高麗時代韓國語
Goryeo Korean
Koreanic · historical / hidden variety
Goryeo Korean (고려어, ~918-1392) is the Early Middle Korean stage spoken during the Goryeo dynasty, transitional between Old Korean of unified Silla and the Late Middle Korean of the post-Hangul early Joseon. Pre-dating Hangul (1446), it was written by adapting Chinese characters via three systems: hyangchal (향찰, semantic + phonetic logographic mixing), idu (이두, Sinitic syntax with Korean grammatical particles spelled in Hanja), and gugyeol (구결, glossing aids for reading Classical Chinese). Primary linguistic corpus is the 鶏林類事 (Gyerim Yusa, 1103) by Sun Mu (孫穆), a Chinese-Korean glossary of ~350 words transcribed in Chinese characters. Goryeo also produced the Jikji 直指 (1377), the world's oldest surviving book printed with movable metal type — a Buddhist Seon canon predating Gutenberg by 78 years and inscribed in UNESCO Memory of the World 2001. Reconstruction follows Lee Ki-Moon (2003), Sasse (1976), and Sohn (1999).
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Goryeo Korean
Water
沒
/*mwol/
Fire
孛
/*pwol/
Sun
契
/*hʌi/
Moon
妲
/*tʌl/
Star
—
/—/
Mother
丫彌
/*emi/
Father
丫秘
/*api/
I
—
/—/
You
—
/—/
Name
—
/—/
Eye
嫩
/*nwun/
Hand
遜
/*swon/
Heart
—
/—/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
南記
/*namki/
House
集
/*tɕip/
Dog
家稀
/*kahi/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
—
/—/
Drink
—
/—/
One
河屯
/*hatwun/
Two
途孛
/*twubʌr/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
—
/—/
Sushi
醢
/hɛ/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Koreanic languages
| Meaning | Goryeo Korean | Old Korean (Silla) | Iberian | Proto-Japonic-Koreanic | Goguryeo | Etruscan | Meroitic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 沒 /*mwol/ | 勿 /*muɾ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 買 /*mai/ | — /—/ | 𐦠𐦶 /ato/ |
| Fire | 孛 /*pwol/ | 弗 /*puɾ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | 契 /*hʌi/ | 日 /*hai/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | usil /ˈuzil/ | 𐦨𐦯 /ˈmasa/ |
| Moon | 妲 /*tʌl/ | 月羅理 /*tʌrari/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tiur /ˈtiur/ | — /—/ |
| Star | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | 丫彌 /*emi/ | 母史 /*əzi/ | — /—/ | *əma /əma/ | — /—/ | ati /ˈati/ | — /—/ |
| Father | 丫秘 /*api/ | 父 /*api/ | — /—/ | *əpa /əpa/ | — /—/ | apa /ˈapa/ | — /—/ |
| I | — /—/ | 吾 /*na/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | mi /mi/ | — /—/ |
| You | — /—/ | 汝 /*nə/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Name | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | 嫩 /*nwun/ | 目 /*nun/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | 遜 /*swon/ | 孫 /*son/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | 心音 /*mʌsʌm/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | 思良 /*sjaɾaŋ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | 南記 /*namki/ | 那木 /*namok/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | 集 /*tɕip/ | 執 /*tɕip/ | iltiŕ /iltir̥/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | śuthi /ˈsuθi/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | 家稀 /*kahi/ | 加伊 /*kahi/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | — /—/ | 食 /*məkta/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | — /—/ | 飲 /*maɕita/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | 河屯 /*hatwun/ | 一等 /*hʌnah/ | ban /ban/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | thu /θu/ | — /—/ |
| Two | 途孛 /*twubʌr/ | 二肹 /*tubɨɾ/ | bi /bi/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | zal /tsal/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | 好 /*tjoh/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sushi | 醢 /hɛ/ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
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