language acquisition (as a foreign language) is also generated by longstanding alliances, military involvement, and diplomacy, such as between South Korea–United States and China–North Korea since the end of World War II and the Korean War. Along with other languages such as Chinese and Arabic, Korean is ranked at the top difficulty level for English speakers by the United States Department of Defense.

History

Modern Korean descends from

Since the establishment of two independent governments,

mutually intelligible

.

Writing systems

. 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.^[9][10] He felt that Hanja was inadequate to write Korean and that caused its very restricted use; Hangul was designed to either aid in reading Hanja or to 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 was often treated as amkeul ("script for women") and disregarded by privileged elites, and Hanja was regarded as jinseo ("true text"). Consequently, official documents were always written in Hanja during the Joseon era. Since few people could 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 had exchanged Hangul letters with slaves, which suggests a high literacy rate of Hangul during the Joseon era.^[11]

Today Hanja is largely unused in everyday life because of its inconvenience but it is still important for historical and linguistic studies. Neither South Korea nor North Korea opposes the learning of Hanja, but they are no longer officially used in North Korea and their usage in South Korea is mainly reserved for specific circumstances such as newspapers, scholarly papers and disambiguation.

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 or Koryo-in (literally, "Koryo/Goryeo persons"), and call the language Koryo-mal'. 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.^[12]

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"); "hanguk" is 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),^[13][14] 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 (國語 "nation" + "language") that are also used in Taiwan and Japan to refer to their respective national languages.

In North Korea and

.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Classification

Korean is a member of the

The hypothesis that Korean could be related to

Some linguists concerned with the issue between Japanese and Korean, including Alexander Vovin, have argued that the indicated similarities are not due to any for further details on a possible relationship.)

Hudson & Robbeets (2020) suggested that there are traces of a pre-

Phonology

Korean syllable structure is (C)(G)V(C), consisting of an optional onset consonant, glide /j, w, ɰ/ and final coda /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, l/ surrounding a core vowel.

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Alveolo- palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	ㅂ /p/	t /	ㅈ /t͡s/ or /t͡ɕ/	ㄱ /k/
	tense	ㅃ /p͈/	ㄸ /t͈/	ㅉ /t͡s͈/ or /t͡ɕ͈/	ㄲ /k͈/
	aspirated	ㅍ /pʰ/	ㅌ /tʰ/	ㅊ /t͡sʰ/ or /t͡ɕʰ/	ㅋ /kʰ/
Nasal		ㅁ /m/	n /		ㅇ /ŋ/[A]
Fricative	plain		ㅅ /s/ or /sʰ/			ㅎ /h/
	tense		ㅆ /s͈/
Approximant		/w/[B]		/j/[B]
Liquid			l/ or /ɾ /

Assimilation and allophony

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/, /t͡ɕ͈/, /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 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.

/s/ is aspirated [sʰ] and becomes an alveolo-palatal [ɕʰ] before [j] or [i] for most speakers (but see North–South differences in the Korean language). 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, t͡ɕ, k/ become voiced [b, d, d͡ʑ, ɡ] between voiced sounds.

/m, n/ frequently denasalize at the beginnings of words.

/l/ becomes alveolar flap [ɾ] between vowels, and [l] or [ɭ] at the end of a syllable or next to another /l/. 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 [ɾ].

Traditionally, /l/ was disallowed at the beginning of a word. It disappeared before [j], and otherwise became /n/. However, the inflow of western loanwords changed the trend, and now word-initial /l/ (mostly from English loanwords) are pronounced as a free variation of either [ɾ] or [l].

All obstruents (plosives, affricates, fricatives) at the end of a word are pronounced with no audible release, [p̚, t̚, k̚].

Plosive sounds /p, t, k/ become nasals [m, n, ŋ] before nasal sounds.

Hangul spelling does not reflect these assimilatory pronunciation rules, but rather maintains the underlying, partly historical morphology. Given this, it is sometimes hard to tell which actual phonemes are present in a certain word.

The traditional prohibition of word-initial /ɾ/ became a morphological rule called "initial law" (두음법칙) in the pronunciation standards of South Korea, which pertains to Sino-Korean vocabulary. Such words retain their word-initial /ɾ/ in the pronunciation standards of North Korea. For example,

• "labor" (勞動) – north: rodong (로동), south: nodong (노동)
• "history" (歷史) – north: ryeoksa (력사), south: yeoksa (역사)
• "female" (女子) – north: nyeoja (녀자), south: yeoja (여자)

Vowels

Short vowel

chart

Long vowel

chart

Monophthongs	ㅏ   /a/NOTE ㅓ   /ʌ/ ㅗ   /o/ ㅜ   /u/ ㅡ   /ɯ/ ㅣ   /i/ /e/ ㅔ,  /ɛ/ ㅐ, /ø/ ㅚ,  /y/ ㅟ
Vowels preceded by intermediaries, or diphthongs	ㅑ   /ja/ ㅕ   /jʌ/ ㅛ   /jo/ ㅠ   /ju/ /je/ ㅖ,  /jɛ/ ㅒ,  /we/ ㅞ,  /wɛ/ ㅙ,  /wa/ ㅘ,  /ɰi/ ㅢ,  /wʌ/ ㅝ

^NOTE ㅏ is closer to a near-open central vowel ([ɐ]), though ⟨a⟩ is still used for tradition.

Morphophonemics

Grammatical morphemes may change shape depending on the preceding sounds. Examples include -eun/-neun (-은/-는) and -i/-ga (-이/-가).

Sometimes sounds may be inserted instead. Examples include -eul/-reul (-을/-를), -euro/-ro (-으로/-로), -eseo/-seo (-에서/-서), -ideunji/-deunji (-이든지/-든지) and -iya/-ya (-이야/-야).

• However, -euro/-ro is somewhat irregular, since it will behave differently after a
  ㄹ
  (rieul consonant).

Korean particles

After a consonant	After a ㄹ (rieul)	After a vowel
-ui (-의)
-eun (-은)		-neun (-는)
-i (-이)		-ga (-가)
-eul (-을)		-reul (-를)
-gwa (-과)		-wa (-와)
-euro (-으로)	-ro (-로)

Some verbs may also change shape morphophonemically.

Grammar

Korean is an

is highly flexible, as in many other agglutinative languages.

Question:	"Did [you] go to the store?" ("you" implied in conversation)
		가게에		가셨어요?
		gage-e		ga-syeo-sseo-yo
		store + [location marker (에)]		[go ( conjunctive (어)] + [polite marker (요)]

Response:	"Yes."
		예. (or 네.)
		ye (or ne)
		yes

The relationship between a speaker/writer and their subject and audience is paramount in Korean grammar. The relationship between the 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 caste and estate systems possessed patterns and usages much more complex and stratified than those used today. The intricate 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, such as older people, teachers, and employers.^[24]

Speech levels

There are seven verb

: 體), which means "style".

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.[24]^{[page needed]}

Gender

In general, Korean lacks

pronoun has two different forms: 그 geu (male) and 그녀 geu-nyeo (female). Before 그녀 was invented in need of translating 'she' into Korean, 그 was the only third-person singular pronoun and had no grammatical gender. Its origin causes 그녀 never to be used in spoken Korean but appearing only in writing.

To have a more complete understanding of the intricacies of gender in Korean, three models of language and gender that have been proposed: the deficit model, the dominance model, and the cultural difference model. In the deficit model, male speech is seen as the default, and any form of speech that diverges from that norm (female speech) is seen as lesser than. The dominance model sees women as lacking in power due to living within a patriarchal society. The cultural difference model proposes that the difference in upbringing between men and women can explain the differences in their speech patterns. It is important to look at the models to better understand the misogynistic conditions that shaped the ways that men and women use the language. Korean's lack of grammatical gender makes it different from most European languages. Rather, gendered differences in Korean can be observed through formality, intonation, word choice, etc.^[26]

However, one can still find stronger contrasts between genders within Korean speech. Some examples of this can be seen in: (1) the softer tone used by women in speech; (2) a married woman introducing herself as someone's mother or wife, not with her own name; (3) the presence of gender differences in titles and occupational terms (for example, a sajang is a company president, and yŏsajang is a female company president); (4) females sometimes using more tag questions and rising tones in statements, also seen in speech from children.^[27]

Between two people of asymmetric status in Korean society, people tend to emphasize differences in status for the sake of solidarity. Koreans prefer to use kinship terms, rather than any other terms of reference.^[28] In traditional Korean society, women have long been in disadvantaged positions. Korean social structure traditionally was a patriarchically dominated family system that emphasized the maintenance of family lines. That structure has tended to separate the roles of women from those of men.^[29]

Cho and Whitman (2019) explain that the different categories like male and female in social conditions influence Korean's features. What they noticed was the word jagi (자기). Before explaining the word jagi, one thing that needs to be clearly distinguished is that jagi can be used in a variety of situations, not all of which mean the same thing, but they depend on the context. Parallel variable solidarity and affection move the convention of speech style, especially terms of address that Jagi (자기 'you') has emerged as a gender-specific second-person pronoun used by women. However, young Koreans use the word jagi to their lovers or spouses regardless of gender. Among middle-aged women, the word jagi is sometimes used to call someone who is close to them.

Korean society's prevalent attitude towards men being in public (outside the home) and women living in private still exists today. For instance, the word for husband is bakkat-yangban (바깥양반 'outside' 'nobleman'), but a husband introduces his wife as an-saram (안사람 an 'inside' 'person'). Also in kinship terminology, we (외 'outside' or 'wrong') is added for maternal grandparents, creating oe-harabeoji and oe-hal-meoni (외할아버지, 외할머니 'grandfather and grandmother'), with different lexicons for males and females and patriarchal society revealed. Further, in interrogatives to an addressee of equal or lower status, Korean men tend to use haennya (했냐? 'did it?')' in aggressive masculinity, but women use haenni (했니? 'did it?')' as a soft expression.

dialects. However, since the 1950s, large numbers of people have moved to Seoul from Chungcheong and Jeolla, and they began to influence the way men speak. Recently, women also have used the -nya (냐). As for -ni (니), it is usually used toward people to be polite even to someone not close or younger. As for -nya (냐), it is used mainly to close friends regardless of gender.

Like the case of "actor" and "actress", it also is possible to add a gender prefix for emphasis: biseo (비서 'secretary') is sometimes combined with yeo (여 'female') to form yeo-biseo (여비서 'female secretary'); namja (남자 'man') often is added to ganhosa (간호사 'nurse') to form namja-ganhosa (남자간호사 'male nurse').^[31]

Another crucial difference between men and women is the tone and pitch of their voices and how they affect the perception of politeness. Men learn to use an authoritative falling tone; in Korean culture, a deeper voice is associated with being more polite. In addition to the deferential speech endings being used, men are seen as more polite as well as impartial, and professional. Compared to women who use a rising tone in conjunction with -yo (요), they are not perceived to be as polite as men. The -yo (요) also indicates uncertainty since the ending has many prefixes that indicate uncertainty and questioning. The deferential ending does not have any prefixes and do can indicate uncertainty. The -hamnida (합니다) ending is the most polite and formal form of Korea, and the -yo (요) ending is less polite and formal, which causes the perception of women as less professional.^[30][32]

Hedges soften an assertion, and their function as a euphemism in women's speech in terms of discourse difference. Women are expected to add nasal sounds neyng, neym, ney-e, more frequently than men do in the last syllable. Often, l is often added in women's for female stereotypes and so igeolo (이거로 'this thing') becomes igeollo (이걸로 'this thing') to refer to a lack of confidence and passive construction.^{[24][page needed]}

Women use more linguistic markers such as exclamation eomeo (어머 'oh') and eojjeom (어쩜 'what a surprise') than men do in cooperative communication.^[30]

Vocabulary

The core of the Korean vocabulary is made up of native Korean words. However, a significant proportion of the vocabulary, especially words that denote abstract ideas, are Sino-Korean words (of Chinese origin).^[33] To a much lesser extent, some words have also been borrowed from Mongolian and other languages.^[34] More recent loanwords are dominated by English.

In South Korea, it is widely believed that North Korea wanted to emphasize the use of unique Korean expressions in its language and eliminate the influence of foreign languages. However, according to researchers such as Jeon Soo-tae, who has seen first-hand data from North Korea, the country has reduced the number of difficult foreign words in a similar way to South Korea.^[35]

In 2021, Moon Sung-guk of Kim Il Sung University in North Korea wrote in his thesis that Kim Jong Il had said that vernacularized Sino-Korean vocabulary should be used as it is, not modified. "A language is in constant interaction with other languages, and in the process it is constantly being developed and enriched," he said. According to the paper, Kim Jong Il argued that academic terms used in the natural sciences and engineering, such as 콤퓨터 (compyutŏ; computer) and 하드디스크 (hadǔdisǔkǔ; hard disk) should remain in the names of their inventors, and that the word 쵸콜레트 (ch'okoletǔ; chocolate) should not be replaced because it had been used for so long.^[36]

South Korea defines its vocabulary standards through the "표준국어대사전"("Standard Korean Language Dictionary"), and North Korea defines its vocabulary standards through the "조선말대사전"("Korean Language Dictionary").

Sino-Korean

Number	Sino-Korean cardinals		Native Korean cardinals
	Hangul	Romanization	Hangul	Romanization
1	일	il	하나	hana
2	이	yi	둘	dul
3	삼	sam	셋	set
4	사	sa	넷	net
5	오	o	다섯	daseot
6	육, 륙	yuk, ryuk	여섯	yeoseot
7	칠	chil	일곱	ilgop
8	팔	pal	여덟	yeodeol
9	구	gu	아홉	ahop
10	십	sheep	열	yeol

Sino-Korean vocabulary consists of:

• words directly borrowed from written Chinese
  , and
• compounds coined in Korea or Japan and read using the Sino-Korean reading of Chinese characters.

Therefore, just like other words, Korean has

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.

The exact proportion of Sino-Korean vocabulary is a matter of debate. Sohn (2001) stated 50–60%.[33] In 2006 the same author gives an even higher estimate of 65%.^[37] Jeong Jae-do, one of the compilers of the dictionary Urimal Keun Sajeon, asserts that the proportion is not so high. He points out that Korean dictionaries compiled during the colonial period include many unused Sino-Korean words. In his estimation, the proportion of Sino-Korean vocabulary in the Korean language might be as low as 30%.^[38]

Western loanwords

The vast majority of

Because of such a prevalence of English in modern South Korean culture and society,

However, due to North Korea's isolation, such influence is lacking in North Korean speech.

Writing system

Korean writing systems
Hangul
Hanja
Gukja (Yakja) Gugyeol Idu (Hyangchal)
Mixed script
Braille
Transcription
McCune–Reischauer Romanization of Korean (North) Revised Romanization (South) Bok Moon Kim romanization [ko] Kontsevich (Cyrillic) Kholodovich system [ru] (Cyrillic)
Transliteration
Yale (scholar) ISO/TR 11941 SKATS (coding)
v t e

road signs

, for foreigners in South Korea

Before the creation of the modern Korean alphabet, known as Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea and as Hangul in South Korea, people in Korea (known as Joseon at the time) primarily wrote using Classical Chinese alongside native phonetic writing systems that predate Hangul by hundreds of years, including idu, hyangchal, gugyeol, and gakpil.^{[41][42][43][44]} Few people in the lower classes had the opportunity to receive an education, and they found it extremely difficult to learn how to write in Chinese characters due to the fundamental disparities between the Korean and Chinese languages and the sheer amount of characters that needed to be taught. To assuage that problem, King Sejong (r. 1418–1450) created the unique alphabet known as Hangul to promote literacy among the common people.^[45]

The Korean alphabet was denounced and looked down upon by the yangban aristocracy, who deemed it too easy to learn,^[46][47] but it gained widespread use among the common class^[48] and was widely used to print popular novels which were enjoyed by the common class.^[49] With growing Korean nationalism in the 19th century, the Gabo Reformists' push, and the promotion of Hangul in schools,^[50] in 1894, Hangul displaced Hanja as Korea's national script.^[51] Hanja are still used to a certain extent in South Korea, where they are sometimes combined with Hangul, but that method is slowly declining in use even though students learn Hanja in school.^[52]

Symbol chart

Below is a chart of the Korean alphabet's (Hangul) symbols and their Revised Romanization (RR) and canonical International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) values:

Consonants

Hangul 한글	ㄱ	ㄲ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄸ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅃ	ㅅ	ㅆ	ㅇ	ㅈ	ㅉ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ
RR	g	kk	n	d	tt	r (initial), l (final)	m	b	pp	s	ss	silent (initial), ng (final)	j	jj	ch	k	t	p	h
IPA	k	k͈	n	t	t͈	ɾ (initial), l (final)	m	p	p͈	s	s͈	∅ (initial), ŋ (final)	t͡ɕ	t͡ɕ͈	t͡ɕʰ	kʰ	tʰ	pʰ	h

Vowels

Hangul 한글	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, we	ɛ	a	o	u	ʌ	ɯ	ɰi	je	jɛ	ja	jo	ju	jʌ	ɥi, wi	we	wɛ	wa	wʌ

The letters of the Korean alphabet are not written linearly like most alphabets, but instead arranged into blocks that represent syllables. So, while the word bibimbap (Korean rice dish) is written as eight characters in a row in the Latin alphabet, in Korean it is written 비빔밥, as three "syllabic blocks" in a row. Mukbang (먹방 'eating show') is seven characters after romanization but only two "syllabic blocks" before.

Modern Korean is written with spaces between words, a feature not found in Chinese or Japanese (except when Japanese is written exclusively in

are almost identical to Western ones. Traditionally, Korean was written in columns, from top to bottom, right to left, like traditional Chinese. However, the syllabic blocks are now usually written in rows, from left to right, top to bottom, like English.

Dialects

dialects of Korean

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Korean has numerous small local

of Middle Korean. Some dialects are conservative, maintaining Middle Korean sounds (such as z, β, ə) which have been lost from the standard language, whereas others are highly innovative.

There is substantial evidence for a history of extensive

Japanese–Koguryoic languages

hypothesis.

The differences among northern and southern dialects have become so significant that many North Korean defectors reportedly have had great difficulty communicating with South Koreans after having initially settled into South Korea. In response to the diverging vocabularies, an app called Univoca was designed to help North Korean defectors learn South Korean terms by translating them into North Korean ones.[62] More information can be found on the page North-South differences in the Korean language.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, some South Korean linguists and North Korean defectors have argued that South Korean media and education overemphasize or exaggerate the differences between North Korean and South Korean languages. At the 2014 National Conference of the Korean Language and Literature Association, Yonsei University professor Hong Yun-pyo argued that language differences between North and South Korea were exaggerated in the context of the Cold War.^[63]

According to Hong, after the Korean War, words like dongmu(동무; comrade, friend) and inmin(인민; people) that had been in common use in South Korea before that disappeared, and if anyone used them, they could be reported to the authorities, which was important evidence of espionage. The language differences between the North and South continued to be exaggerated. The language of the North, the North Korean language, was used to promote anti-communist ideology. He even said that research on North Korean in South Korea "has not been done with actual language materials."

Hong had numerous meetings with North Korean scholars for academic conferences and dictionary compilations, but he rarely encountered communication difficulties; rather, he was more likely to encounter communication difficulties with speakers of the Gyeongsang or Jeolla dialects.

Journalist

In South Korea, the idea that there are linguistic differences between the languages of North and South Korea gained traction until the mid-to-late 2010s. However, as exploration of the actual language of North Korea has progressed, it has been argued that any differences in communication between the two Koreas stem from "cultural" differences, such as economic conditions and traditional ways of expression in certain regions.[4]

For example, North Korean defectors who have fled the country tend to have more direct communication habits that reveal their true feelings compared to South Korean language etiquette, which is prominent in defectors' hometowns but rare in other areas where defection is rare, such as Pyongyang.^[67]

Aside from the standard language, there are few clear boundaries between Korean dialects, and they are typically partially grouped according to the regions of Korea.^[68][69]

Recently, both North and South Korea's usage rate of the regional dialect have been decreasing due to social factors. In North Korea, the central government is urging its citizens to use

, the Seoul standard language has become more widely taught and used.

The North Korean government has become increasingly wary of the Korean Wave, and as such, has been very wary of slangs that reflect South Korean culture since 2020.[72] In January 2023, North Korea adopted a law that could lead to public execution for excessive use of South Korean slang, which the North's government labeled as "puppet language" or "koeroemal (괴뢰말)." The word oppa(오빠, originally used by a woman who was the younger sibling in a sibling relationship to refer to a man who was older than her, but in South Korea, also became a way for a younger woman to refer to her male lover in a romantic relationship) was a prime example of this.^[3]

Standard language	Locations of use
Pyojuneo (표준어)	Standard language of Gyeonggi , west of Gangwon-do (Yeongseo region); also commonly used among younger Koreans nationwide and in online context.
Munhwaŏ (문화어)	Standard language of Seoul dialect. It also reflects language use in regions of North Korea outside of Pyongyang.[73][page needed][74]
Regional dialects	Locations of use and example compared to the standard language
Hamgyŏng/Northeastern (함경/동북)	Ryanggang Province (North Korea), Jilin (China). Koreans who have heard the Hamgyŏng dialect describe it as similar in tone to the Gyeongsang and southern Yeongdong dialects.[75] It is also the most spoken dialect by North Korean defectors in South Korea, as about 80% of them are from Hamgyŏng Province. Koryo-mar, the moribund variety of Korean spoken mainly by elderly Koryo-saram in Central Asia and Russia, is descended from the Northern Hamgyong Dialect, as well as the Yukchin Dialect. Honorific Munhwaŏ Hamgyŏng Ryukjin 하십시오 (hasibsio) 합소(세) (Habso(se)) 합쇼 (Habsyo) 해요 (haeyo) 하오 (Hao) 하오 (Hao) Ordinary way of speaking (near Hamhung, Hyesan) The vowel 'ㅔ(e)' is changed to 'ㅓ(eo)'. example: "Your daughter has come." Munhwaŏ Hamgyŏng 당신네 dangsinne 딸이 ttal-i 찾아 chaj-a 왔소. wattso. 당신네 딸이 찾아 왔소. dangsinne ttal-i chaj-a wattso. 당신너 dangsinneo 딸이가 ttal-iga 찾아 chaj-a 왔슴메. wattseumme. 당신너 딸이가 찾아 왔슴메. dangsinneo ttal-iga chaj-a wattseumme. When calling a superior person, always put the ending '요(yo)' after the noun. example: "Grandpa, come quickly." Munhwaŏ Hamgyŏng 할아버지, hal-abeoji, 빨리 ppalli 오세요. oseyo. 할아버지, 빨리 오세요. hal-abeoji, ppalli oseyo. 클아바네요, keul-abaneyo, 빨리 ppalli 오옵소. oobso. 클아바네요, 빨리 오옵소. keul-abaneyo, ppalli oobso. The ending '-니까(-nikka)' is changed to '-길래(-gilrae)'. example: "Come early because you have to cultivate the field." Munhwaŏ Hamgyŏng 밭을 bat-eul 매야 maeya 하니까 hanikka 일찍 iljjig 오너라. oneola. 밭을 매야 하니까 일찍 오너라. bat-eul maeya hanikka iljjig oneola. 밭으 bat-eu 매야 maeya 하길래 hagilrae 일찍 iljjig 오나라. onala. 밭으 매야 하길래 일찍 오나라. bat-eu maeya hagilrae iljjig onala.
P'yŏngan/Northwestern (평안/서북)	P'yŏngan region, P'yŏngyang, Chagang, northern North Hamgyŏng (North Korea), Liaoning (China) It is also the North Korean dialect best known to South Koreans. However, North Korean defectors also claim that South Koreans have less accurate knowledge of the dialect due to the long division.[76] Honorific Munhwaŏ Pyongan 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio 하시 hasi 하시 hasi 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo Ordinary way of speaking The vowel 'ㅕ(yeo)' is changed to'ㅔ(e)'. example: armpit Munhwaŏ Pyongan 겨드랑이 gyeodeulang-i 겨드랑이 gyeodeulang-i 게드랑이 gedeulang-i 게드랑이 gedeulang-i If a Sino-Korean word is preceded by a 'ㄹ(r)' pronunciation, it is pronounced as 'ㄴ(n)'. At the same time, if 'ㄹ(r)' is followed by a diphthong containing the [j] sound, the [j] sound is dropped and pronounced as a short vowel. In the front part of the pure vocabulary of Middle Korean, [nj] changed to [j] in the Seoul dialect, which changed to [n] in this dialect.[77] example: 1) Summer 2) Seven 3) Trend Munhwaŏ Pyongan 여름 yeoleum 여름 yeoleum 너름 neoleum 너름 neoleum 일곱 ilgob 일곱 ilgob 닐굽 nilgub 닐굽 nilgub 류행 ryuhaeng 류행 ryuhaeng 누행 nuhaeng 누행 nuhaeng When representing the past, there is a dropout phenomenon of 'ㅆ(ss/tt)'. example: "I brought this." Munhwaŏ Pyongan 이거 igeo 내가 naega 가져왔어 gajyeowass-eo. 이거 내가 가져왔어 igeo naega gajyeowass-eo. 이거 igeo 내가 naega 개와서 gaewaseo 이거 내가 개와서 igeo naega gaewaseo
Hwanghae/Central (황해/중부)	Hwanghae region (North Korea). Also in the Islands of Yeonpyeongdo, Baengnyeongdo and Daecheongdo in Ongjin County of Incheon. Some North Korean scholars, such as Kim Byung-je, do not recognize this distinction and consider the West-North and Gyeonggi dialects to be spoken in the region.[78] It is known that dialects are spoken that share characteristics of neighboring regional dialects. It is mainly known to have characteristics of both Gyeonggi and Pyeongan dialects.[79] Honorific Munhwaŏ Hwanghae 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio 하서 haseo 하서 haseo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 습니까 seubnikka 습니까 seubnikka 시꺄 shikkya 시꺄 shikkya Ordinary way of speaking Many of the vowels are pronounced as 'ㅣ(i)'. example: habit Munhwaŏ Hwanghae 습관 seubgwan 습관 seubgwan 십관 sibgwan 십관 sibgwan '네(ne)' is used as a questionable form. example: "Did you eat?" Munhwaŏ Hwanghae 밥 bab 먹었니? meog-eossni? 밥 먹었니? bab meog-eossni? 밥 bab 먹었네? meog-eossne? 밥 먹었네? bab meog-eossne? '-누만(-numan)' is often used as an exclamation sentence. example: "It got a lot colder" Munhwaŏ Hwanghae 많이 manh-i 추워졌구나 chuwojyeottguna 많이 추워졌구나 manh-i chuwojyeottguna 많이 manh-i 추어졌누만 chueojyeottnuman 많이 추어졌누만 manh-i chueojyeottnuman Areas in Northwest Hwanghae, such as Ongjin County in Hwanghae Province, pronounced 'ㅈ' (j'), originally pronounced the letter more closely to tz. However, this has largely disappeared. The rest is almost similar to the Gyeonggi and Pyongan dialect.
Gyeonggi/Central (경기/중부)	Changpung in North Korea . Seoul dialect, which was the basis of Pyojuneo, is a subdialect of Gyeonggi dialect. About 70% of all Seoul dialect vocabulary has been adopted as Pyojuneo, and only about 10% out of 30% of Seoul dialect vocabulary that has not been adopted in Pyojuneo have been used so far. Gyeonggi dialect is the least existential dialect in South Korea, and most people do not know that Gyeonggi dialect itself exists. So, Gyeonggi-do residents say they only use standard language, and many people know the language spoken by Gyeonggi-do residents as standard language in other regions. Recently, young people have come to realize that there is a dialect in Seoul as they are exposed to the Seoul dialect through media such as YouTube.[80][81] Among the Gyeonggi dialects, the best known dialect along with Seoul dialect is Suwon dialect. The dialects of Suwon and its surrounding areas are quite different from those of northern Gyeonggi Province and surrounding areas of Seoul.[82] In some areas of the southern part of Gyeonggi Province, which is close to Chungcheong Province, such as Pyeongtaek and Anseong, it is also included in the Chungcheong dialect area. Local residents living in these areas also admit that they speak Chungcheong dialect. Traditionally, coastal areas of Gyeonggi, particularly Ongjin and Gimpo have been recorded to have some influence from the dialects of Hwanghae and Chungcheong, due to historic intermixing with the two regions, as well as geographical proximity. This old influence, however, has largely died out among most middle aged and younger locals from the region. Originally, northern Gyeonggi Province, including Seoul, received influence from Northern dialects (Areas of Kaeseong along the Ryesong River, or Ganghwa Island, received an especially high amount of influence from the Hwanghae dialect), while southern Gyeonggi Province was influenced from Chungcheong dialect. However, as a result of the prolonged division and the large number of migrants from Chungcheong Province and Jeolla Province to Seoul, the current way of speaking in Gyeonggi has been greatly influenced by Chungcheong and Jeolla. Honorific Pyojuneo Gyeonggi 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio - 하오 hao 하오 hao 하우/허우 hau/heou 하우/허우 hau/heou 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo Ordinary way of speaking The vowel 'ㅏ(a)' is changed to 'ㅓ(eo)', and 'ㅓ(eo)' is changed to 'ㅡ(eu)'. example: 1) "It hurts." 2) "It's dirty" Pyojuneo Gyeonggi 아파 apa 아파 apa 아퍼 apeo 아퍼 apeo 더러워 deoleowo 더러워 deoleowo 드러워 deuleowo 드러워 deuleowo The vowel 'ㅏ(a)' and 'ㅓ(eo)' are sometimes changed to 'ㅐ(ae)'. example: 1) Sesame oil 2) "You look like a fool." Pyojuneo Gyeonggi 참기름 chamgileum 참기름 chamgileum 챔기름 chaemgileum 챔기름 chaemgileum 너 neo 바보 babo 같아 gat-a 너 바보 같아 neo babo gat-a 너 neo 바보 babo 같애 gat-ae 너 바보 같애 neo babo gat-ae The vowel 'ㅗ(o)' is mainly changed to 'ㅜ(u)'. example: 1) "What are you doing?" 2) uncle Pyojuneo Gyeonggi 뭐하고 mwohago 있어? iss-eo? 뭐하고 있어? mwohago iss-eo? 뭐허구 mwoheogu 있어? iss-eo? 뭐허구 있어? mwoheogu iss-eo? 삼촌 samchon 삼촌 samchon 삼춘 samchun 삼춘 samchun Dialects of Suwon and its surrounding areas. The ending '~거야(geoya)' ends briefly with '~거(geo)' example: "Where will you go?" Pyojuneo Suwon 어디 eodi 갈 gal 거야? geoya? 어디 갈 거야? eodi gal geoya? 어디 eodi 갈 gal 거? geo? 어디 갈 거? eodi gal geo?
Gangwon<Yeongseo/Yeongdong>/Central (강원<영서/영동>/중부)	Kangwŏn (North Korea), east of the Taebaek Mountains ) Gangwon Province is divided between Yeongseo and Yeongdong due to the Taebaek Mountains, so even if it is the same Gangwon Province, there is a significant difference in dialect between the two regions. In the case of the Yeongseo dialect, the accent is slightly different from the dialect of Gyeonggi Province, but most of the vocabulary is similar to the dialect of Gyeonggi Province. Unlike the Yeongseo dialect, Yeongdong dialect has a tone, such as Hamgyeong dialect and Gyeongsang dialect. Gangwon dialect is the least spoken dialect of all dialects in South Korea except Jeju. Honorific Pyojuneo Yeongseo Yeongdong 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio -Lack of data- - 하오 hao 하오 hao 하오, hao, 하우 hau 하오, 하우 hao, hau 하오 hao 하오 hao 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해오 haeyo 해오 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo Ordinary way of speaking There are pronunciations, such as 'ㆉ(yoi)' and 'ㆌ(yui)', that you cannot hear in most regions of Korea. The vowel 'ㅠ(yu)' is changed to 'ㅟ(wi)' or 'ㆌ(yui)'. example: Vacation Pyojuneo Gangwon 휴가 hyuga 휴가 hyuga 휘가 hwiga 휘가 hwiga Use '나(na)' a lot in questionable form. example: "What are you doing lately?" Pyojuneo Gangwon(Yeongdong) 요즘 yojeum 뭐해? mwohae? 요즘 뭐해? yojeum mwohae? 요즘 yojeum 뭐하나? mwohana? 요즘 뭐하나? yojeum mwohana?
Chungcheong/Central (충청/중부)	Daejeon, Sejong, Chungcheong region (South Korea) Chungcheong dialect is considered to be the softest dialect to hear among all dialects of Korean. Chungcheong dialect is one of the most recognized dialects in South Korea, along with Jeolla dialect and Gyeongsang dialect. Chungcheong dialect was the most commonly used dialect by aristocrats(Yangban) during the Joseon dynasty, along with dialects in northern Gyeongsang Province. In the case of Chungcheong dialect, it is a dialect belonging to the central dialect along with Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Hwanghae dialects, but some scholars view it as a separate dialect separated from the central dialect. In addition, some scholars classify southern Chungcheong dialect regions such as Daejeon, Sejong, and Gongju as the southern dialect such as Jeolla and Gyeongsang dialects. Honorific Pyojuneo Chungcheong 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio 하시오 hasio (충남 서해안 일부 지역) (Some areas on the west coast of South Chungcheong Province) 하시오 hasio 하오 hao 하오 hao 하게 hage 하게 hage 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해유 haeyu (기본) (General) 해유 (기본) haeyu (General) Ordinary way of speaking The vowel 'ㅑ(ya)' that comes to the ending is changed to 'ㅕ(yeo)'. example: 1) "What are you talking about?" 2) "What are you doing?" Pyojuneo Chungcheong 무슨 museun 소리야? soliya? 무슨 소리야? museun soliya? 뭔 mwon 소리여~? soliyeo~? 뭔 소리여~? mwon soliyeo~? 뭐하는 mwohaneun 거야? geoya? 뭐하는 거야? mwohaneun geoya? 뭐허는 mwoheoneun 거여~? geoyeo~? / / 뭐하는 mwohaneun 겨~? gyeo~? 뭐허는 거여~? / 뭐하는 겨~? mwoheoneun geoyeo~? / mwohaneun gyeo~? 'ㅔ(e)' is mainly changed to 'ㅣ(i)', and 'ㅐ(ae)' is mainly changed to 'ㅑ(ya)' or 'ㅕ(yeo)'. example: 1) "He/She/They said he/she/they put it outside." 2) "Would you like to eat this?" 3) "Okay." Pyojuneo Chungcheong 그거 geugeo 바깥에다가 bakkat-edaga 뒀대 dwossdae 그거 바깥에다가 뒀대 geugeo bakkat-edaga dwossdae 고거 gogeo 바깥이다가 bakkat-idaga 뒀댜~ dwossdya~ 고거 바깥이다가 뒀댜~ gogeo bakkat-idaga dwossdya~ 이거 igeo 먹을래? meog-eullae? 이거 먹을래? igeo meog-eullae? 여거 yeogeo 먹을려? meog-eullyeo? / / 이거 igeo 먹을쳐? meog-eulchyeo? 여거 먹을려? / 이거 먹을쳐? yeogeo meog-eullyeo? / igeo meog-eulchyeo? 그래 geulae 그래 geulae 그려~ geulyeo~ / / 그랴~ geulya~ / / 기여~ giyeo~ / / 겨~ gyeo~ 그려~ / 그랴~ / 기여~ / 겨~ geulyeo~ / geulya~ / giyeo~ / gyeo~ The ending '겠(gett)' is mainly pronounced as '겄(geott)', and the ending'까(kka)' is mainly pronounced as '께(kke)'. example: "I've put it all away, so it'll be okay." Pyojuneo Chungcheong 내가 naega 다 da 치워뒀으니까 chiwodwoss-eunikka 괜찮겠지 gwaenchanhgettji 내가 다 치워뒀으니까 괜찮겠지 naega da chiwodwoss-eunikka gwaenchanhgettji 내가 naega 다 da 치워뒀으니께 chiwodwoss-eunikke 갠찮겄지 gaenchanhgeottji 내가 다 치워뒀으니께 갠찮겄지 naega da chiwodwoss-eunikke gaenchanhgeottji The rest is almost similar to the Gyeonggi dialect.
Jeolla/Southwestern (전라/서남)	Gwangju, Jeolla region (South Korea) Jeolla dialect is a dialect that feels rough along with Gyeongsang dialect. Especially it is well known for its swearing. Jeolla dialect speakers, along with Gyeongsang dialect speakers, have high self-esteem in their local dialects. Many Jeolla dialect speakers can be found not only in Jeolla Province but also in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, because Jeolla Province itself was alienated from development, so many Jeolla residents came to Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Much of Northern Jeolla, especially in areas close to Southern Chungcheong like Wanju have traditionally had weaker accents compared to the south, and in some cases, might be more closer to the Chungcheong dialect in terms of vocabulary and intonation. Honorific Pyojuneo Jeolla 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio 허씨요 heossiyo (기본) (General) 허씨요 (기본) heossiyo (General) 하오 hao 하오 hao 허소 heoso 허소 heoso 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 허라(우) heola(u) (서중부 지역) (West Central Region) 허라(우) heola(u) Ordinary way of speaking The vowel 'ㅢ(ui)' is pronounced as 'ㅡ(eu)'. example: Doctor Pyojuneo Jeolla 의사 uisa 의사 uisa 으사 eusa 으사 eusa The ending '지(ji)' is pronounced as '제(je)'. example: "That's right." Pyojuneo Jeolla 그렇지 geuleohji 그렇지 geuleohji 그라제 geulaje / / 글제 geulje 그라제 / 글제 geulaje / geulje Use a lot of '잉(ing)' at the end of words. example: "It's really pretty." Pyojuneo Jeolla 진짜 jinjja 예쁘다 yeppeuda 진짜 예쁘다 jinjja yeppeuda 참말로 chammallo 이쁘다잉~ ippeudaing~ / / 참말로 chammallo 귄있다잉~ gwin-ittdaing~ 참말로 이쁘다잉~ / 참말로 귄있다잉~ chammallo ippeudaing~ / chammallo gwin-ittdaing~ Famously, natives of Southern Jeolla pronounce certain combinations of vowels in Korean more softly, or omit the latter vowel entirely. Pyojuneo Jeolla 육학년 yoog-kak-nyeon 육학년 yoog-kak-nyeon 유각년 yoog-ag-nyeon 유각년 yoog-ag-nyeon 못해 mot-tae 못해 mot-tae 모대 mo-dae 모대 mo-dae However, in the case of '모대(modae)', it is also observed in South Chungcheong Province and some areas of southern Gyeonggi Province close to South Chungcheong Province. The rest is almost similar to the Chungcheong dialect.
Gyeongsang/Southeastern (경상/동남)	Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, Gyeongsang region (South Korea) Gyeongsang dialect is the best known dialect of all South Korean dialects. This is known not only by Koreans but also by foreigners interested in Korean culture. Gyeongsang dialect is also known as the most rough and macho-like dialect of all South Korean dialects. Gyeongsang dialect has a tone like Hamgyeong dialect and Yeongdong dialect. Gyeongsang dialect is the most common dialect in dramas among all Korean dialects except for Gyeonggi dialect. Honorific Pyojuneo Gyeongsang 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio 하이소 haiso 하이소 haiso 하오 hao 하오 hao 하소 haso 하소 haso 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo 해예 haeye / / 해요 haeyo 해예 / 해요 haeye / haeyo Ordinary way of speaking In question, '노(no)' and '나(na)' are mainly used. Use '나(na)' when asking for a short answer, and '노(no)' when asking for a specific answer. example: 1) "Have you eaten?" 2) "What did you eat?" Pyojuneo Gyeongsang 너 neo 밥 bab 먹었어? meog-eott-eo? 너 밥 먹었어? neo bab meog-eott-eo? 니 ni 밥 bab 뭇나? mutna? 니 밥 뭇나? ni bab mutna? 뭐 mwo 먹었어? meog-eoss-eo? 뭐 먹었어? mwo meog-eoss-eo? 뭐 mwo 먹었노? meog-eossno? 뭐 먹었노? mwo meog-eossno? When talking, the sentence often ends with '~다 아이가(~da aiga)'. example: "You said so." Pyojuneo Gyeongsang 네가 nega 그렇게 geuleohge 말했잖아. malhaettjanh-a. 네가 그렇게 말했잖아. nega geuleohge malhaettjanh-a. 니가 niga 그렇게 geuleohge 말했다 malhaettda 아이가. aiga. 니가 그렇게 말했다 아이가. niga geuleohge malhaettda aiga. '~하다(~hada)' is pronounced as '~카다(~kada)'. example: "Why are you doing that?" Pyojuneo Gyeongsang 왜 wae 그렇게 geuleohge 하는 haneun 거야? geoya? 왜 그렇게 하는 거야? wae geuleohge haneun geoya? 와 wa 그 geu 카는데? kaneunde? 와 그 카는데? wa geu kaneunde? The rest is almost similar to the Jeolla dialect.
Jeju (제주)*	Jeju Island/Province (South Korea); sometimes classified as a separate language in the Koreanic language family example: Hangul[83][page needed] Pyojuneo: 한글 (Hangul) Jeju: ᄒᆞᆫ글 (Hongul) Honorific Pyojuneo Jeju 하십시오 hasibsio 하십시오 hasibsio ᄒᆞᆸ서 hobseo ᄒᆞᆸ서 hobseo 하오 hao 하오 hao ᄒᆞᆸ소 hobso ᄒᆞᆸ소 hobso 해요 haeyo 해요 haeyo ᄒᆞ여마씀 hobyeomasseum / / 양 yang / / 예 ye ᄒᆞ여마씀 / 양 / 예 hobyeomasseum / yang / ye

North–South differences

The language used in the North and the South exhibit differences in pronunciation, spelling, grammar and vocabulary.^[84]

Pronunciation

In North Korea, palatalization of /si/ is optional, and /t͡ɕ/ can be pronounced [z] 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 modified Hangul (what the Korean characters would be if one were to write the word as pronounced).

Word	RR	Meaning	Pronunciation
			North			South
			RR	MR	Chosungul	RR	MR	Hangul
읽고	ilgo	to read (continuative form)	ilko	ilko	(일)코	ilkko	ilkko	(일)꼬
압록강	amnokgang	Amnok River	amrokgang	amrokkang	암(록)깡	amnokkang	amnokkang	암녹깡
독립	dongnip	independence	dongrip	tongrip	동(립)	dongnip	tongnip	동닙
관념	gwannyeom	idea / sense / conception	gwallyeom	kwallyŏm	괄렴	gwannyeom	kwannyŏm	(관)념
혁신적*	hyeoksinjeok	innovative	hyeoksinjjeok	hyŏksintchŏk	(혁)씬쩍	hyeoksinjeok	hyŏksinjŏk	(혁)씬(적)

* In the North, similar pronunciation is used 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 spelled differently by the North and the South, but the pronunciations are the same.

Word		Meaning	Pronunciation (RR/MR)	Remarks
North spelling	South spelling
해빛	햇빛	sunshine	haeppit (haepit)	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	modikda (modikta)	Spacing.
한나산	한라산	Hallasan	hallasan (hallasan)	When a ㄴㄴ combination is pronounced as ll, the original Hangul spelling is kept in the North, whereas 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

Basically, the standard languages of North and South Korea, including pronunciation and vocabulary, are both linguistically based on the Seoul dialect, but in North Korea, words have been modified to reflect the theories of scholars like Kim Tu-bong, who sought a refined language, as well as political needs. Some differences are difficult to explain in terms of political ideas, such as North Korea's use of the word rajio(라지오).:

Word				Meaning	Remarks
North spelling	North pronun.	South spelling	South pronun.
력량	ryeongryang (ryŏngryang)	역량	yeongnyang (yŏngnyang)	strength	Initial r's are dropped if followed by i or y in the South Korean version of Korean.
로동	rodong (rodong)	노동	nodong (nodong)	work	Initial r's are demoted to an n if not followed by i or y in the South Korean version of Korean.
원쑤	wonssu (wŏnssu)	원수	wonsu (wŏnsu)	mortal enemy	"Mortal enemy" and "field marshal" are homophones in the South. Possibly to avoid referring to Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il or Kim Jong Un as the enemy, the second syllable of "enemy" is written and pronounced 쑤 in the North.[85]
라지오	rajio (rajio)	라디오	radio (radio)	radio	In South Korea, the expression rajio is considered a Japanese expression that was introduced during the Japanese colonial rule and does not properly represent the pronunciation of Korean.[86]
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	In the case where ye comes after a consonant, such as in hye and pye, it is pronounced without the palatal approximate. North Korean orthography reflects this pronunciation nuance.

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	Pronunciation
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).

Punctuation

In the North,

; in the South, quotation marks equivalent to the English ones (" and ") are standard (although 『 』 and 「 」 are also used).

Vocabulary

Some vocabulary is different between the North and the South:

Word				Meaning	Remarks
North word	North pronun.	South word	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-guk'eo (han-guk'ŏ)	Korean language	The Japanese pronunciation of 조선말 was used throughout Korea and Manchuria during Japanese imperial rule, but after liberation, the government chose the name 대한민국 (Daehanminguk) which was derived from the name immediately prior to Japanese imperial rule. The syllable 한 (Han) was drawn from the same source as that name (in reference to the Han people). Read more.
곽밥	gwakbap (kwakpap)	도시락	dosirak (tosirak)	lunch box
동무	dongmu (tongmu)	친구	chin-gu (ch'in-gu)	Friend	동무 was originally a non-ideological word for "friend" used all over the Korean peninsula, but North Koreans later adopted it as the equivalent of the Communist term of address "comrade". As a result, to South Koreans today the word has a heavy political tinge, and so they have shifted to using other words for friend like chingu (친구) or beot (벗). Today, beot (벗) is closer to a term used in literature, and chingu (친구) is the widest-used word for friend. Such changes were made after the Korean War and the ideological battle between the anti-Communist government in the South and North Korea's communism.[87][88]

Geographic distribution

Korean is spoken by the Korean people in both South Korea and North Korea, and by the Korean diaspora in many countries including the People's Republic of China, the United States, Japan, and Russia. Currently, Korean is the fourth most popular foreign language in China, following English, Japanese, and Russian.^[89] Korean-speaking minorities exist in these states, but because of cultural assimilation into host countries, not all ethnic Koreans may speak it with native fluency.

Official status

• 
  Highway sign in Korean,
  

  Reunification Highway, Pyongyang

  , North Korea
• 
  Highway sign in Korean and English,
  Gyeongbu Expressway, Daegu, South Korea
• 
  Highway sign in Korean and Chinese,
  Hunwu Expressway, Yanbian, China

Korean is the official language of South Korea and North Korea. It, along with Mandarin Chinese, is also one of the two official languages of China's Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture.

In North Korea, the regulatory body is the Language Institute of the Academy of Social Sciences (사회과학원 어학연구소; 社會科學院語學硏究所, Sahoe Gwahagweon Eohag Yeonguso). In South Korea, the regulatory body for Korean is the

, which was created by presidential decree on 23 January 1991.

King Sejong Institute

Established pursuant to Article 9, Section 2, of the Framework Act on the National Language, the King Sejong Institute^[90] is a public institution set up to coordinate the government's project of propagating Korean language and culture; it also supports the King Sejong Institute, which is the institution's overseas branch. The King Sejong Institute was established in response to:

• An increase in the demand for Korean language education;
• a rapid increase in Korean language education thanks to the spread of the culture (
  hallyu
  ), an increase in international marriage, the expansion of Korean enterprises into overseas markets, and enforcement of employment licensing system;
• the need for a government-sanctioned Korean language educational institution;
• the need for general support for overseas Korean language education based on a successful domestic language education program.

King Sejong Institute has 59 in Europe, 15 in Africa, 146 in Asia, 34 in the Americas, and 4 in Oceania.^[91]

TOPIK Korea Institute

The

Korea Institute is a lifelong educational center affiliated with a variety of Korean universities in Seoul, South Korea, whose aim is to promote Korean language and culture, support local Korean teaching internationally, and facilitate cultural exchanges.

The institute is sometimes compared to language and culture promotion organizations such as the King Sejong Institute. Unlike that organization, however, the TOPIK Korea Institute operates within established universities and colleges around the world, providing educational materials. In countries around the world, Korean embassies and cultural centers (한국문화원) administer TOPIK examinations.^[92]

Foreign language

For native English-speakers, Korean is generally considered to be one of the most difficult

The study of the Korean language in the United States is dominated by

Testing

There are two widely used tests of Korean as a foreign language: the

This is also evident in TOPIK's website, where the examination is introduced as intended for Korean heritage students.

Example text

From Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Korean (Hankuko):^[102]

See also

• Outline of Korean language
• Korean count word
• Korean Cultural Center
  (KCC)
• Korean dialects
• Korean language and computers
• Korean as a foreign language
• Korean mixed script
• Korean particles
• Korean proverbs
• Korean words
• Korean sign language
• Korean romanization
  • McCune–Reischauer
  • Revised romanization of Korean
  • SKATS
  • Yale romanization of Korean
• List of English words of Korean origin
• Vowel harmony
• History of Korean
• Korean films
  • Cinema of North Korea
  • Cinema of South Korea

Notes

References

Further reading

• Argüelles, Alexander; Kim, Jong-Rok (2000). A Historical, Literary and Cultural Approach to the Korean Language. Seoul, South Korea: Hollym.
• Argüelles, Alexander; Kim, Jongrok (2004). A Handbook of Korean Verbal Conjugation. Hyattsville, Maryland: Dunwoody Press.
• Argüelles, Alexander (2007). Korean Newspaper Reader. Hyattsville, Maryland: Dunwoody Press.
• Argüelles, Alexander (2010). North Korean Reader. Hyattsville, Maryland: Dunwoody Press.
• Brown, L. (2015). "Expressive, Social and Gendered Meanings of Korean Honorifics". Korean Linguistics. 17 (2): 242–266.
  doi:10.1075/kl.17.2.04bro
  .
• Chang, Suk-jin (1996). Korean. London Oriental and African Language Library. Vol. 4. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  ISBN 978-1-55619-728-4
  .
• Cho, Young A. (2006). "Gender Differences in Korean Speech". In Sohn, Ho-min (ed.). Korean Language in Culture and Society. University of Hawaii Press. p. 189.
• Cho, Sungdai; Whitman, John (2020). Korean: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-521-51485-9
  .
• Hulbert, Homer B. (1905). A Comparative Grammar of the Korean Language and the Dravidian Dialects in India. Seoul: Methodist Publishing House.
• Lee, Ki-Moon; Ramsey, S. Robert (2011). A History of the Korean Language.
  ISBN 978-0-521-66189-8
  .
• Martin, Samuel E. (1966). "Lexical Evidence Relating Japanese to Korean". Language. 42 (2): 185–251.
  JSTOR 411687
  .
• Martin, Samuel E. (1990). "Morphological clues to the relationship of Japanese and Korean". In Baldi, Philip (ed.). Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs. Vol. 45. pp. 483–509.
• Martin, Samuel E. (2006). A Reference Grammar of Korean: A Complete Guide to the Grammar and History of the Korean Language – 韓國語文法總監.
  ISBN 978-0-8048-3771-2
  .
• Miller, Roy Andrew (1971). Japanese and the Other Altaic Languages. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  ISBN 0-226-52719-0
  .
• Miller, Roy Andrew (1996). Languages and History: Japanese, Korean and Altaic. Oslo, Norway: Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture.
  ISBN 974-8299-69-4
  .
• Ramstedt, G. J. (1928). "Remarks on the Korean language". Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne. 58.
• Rybatzki, Volker (2003). "Middle Mongol". In Janhunen, Juha (ed.). The Mongolic languages. London, England: Routledge. pp. 47–82.
  ISBN 0-7007-1133-3
  .
• Starostin, Sergei A.; Dybo, Anna V.; Mudrak, Oleg A. (2003). Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages. Leiden, South Holland: Brill Academic Publishers.
  ISBN 90-04-13153-1
  . In 3 volumes.
• Sohn, Ho-Min (2001) [1999]. The Korean Language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 978-0521369435
  .
• Sohn, Ho-Min (2006). Korean Language in Culture and Society. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers.
  ISBN 978-0-8248-2694-9
  .
• Song, J.-J. (2005). The Korean Language: Structure, Use and Context. London, England: Routledge.
• Trask, R. L. (1996). Historical linguistics. Hodder Arnold.
• Vovin, Alexander (2008). "Man'yōshū to Fudoki ni Mirareru Fushigina Kotoba to Jōdai Nihon Retto ni Okeru Ainugo no Bunpu" [Strange Words in the Man'yoshū and the Fudoki and the Distribution of the Ainu Language in the Japanese Islands in Prehistory] (PDF) (paper). International Research Center for Japanese Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
• Vovin, Alexander (2010). Koreo-Japonica: A Re-evaluation of a Common Genetic Origin. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press.
• Whitman, John B. (1985). The Phonological Basis for the Comparison of Japanese and Korean (PhD thesis). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. Unpublished Harvard University PhD dissertation.
• Yeon, Jaehoon; Brown, Lucien (2011). Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar. London, England: Routledge.

External links

• Linguistic and Philosophical Origins of the Korean Alphabet (Hangul)
• Sogang University free online Korean language and culture course
• Beginner's guide to Korean for English speakers Archived 30 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• U.S. Foreign Service Institute Korean basic course
• asianreadings.com, Korean readings with hover prompts
• Linguistic map of Korea
• dongsa.net, Korean verb conjugation tool
• Hanja Explorer, a tool to visualize and study Korean vocabulary
• Korean language at
  Curlie