6 Things You Should Know About the Korean Language
1. Korean (한국어) and Chosun Language (조선말) are the official languages of South Korea and North Korea, respectively. While there are no differences in spelling or grammar, there are variations in vocabulary, verb endings, and expressions.
2. In South Korea, there are approximately 50 million Korean speakers. In North Korea, around 25 million people use Korean. Overseas, there are more than 2 million Korean speakers, primarily consisting of Korean expatriates living in countries such as the United States, China, Japan, Canada, and Australia.
(Sources: Statistics Korea, North Korean Statistics Agency, Korean Overseas Foundation)
3. Most of the historians and contemporary linguists classify Korean as a ‘language isolate.’ Due to the lack of significant similarities with languages in surrounding countries and the limited comparative linguistic evidence, Korean is still considered an isolate despite ongoing research. Currently, there are eight living language isolates, including Korean, and seven of these are spoken by minority groups.
(Sources: AYF)
4. There is an opinion that Korean might not be a language isolate. Most isolates are languages spoken by very few people in isolated regions with limited external contact. In contrast, Korean is spoken as a native language by about 80 million people, which makes it difficult to classify as an isolate. Some scholars treat Korean as an independent language family called the “Koreanic languages,” which encompasses a subgroup of languages. This includes extinct languages previously spoken on the Korean Peninsula such as Goguryeo, Baekje, Buyeo, Silla, and Yemaek, as well as the modern languages of “Korean” and “Jeju.”
5. Korean vocabulary is broadly classified into native Korean words, Sino-Korean words (words from Chinese characters), and loanwords. Native Korean words form the core of the language, and most frequently used everyday language consists predominantly of these native words. According to the “Modern Korean Usage Frequency Survey” published by the National Institute of the Korean Language in 2002, the distribution of vocabulary usage in Korean is as follows: native Korean words account for 54%, Sino-Korean words 35%, and loanwords 2%.
6. Due to economic and cultural influences, the number of people learning Korean as a foreign language is steadily increasing. Currently, Korean is included as a foreign language subject in countries such as China, Japan, certain states in the United States, France, Germany, Russia, Brazil, Paraguay, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, India, and Sri Lanka.
감사합니다. Thank you.
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