LanguageInformation

KoreanWritingSystem
ThemodernnamefortheKoreanalphabetisHangeul(orHangul).
Thereare24lettersintheKoreanalphabet:14consonantsand10vowels.Thelettersarecombinedtogetherintosyllable
blocks.
Theshapesoftheconsonantsg/k,n,s,mandngaregraphicalrepresentationsofthespeechorgansusedtopronounce
them.Otherconsonantswerecreatedbyaddingextralinestothebasicshapes.
Theshapesofthevowelsarebasedonthreeelements:man(averticalline),earth(ahorizontalline)andheaven(adot).
InmodernHangeultheheavenlydothasmutatedintoashortline.
Spacesareplacedbetweenwords,whichcanbemadeupofoneormoresyllables.
Thesoundsofsomeconsonantschangedependingonwhethertheyappearatthebeginning,inthemiddle,orattheend
ofasyllable.
Koreancanbewritteninverticalcolumnsrunningfromtoptobottomandrighttoleft,orinhorizontallinesrunning
fromlefttoright.
TheHangeulalphabet
Consonants

Thedoubleconsonantsmarkedwith*arepronouncedfortis.ThereisnosymbolinIPAtoindicatethis.

Pronunciation
1.Consonants()
Aspiratedonesarewithmorepuffofairthantheplainones.Asfortensedones,youaddmorestricture,butwithoutpuffofair,
whenlettingoutthesound.
issimilartogasingod. issimilartopasinspy.
issimilartokasinsky. issimilartopasinpool.
issimilartokasinkill. issimilartosasin
issimilartodasindo. astronaut.
issimilartotasinstop. issimilartosasinsuit.
issimilartotasintwo. issimilartojasinjail.
 issimilartottasinbutter(not[t]butaflap issimilartotzas
likeaSpanish[r]),inasyllableinitialposition. inpretzel.
issimilartolasinfilling,inasyllablefinal issimilartochas
()position. incharge.
issimilartobasinbad. issimilartohasinhat.
2.Vowels()
issimilarto"Ah". issimilarto"add".
issimilarto"yard". issimilarto"yam".
issimilarto"cut". issimilarto"editor".
issimilarto"just"or"Eliot". issimilarto"yes".
issimilarto"order". issimilarto"Wow!"or"what".
issimilarto"Yoda". issimilarto"wagon".
issimilarto"Ungaro". issimilarto"Koeln".
issimilarto"you". issimilarto"one".
issimilarto"good"or"lechatau". issimilarto"weather".
issimilarto"easy". issimilarto"we"or"Oui!"
Thesymbol[]isusedtodenotethetensedconsonants([p],[t],[c],[k],and[s]).Thetensedstopsareproducedwitha
partiallyconstrictedglottisandadditionalsubglottalpressure.
[s]becomespalatalizedas[]or[]before[j]or[i].[h]becomeslabialized[]before[o]and[u]andpalatalized[]before[j]
or[i].[p],[t],[c],and[k]becomevoiced[b],[d],[],and[]betweensonorantsegments.[l]becomesalveolarflap[]
betweensonorantsegments,suchasbetweentwovowels.
Phoneticrules,mostlyassimilation,transformthepronunciationofsomewords.Forexample,Jongloispronouncedas
Jongno,HankukmalasHangungmal.Stopconsonantsaregenerallyvoiceless,butlightlyaspiratedstopsbecomevoicedand
unaspiratedinintervocalicposition.Forexample,p>b,t>d,k>g.Stopsarenasalizedbeforeanasal.Forexample,p>m
(beforem,n,orng),t>n(beforem,n,orng),k>ng(beforem,n,orng).
Honorificsandspeechlevel
TherelationshipbetweenaspeakerorwriterandhisorhersubjectandaudienceisparamountinKorean,andthegrammar
reflectsthis.Therelationshipbetweenspeaker/writerandsubjectisreflectedinhonorifics,whilethatbetweenspeaker/writer
andaudienceisreflectedinspeechlevel.
Honorifics
Onewayofusinghonorificsistousespecialnounsinplaceofregularnounswith"honorific"ones.Moreoften,specialnouns
areusedwhenspeakingaboutrelatives.Thus,thespeaker/writermayaddresshisowngrandmotherashalmeonibutreferto
someoneelse'sgrandmotherashalmeonim.Themcomesfromthehonorificsuffixnim(),whichisaffixedtomany
kinshiptermstomakethemhonorific.Allverbscanbeconvertedintoanhonorificformbyaddingtheinfixsi(,
pronouncedshi)afterthestemandbeforetheverbending.Thus,gada("go")becomesgasida.Afewverbshavespecial
honorificequivalents.Thereforegyesidaisthehonorificformofitda("exist").Afewverbshavespecialhumbleforms,used
whenthespeakerisreferringtohim/herselfinpolitesituations.Thus,deuridaandollidaforjuda("give").Pronounsin
Koreanhavetheirownsetofpoliteequivalents:thus,jeoisthehumbleformofna("I")jeoheuiisthehumbleformofuri
("we").
Speechlevels
Therearenofewerthan7verbparadigmsorspeechlevelsinKorean,andeachlevelhasitsownuniquesetofverbendings
whichareusedtoindicatethelevelofformalityofasituation.Unlikehonorificswhichareusedtoshowrespecttowardsa
subjectspeechlevelsareusedtoshowrespecttowardsaspeaker'sorwriter'saudience.Thenamesofthe7levelsarederived
fromthenonhonorificimperativeformoftheverbhada("do")ineachlevel,plusthesuffixche,whichmeans"body."The
highest5levelsusefinalverbendings,whilethelowest2levels(haeyoche)and(haeche)usenonfinalendingsandarecalled
banmal("halfwords")inKorean.(Thehaeyocheinturnisformedbysimplyaddingthenonfinalendingyo()tothe
haecheformoftheverb.)
Takentogether,honorificsandspeechlevelsformasystemof14basicverbstems.Hereisatablegivingthe7levels,the
presentindicativeformoftheverbhada("do"inEnglish)ineachlevelinbothitshonorificandnonhonorificforms,
andthesituationsinwhicheachlevelisused.
 SpeechLevel PresentIndicativeof"hada" Levelof WhenUsed
NonHonorific Honorific Formality

Hasoseoche hanaida hashinaida Extremely Traditionallyusedwhenaddressinga

formaland king,queen,orhighofficialnowused
() () () polite onlyinhistoricaldramasandtheBible
Hapshoche hamnida hashimnida Usedcommonlybetweenstrangers,
Formaland
amongmalecoworkers,byTV
() () () polite
announcers,andtocustomers
hasho(), Formal,of
Haoche Onlyusednowadaysamongsomeolder
hao() hashio( neutral
() people
) politeness

Hageche hane hashine Formal,of

Generallyonlyusedbysomeolder
neutral peoplewhenaddressingyounger
() () () politeness
people,friends,orrelatives
Usedtoclosefriends,relativesof
Formal,of
Haerache handa hashinda similarage,oryoungerpeoplealso
neutral
usedalmostuniversallyinbooks,
() () () politeness
newspapers,andmagazinesalsoused
orimpolite
inreportedspeech("Shesaidthat...")
haseyo( Usedmainlybetweenstrangers,
especiallythoseolderorofequalage.
Haeyoche haeyo )(common), Informal
Traditionallyusedmorebywomenthan
() () hasheoyo( andpolite men,thoughinSeoulmanymenprefer
)(rare) thisformtotheHapshoche(seeabove).
Usedmostoftenbetweenclosefriends
hae()(in Informal,of
Haeche andrelatives,andwhenaddressing
speech), neutral
hasheo() politeness youngerpeople.Itisneverused
() hayeo() betweenstrangersunlessthespeaker
(inwriting) orimpolite
wantstopickafight.

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