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The Korean language is spoken by more than 60 million people. It belongs to the
group of Altaic languages together with Japanese, Ainu, and Mongolian, which
were splitted one another several thousand years ago. Syntactically, Korean
shares some common characteristics with these Altaic languages, while over
70% of its contemporary vocabulary came from Chinese.
1) SOV language
Who loves Jenny? Bob does. Who is loved by Bob? Jenny is. In Korean this
sentence will be in the the word order:
2) Topic-prominent language
Although we call it a subject, its position is not for subjects, the actor, only. A
topic can also be in the position. A topic may not be an actor, but the one which
the sentence is about. Let's take an example: You bumped into a friend after
lunch. Your friend asks you, "Hey, how about a lunch?" You might want to say,
"Lunch? I already had it. How about a cup of coffee?" The first part of this speech
can be understood, 'As for (or, speaking of) lunch, I already ate it.' In Korean, this
can be stated simply:
3) Agglutinating language
Now, you may have been confused, saying, "I don't get it. How come no one
interprets it 'A lunch ate me.'?" This is where the powerful function of particles,
endings, and conjugation comes in. By attaching these little grammatical devices,
you label each words, so that your words come into places without causing
misunderstanding.
dictionary order:
Aspirated ones are with more puff of air than the plain ones. As for tensed ones, you add
more stricture, but without puff of air, when letting out the sound. Tensed ones are
difficult for beginners, and many students take long time to acquire the correct
pronunciation.
ㄱ is similar to g as in god.
ㄲ is similar to k as in sky.
ㅋ is similar to k as in kill.
ㄷ is similar to d as in do.
ㄸ is similar to t as in stop.
ㅌ is similar to t as in two.
ㄹ is similar to tt as in butter (not [t] but a flap like a Spanish [r]), in a syllable initial
position.
ㅂ is similar to b as in bad.
ㅃ is similar to p as in spy.
ㅍ is similar to p as in pool.
ㅅ is similar to s as in astronaut.
ㅆ is similar to s as in suit.
ㅈ is similar to j as in jail.
ㅉ is similar to tz as in pretzel.
ㅊ is similar to ch as in charge.
ㅎ is similar to h as in hat.
2. Vowels (모음) -- Click on the chart and listen to how they sound.
Vowel Chart
Simple Palatalized labiovelarized
ㅏ [a] ㅑ [ya]
ㅐ [ae] ㅒ [yae]
ㅓ [o^] ㅕ [yo^]
ㅔ [e] ㅖ [ye]
ㅗ [o] ㅛ [yo] ㅘ [wa] ㅚ [oe]
ㅙ [wae]
ㅜ [u] ㅠ [yu] ㅝ [wo^] ㅟ [ui]
ㅞ [we]
ㅡ [u^] ㅢ[u^i]
ㅣ [i]
dictionary order:
ㅏ is similar to "Ah".
ㅑ is similar to "yard".
ㅓ is similar to "cut".
ㅗ is similar to "order".
ㅠ is similar to "you".
ㅣ is similar to "easy".
ㅐ is similar to "add".
ㅒ is similar to "yam".
ㅙ is similar to "wagon".
ㅚ is similar to "Koeln".
Traditionally, vowels are classified into three categories, that is yang (bright),
yin (dark), and neutral. This classification is very important, for it will be used
when we learn conjugation of predicates and some phonological aspects of
Korean. The classification also principles the vowel-hamp3ony phenomena that
Korean has as a member of Altaic language family. The cassification is as
follows:
Each character is designed to represent one syllable, the structure of which may
be described as (C)V(C), where C stands for a consonant, and V does a vowel--
(C) means that the consonant in the position is optional.
(C) + V + (CC)
initial consonant vowel final consonant (coda)
Some vowels are placed on the right side of the initial consonant; some are placed
underneath the initial consonant: Vowels ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅣ (and their derivatives, i.e. ㅐ, ㅔ,
ㅒ,ㅖ) are placed on the right; and vowels ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅡ are placed undersneath the initial
consonant. Final consonants are always placed at the bottom.
E.g)
ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅁ = 감 [kam]
ㄱ + ㅜ + ㄱ = 국 [kuk]
ㄲ + ㅜ + ㅇ = 꿍
ㄴ + ㅏ = 나 [na]
ㅎ + ㅘ = 화 [hwa]
ㅇ + ㅐ = 애 [ae]
ㅇ + ㅗ + ㅅ = 옷 [ot]
ㄱ + ㅗ + ㄷ = 곧 [kot]
ㄲ + ㅗ + ㅊ = 꽃 [kkot]
ㅂ + ㅏ + ㅌ = 밭 [pat]
ㅎ + ㅡ + ㄺ = 흙 [hu^(r)k]
ㅇ + ㅓ + ㅄ = 없 [o^p]
ㄸ + ㅓ + ㄼ = 떫 [tto^(r)p]
값 = kap "price"
Final clusters with 'ㄹ+consonant' fomp3ation are pronounced with slight irregularity. As
for ㄺ, ㄻ, ㄼ, ㄾ, ㄿ, the foregoing liquid sound [ㄹ] of the cluster is ignored when
followed by another consonant or nothing. This ㄹ comes alive when the cluster is
followed by another vowel. However, Seoul speakers (and many other regions too) tend
to throw in a touch of liquid sound for the ㄹ even when the cluster is followed by a
consonant or nothing.
In clusters ㄽ and ㅀ, however, [ㄹ] is alive even when followed by another consosnant.
2) Some of the consonants merge into one sound when they are in the syllable-
final position. Orthographically, however, they remain different. Summarized as
follows:
ㄱ, ㅋ [k] 각, 부엌
ㄴ [n] 눈
ㄹ [l] 쌀
ㅁ [m] 봄
ㅇ [ng] 영
3) These merged sounds regain their original values when they are followed by a
zero-initial syllable (i.e. vowel).
2. Rules of Pronunciation
ex)
국이 → [구기] 문이 → [무니]
밥을 → [바블] 옷이 → [오시 ]
잎이 → [이피] 밖에 → [바께]
2) The second part of a double 받침 is carried over by the folowing syllable when
the following syllable starts with a zero-syllable.
ex)
2.2. Nasalization
When a final (non-nasal) consonant is followed by a nasal initial (ㄴ,ㅁ), the non-
nasal consonant absorbs the nasality, keeping its place of articulation.
Remember, 'ㅇ' in the initial position is not a nasal consonant but a zero.
ㄱ, ㅋ → ㅇ
ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅌ, ㅎ → ㄴ / before ㄴ or ㅁ
ㅂ, ㅍ → ㅁ
ex)
2.3. Aspiration
ex)
2.4. Palatalization
ㄷ[t] → ㅈ [ch]
ㅌ[t`] → ㅊ [ch`] / before 이
ex)
2.5. Liquidation
ㄴ → ㄹ /before another ㄹ
ex)
In a language, we find three basic ways of describing facts: description of action, state,
and identity. To describe an action, we use verbs. For example, in English, we say "I eat
lunch," which describes the action ('eating') of the subject ('I'). To describe a state, we use
adjectives. When we say, "I am tall," it describes the state ('being tall') of the subject ('I').
Describing an identity is relating one thing to another, characterizing the property of the
subject. To say "I am a student" is characterizing a property of the subject ('I'), by
identifying the subect as a student. When we talk about facts that happened in the past,
or a something that will happen in the future, the story is not simple. In English, if the
your action of eating had happened in the past, you need to use a different form of the
verb, i.e., "I ate lunch." If you used to be quite tall for your age in the past, but it is not
the case now, you have to say, "I was tall."
For similar reasons, we say, "I was a student." In order to differentiate the mode of
facts, such as tense, we make variation on the predicates--in other words, verbs,
adjectives, and noun phrases, etc. This variation is called "conjugation." Like English,
Korean also uses this conjugation of predicates. Therefore, in a verb predicate, for
example, we see a part that is constant in all kinds of sentences, and the other part that
changes according to the modes of facts. (Think of "push, pushes, pushed, pushing..." in
English. "Push" is the constant, where "-es", "-ed", and "-ing" are alternating.) The
constant part is called the 'stems'. The conjugation in Korean is made by attaching
different suffixes to the stems.
가 요
stem mid-polite suffix
"to go/leave" (present tense)
"가", a lexical verb stem, is attached with a mid-polite suffix "요", making a present-
tense predicate. ("-요" has more stories. We will learn them later.) Subjects can be
omitted in many simple everyday-conversational sentences, as long as they are obvious
by the context. "가요"thus can be used in the sense of "I go," "you go," or sometimes,
"He goes," etc. With an intonation rising at the end ( ), it can be a question, "Do you go
(Are you leaving?)" or "Shall we go?", etc. It can even be taken as an imperative sentence,
"Go (Leave)!"
A stem is a part of a verb predicate, not a whole word. When we list it in dictionaries,
or refer to it as a word--just as when we say "to go" or "to eat" as words--, we add "다" at
the end of a stem. Thus,
Stem + 다 = Base Form
High-polite -세요
When addressing a senior (in terms of age or social ranking), a high-polite stle of speech
is used. "-세요" is a typical suffix of this style. A simple "How are you?" is made as the
following.
안녕하 세요
stem high-polite suffix
"to be well" (present tense)
"안녕하" is a stem, the base form of which is "안녕하다". Apart from the politeness of
the style, "-세요" can be used you use "요", as in "You go (Please leave)" or "Do you go
(Are you leaving)?", "He/She goes", or "Does he/she go", etc. However, you may not
want to use it when the subject is you, the subject. For the added politeness by "-세-" is
for the subject, not the addressee, whereas "-요" is for the addressee, as it is used in the
mid-polite style.
Practice
Using the given words, make different sentences as seen in the key.
1. [verbs] --- 만나다 (to meet), 자다 (to sleep), 사다 (to buy), 타다 (to ride), 파다 (to
dig)
<Key>
<Key>
<Key>
Sample Dialogues
In Lesson 4, -요 and -세요 were introduced. It was, however, not exactly everything that
we should know about them.
Verbs and adjectives that we practiced with for -요 suffix in Lesson 4 have something in
common: they all have the stem ending in vowel ? without any patch'im followed ('가다',
'자다', '싸다', etc.) Those whose stems end otherwise, should take either -아요 or -
어요. The last vowel of the stem decides which of the two to take. Once again, the
vowel harmony principle ('yang with yang; yin with yin') applies:
If the stem has a yang vowel at the last syllable, use -아요;
If the stem has a yin or neutral vowel at the last syllable, use -어요.
(For yang/yin/neutral vowels, see Lesson 2.)
작다 : 작 + -아요 → 작아요
to be small "It's small." or "He/She is small."?
오다 : 오 + -아요 → (오아요) → 와요
to come "Come!" or "I come" or "He/She
comes."
괜찮다[괜찬타] : 괜찮 + -아요 → 괜찮아요 [괜차나요]
to be alright "It's OK."
주다 : 주 + -어요 → (주어요) → 줘요
to give "Give (me, etc.)!" or "I give."
먹다 : 먹 + -어요 → 먹어요
to eat "Eat!" or "I eat." or "He/She eats."
읽다 [익다] : 읽 + -어요 → 읽어요 [일거요]
to read "Read!" or "I read." or "He/She
reads."
(NB) -하다 verbs and adjectives are rather peculiar. For them, -여요 is assumed instead
of -아요. This may sound quite overwhelming, but -하다 words are in fact easier. All
the -하다 stems with no exception appear as -해요.
일하다
→ 일해요
to work
공부하다
→ 공부해요
to study
착하다
→ 착해요
to be nice (person)
Although not so complicated as -아/어요, this suffix also has its own rules:
Similarly,
There are two forms to spell this -이에요: -예요 and -이에요. As far as we are
concerned, just -이에요 suffice.
Practice
1. Using the following words, make sentences with -아/어요 and -(으)세요
conjugation. Please give at least one possible translation for each sentence. Also, mark
each word whether it is a verb (V) or an adjective (A).
<Key>
<Words>
싫다 [실타] 입다
보다
(to be hated) (to wear, put on)
(to see)
작다 사다 비싸다
(to be small) (to buy) (to be expensive)
읽다 괜찮다 편안하다
(to read) (to be OK) (to be comfortable)
차다 많다 [만타] 웃다
(to be cold) (to be many/much) (to laugh)
건강하다 [겅강하다] 공부하다
(to be healthy) (to study)
<Key>
<Nouns>
predicate
subject
이 바지 가 편안해요. These pants are comfortable.
기차 가 와요. The train is coming.
선생님 이 웃으세요. The teacher is laughing.
저것 이 학교이에요. That (over there) is a school.
이것 이 곰이예요. This is a bear.
연습 <practice>
Use the following pairs of words to make sentences in mid-poite style. Don't forget to
use subject markers, and to translate each sentence, as given in the above examples.
subject predicate
1. 이 사람 (this person) 친구 (friend)
2. 장미 (rose) 비싸다 (to be expensive)
3. 물 (water) 차다 (to be cold)
4. 나무 (tree) 좋다 (to be good)
5. 저 사람 (that person) 건강하다 (to be healthy)
6. 돈 (money) 많다 (to be many/much)
7. 아기 (baby) 건강하다
8. 이것 (this [thing]) 모자 (hat; cap)
9. 여기 (here; this place) 학교
10. 바지 작다 (to be small)
11. 공부 (studying) 싫다 (to be dislikable)
12. 차 (car) 오다 (to come)
13. 친구 일하다 (to work)
14. 집 (home) 어디 (where)
15. 저 사람 누구 (who)
16. 책 (book) 싸다 (to be cheap)
17. 미국 (America) 멀다
18. 이 컴퓨터 (this computer) 괜찮다 (to be okay)
19. 동생 (a younger sibling) 자다 (to sleep)
20. 숙제 (homework) 많다
[Not many people are fond of talking about grammar. However, this is the least
bit of the Korean grammar that you should know. We will be as plain as possible
while discussing it.] An object in a sentence is the thing or a person that receives
the action (described by the verb) from the subject. As we know, the subject is
the doer (agent) of the action that the verb describes.
In this sentence, the doer of eating is "friend ('my' is assumed)," and the recipient
of the action ("eating") is "lunch." As you might have noticed already, not every
sentence will have both subject and object. Only those sentences containing
verbs that take objects will. Let us think about English for a moment, in order to
understand this grammatical terminology. In English grammar, the verbs that
take objects are called 'transitive verbs.' For example, "to eat" is a transitive verb,
since there must be something that is eaten (that is, receives the action).
Similarly, you have a group of verbs that are transitive and another that are
intransitive. Such verbs as "love, buy, drink, see, understand, choose, find..." are
transitive. (What these verbs have in common is that you can say "to [verb]
something / someone.") Such verbs as "go, sit, stay, die, come..." are intransitive.
You handle an object in an English sentence simply by placing it AFTER the
verb.
If you switch the positions of the subject and the object, you get a completely
different meaning.
Now, let's go back to Korean. We know that the predicate must be placed at the
of a sentence. Thus, both subject and object should come before the verb
(predicate), and such change of meaning depending on the word order is less
likely to happen. A subject does not necessarily come before the object in a
Korean sentence. What clarifies the meaning, therefore, is the particle, i.e.,
subject/object markers. (Linguists usually call them Case markers.)
사람이 개를 물어요.
-이 and -를 are subject and object markers, respectively. Since the subject and
object are labeled with markers, there is no possibility of confusion, as long as
you keep them together.
개를 사람이 물어요.
The meaning can only change when you switch the markers.
사람을 개가 물어요.
연습 <practice> answer
You are given two nouns and one transitive verb in each line. Combine them into
a sentence, assuming that the first noun is the subject and the second is the
object. Be sure to conjugate the verb with -아요, -어요, -(으)세요, when needed.
Key
3. 학생 (student), 책, 읽다
Q: 누구 세요? A: 순이이에요.
Q: 무엇이에요? A: 사과이에요.
누구 who
무엇 (often > 뭐 ) what
어디 where
These words are pronouns. They need particles to be specified for their functions,
such as subject, object, adverbial, etc. Although we have not discussed it in
detail, let us learn -을 and -를, object markers. -을 is used when there is a final
consonant (patch'im) preceding; whereas 를 is for elsewhere. Note that 어디
(where) is also a noun (pronoun), while "where" in English is not.
sub. obj.
what 무엇이 (= 뭐가 ) 무엇을 (=뭐를)
who 누구가 (>누가) 누구를
where 어디가 어디를
E.g.
<English> <Korean>
in Seoul = 서울 에 (Seoul + in)
We will discuss this in detail later.
Lesson 9: This 'n that, here 'n there 이--, 그--, 저--
When the referent (an object or a person) is close to the speaker, it is referred to as 이--.
When it is closer to the listener than to the speaker, it is referred to as 그--. If it is rather
distant from both parties, it is referred to 저--. The only thing that is different from the
case in English would be that what is referred to with 저-- should be in the sight of the
speaker.
Using 사람 ('person') is not polite enough to refer to an older person. You replace 사람
with 분 in such cases. Then, the predicate will have to change accordingly into high-
polite
(with honorific infix -시-) style.
반말(non-polite style): the style of speech in which you speak to your friends (of your
age) or to people younger than you are.
존댓말 (polite style): the style in which you speak to your superiors or
seniors. Politeness of style can be demarcated into two criteria:
When you talk to someone, that person you are talking to could be older or younger than
you are; when you talk about a person to someone (of course, they can either be different
or identical), that person you are talking about can also be older or younger than you
are. Chon-dae mal concerns the proper handling of both these criteria in speech. In
addition to age, rank in various social relations also dictates proper use of these speech
styles.
This is a simple outline of endings. As we will learn later, there are other grammatical
details that may be needed according to tense, verb/adjective differentiation, etc. There
are also other supplementary devices, such as self-effacing pronoun for the first person
(저 instead of plain 나 for 'I'), lexically honorific words (말씀 instead of 말 for 'speech,
words'), etc. , which will also be discussed later.
Now let us see how we can make variation for same sentences. The following is in
informal style.
Extensive variety in speech style is often the most overwhelming part when a foreigner
begins to learn Korean. It is known to be more complicated than in Japanese. However,
as much as it is hard to foreigners, it is not an easy matter to native speaker. People in
younger generations in Korea also experience difficulty with proper use of speech
style. (In fact, this is somehow related to the shifts that happened in the Korean social
structure. Speech style is a product of layers of social/kinship relationship. Compared to
traditional families where more than three generations lived in one house or
neighborhood, modern 'nuclear' families offer very few opportunities for the children to
practice different speech styles. )
문어체 literally means "written-language style," in which you write formal documents,
articles, papers in classes, and so on. As there are polite and non-polite styles, we have
polite formal style and non-polite formal style. They both have -다 at the end.
Newspaper articles, academic papers, public announcement, and so forth, are written in
these styles. In fact, the non-polite is preferred in most written documents over the polite,
unless the document is by nature a dialogue (i. e. , announcement) aiming at actual
readers.
The non-polite formal, from a native speaker's intuition, gives the impression of self-
addressing, which may explain why it is also used in diaries--something that can be most
informal. The style is also used frequently by a speaker toward others in the same or
younger age, as we saw in the chart above, and therefore we can call it 반말.
Numbers (I)
Two sets of numbers are in use in Korean: native Korean and Chinese-based sets. The
Chinese-based set transmitted to Korea long time ago, probably with Chinese writing
system, to settle in the language. It is also the case in Japanese, and we see certain
phonological similarity among Chinese numbers and Chinese-based sets of Japanese and
Korean numbers.
Japanese Korean
one yi ichi il (일)
two er ni i (이)
three san san sam (삼)
four si shi sa (사)
five wu go o (오)
In fact, the Japanese and Korean sounds of Chinese numbers are quite similar to those in
many modern Chinese dialects, sometimes even more similar than modern Mandarin to
them. The Chinese remnants in Japanese and Korean, along with other Chinese dialects,
reflect old phases of Chinese language.
For the sake of our convenience, let us call these two sets 'Korean numbers' and 'Chinese
numbers.' Here are the two sets of 1 to 10.
There is no semantic difference between the two sets. Both '하나' and '일' means one.
They differ according to when and how they are used. We will discuss this in the next
lesson.
First, let us learn more about the Chinese numbers. Counting more than ten observes the
arithmetic principles. Take "12" and "20" for example. 12 is made of 10 and 2--there are
other ways of making it, but this is what the number stands for--. On the other hand, 20
stands for two tens. Thus, the Chinese number has them:
12 = 10 + 2
십이
20 = 2 x 10
이십
Notice that 'one hundred', 'one thousand', etc. are not '일백', '일천', etc.
168: 백 육십 팔
250: 이백 오십
7,892: 칠천 팔백 구십 이
980,768,543: 구억 팔천 칠십 육만 팔천 오백 사십 삼
Another set of numbers are of native Korean numbers. They are indigenous in
Korean, possibly stemmed through a different route from that of the Chinese-
based set. Although they used to have a complete system of native numbers
that can go up to three digits (or more), they now only use the numbers up to two
digits (99). The formation of numbers is quite similar to that of English numbers
in the sense that you have a set of numbers for single digits (1-10) and another
set for tens (10-90).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Native
하나 둘 셋 넷 다섯 여섯 일곱 여덟 아홉 열
numbers
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Native numbers 열 스물 서른 마흔 쉰 예순 일흔 여든 아흔 백
15 = 10+5 열 다섯
21 = 20+1 스물 하나
87 = 80+7 여든 일곱
Thus, an expression like "다섯 새" is not used in Korean. It may remind you of
such expressions as "two bottles of wine" in English. It is necessary in English to
specify the measure unit when it comes to uncountable nouns, such as 'water,'
'coffee,' etc. In Korean, this is applied to all nouns. Does this mean that they
have different counters for all nouns and that you have to memorize all of
them? Probably. Do not panic, though, for there are a certain number of
counters that are more frequent and common than the others, and you could
strat by learning them and then move on to the rest.
There is yet another issue of when to use Chinese numbers and when to use
native Korean numbers. This will be discussed in the next lesson.
Also, when before counters, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20, change their shape
slightly, for the ease of pronunciation.
- 에 means 'to'.
- 에서 means 'from'.
NB) 넣다 (to put) and 앉다 (to sit) also use - 에 because these verbs are
recognized to be directional.
We may understand that - 에서 still keeps the meaning of 'in' and that it is the
directionality implied by the predicate that produces the sense of 'from'. In the
above example, although Mr. Kim may not be in Korea at the time that the
sentence is spoken, his action of 'coming' must have started in Korea.
-에 - 에서
state in ( at )
x
( 있다 , 없다 , 계시다 ) 집에 있어요
directional to from
x indicates that the respective marker is not used with the predicates.