한국어

Korean

Koreanic

FamilyKoreanic Speakers~80M ScriptHangul CountriesSouth Korea, North Korea Official inSouth Korea, North Korea Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3kor Glottocodekore1280

Also known as: Korean, Hangugeo, Chosŏnmal

Korean (한국어 hangugeo / 조선어 chosŏnŏ) is the official language of South Korea and North Korea with ~80M speakers, and the dominant member of the Koreanic family alongside Jeju (jejueo). It is written in Hangul, a phonemic alphabet (jamo: 14 consonants + 10 vowels grouped into syllabic blocks) promulgated in 1443 by King Sejong the Great of Joseon and detailed in the Hunminjeongeum Haerye (1446) — celebrated for its scientific phonological design (vowel forms encode tongue position; consonant forms encode articulator shape) and inscribed in UNESCO Memory of the World 1997. Typologically agglutinative SOV, with honorific verb endings encoding subject and addressee respect levels. Sino-Korean (hanja-derived) loanwords account for ~57% of the lexicon. The hanja-only convention dominated until the 20th century; modern Korean has used hangul-only orthography since the 1990s, with hanja occasionally retained in formal/legal contexts.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Korean

Water

/mul/

Fire

/pul/

Sun

/hɛ/

Moon

/tal/

Mother

어머니

/ʌmʌni/

Father

아버지

/abʌd͡ʑi/

Eat

먹다

/mʌk̚t͈a/

Drink

마시다

/maɕida/

Love

사랑

/saɾaŋ/

Heart

마음

/maɯm/

Tree

나무

/namu/

House

/t͡ɕip̚/

Dog

/kɛ/

Cat

고양이

/kojaŋi/

Hand

/son/

Eye

/nun/

Hello

안녕하세요

/annjʌŋhasejo/

Thank you

고맙습니다

/komap̚s͈ɯmnida/

One

하나

/hana/

Good

좋다

/t͡ɕotʰa/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Koreanic languages

Meaning KoreanKorean (DPRK)Korean (Busan)Yanbian KoreanKorean (Hamgyong)Korean (Jeolla)Korean (Early Modern)
Water /mul/ /mul/ /mul/ /mul/ /mul/ /mul/ /mɯl/
Fire /pul/ /pul/ /pul/ /pul/ /pul/ /pul/ /pɯl/
Sun /hɛ/ /hɛ/ /hɛ/ /hɛ/ /hɛ/ /hɛ/ ᄒᆡ /hʌj/
Moon /tal/ /tal/ /tal/ /tal/ /tal/ /tal/ /tal/
Mother 어머니 /ʌmʌni/ 어머니 /ʌmʌni/ 엄마 /ʌmma/ 오마니 /omani/ 어머이 /ʌmʌi/ 어매 /ʌmɛ/ 어미 /ʌmi/
Father 아버지 /abʌd͡ʑi/ 아버지 /abʌd͡ʑi/ 아부지 /abud͡ʑi/ 아바이 /abai/ 아바이 /abai/ 아베 /abe/ 아비 /abi/
Eat 먹다 /mʌk̚t͈a/ 먹어 /mʌɡʌ/ 묵어 /muɡʌ/ 먹어 /mʌɡʌ/ 먹어 /mʌɡʌ/ 묵어 /muɡʌ/ 먹다 /mʌk̚t͈a/
Drink 마시다 /maɕida/ 마셔 /maɕjʌ/ 마셔 /maɕjʌ/ 마셔 /maɕjʌ/ 마셔 /maɕjʌ/ 마셔 /maɕjʌ/ 마시다 /maɕida/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Korean
저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 양복을 입어보고 싶어요
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 양복을 입어보고 싶수다
Korean
저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 양복을 입어보고 싶어요
저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 양복을 입어보고 싶습니데이
저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 양복을 입어보고 싶습니다
저는 旅館 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 衣服을 입어보고 싶사이다

Han readings compared

Compared with related Koreanic languages

Character KoreanKorean (DPRK)Zainichi Korean Sino-readingKorean (Busan)Middle KoreanOld Japanese on-yomiYuan Phags-pa Chinese
il /il/ il /il/ il /iɾɯ/ ilH /il˥/ ·qilq /ʔilʔ˥/ iti /iti/ ʔi /ʔi/
i /i/ i /i/ i /i/ iH /i˥/ ·zi /zi˥/ ni /ɲi/ ʐɨ /ʐɨ/
sam /sam/ sam /sam/ sam /sam/ samH /sam˥/ sam /sam˩/ sam /sam/ sam /sam/
sa /sa/ sa /sa/ sa /sa/ saH /sa˥/ ·sʌ /sʌ˥/ si /ɕi/ sɿ /sɿ/
o /o/ o /o/ o /o/ o:LH /oː˩˧/ :ngwo /ŋo˩˥/ go /ŋo/ ʔu /ʔu/
yuk /juk̚/ ryuk /ɾjuk̚/ yuk /jukɯ/ yukH /juk˥/ ·lyuk /ljuk̚˥/ roku /roku/ liw /liw/
chil /t͡ɕʰil/ ch'il /tsʰil/ chil /t͡ɕiɾɯ/ chilH /tɕʰil˥/ ·chilq /tsʰilʔ˥/ siti /ɕiti/ tshi /tsʰi/
pal /pʰal/ p'al /pʰal/ pal /paɾɯ/ phalH /pʰal˥/ ·palq /palʔ˥/ pati /pati/ ba /pa/
gu /ku/ ku /ku/ gu /ku/ gu:LH /kuː˩˧/ :kwu /ku˩˥/ kiu /kiu/ kiw /kiw/
sip /ɕip̚/ sip /ɕip̚/ sip /ɕipɯ/ sipH /ɕip˥/ ·ssip /s͈ip̚˥/ zipu /ʑipu/ ši /ʂɨ/
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