South Korea Languages
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Description[edit | edit source]
The Koreans are one ethnic family speaking one language. They share certain distinct physical characteristics which different Asian people, including the Chinese and the Japanese, and they have a strong cultural identity as one ethnic family. The Korean language is spoken by more than 65 million people living on the peninsula and its outlying islands as well as in other parts of the world. The fact that the Koreans speak and write the same language has been a crucial factor in its identity. Modern Korea has several different dialects including the standard one used in Seoul and central areas, but any speakers/listeners do not have trouble understanding each other.
The Korean alphabet, known as
- Hangul (Hangeul) in South Korea
- Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea
- is a writing system for the Korean language created by King Sejong the Great in 1443.
Modern Hangul orthography uses 24 basic letters:
- 14 consonant letters (ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ)
- 10 vowel letters (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ).
There are also 27 complex letters formed by combining the basic letters:
- 5 tense consonant letters (ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ)
- 11 complex consonant letters (ㄳ ㄵ ㄶ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅄ)
- 11 complex vowel letters (ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ).
Four basic letters in the original alphabet are no longer used:
- 1 vowel letter (ㆍ)
- 3 consonant letters (ㅿ ㆁ ㆆ). [1]
Word List(s)[edit | edit source]
A word list can help you quickly identify key words to understand the content of written documents.
- Koreanly.com - 1000 Most Common Korean Words
- Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 1
- Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 2
- Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 3
- Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 4
- Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 5
- Topik Guide - 6000 Most Common Korean Words - Part 6
- Topik Guide - 500 Most Common Korean Verbs
- Topik Guide - 500 Most Basic Korean Adjectives
- Topik Guide - 100 Most Basic Korean Adjectives
- Topik Guide - 100 Most Basic Korean Verbs
Alphabet and Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
- Mondly - A Quick Guide to Hangul, The Korean Alphabet-Pronunciation and Rules
- Hangul consonant and vowel tables - Wikipedia
- Consonants in South Korean alphabetic order - Wikipedia
- Vowels in South Korean alphabetic order - Wikipedia
- South Korean alphabetic order - Wikipedia
- Letter names used in South Korea for consonants of the Korean alphabet - Wikipedia
- Differences between North Korean and South Korean language - Wikipedia
Language Aids and Dictionaries[edit | edit source]
Dictionaries
- Online Korean Dictionary
- Korean phrasebook & dictionary. London: APA Publications, 2015. Available at: WorldCat.
- Lee, Jeyseon, and Kang-jin Yi. Korean dictionary & phrasebook. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2005. Available at: WorldCat.
Language Aids
- TalkToMeInKorean. Easy Korean reading for beginners. Seoul, Korea: Longtail Books, 2020. Available at: WorldCat.
- Korean. Reading & writing. New York, New York: Living Language, 2013. Available at: WorldCat.
- Kim, Chung-sook, Hang-rok Cho, Mi-hye Lee, and Jin-sook Won. Reading Korean beginners. Seoul: Hollym, 2008. Available at: WorldCat.
Additional Resources[edit | edit source]
Online Korean Resources
- Korean language overview
- Korean Grammar
- Korean Romanization Table
- Korean Romanization Converter
- Korean language resources
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Hangul," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangul, accessed 11 March 2021.