Learn the most important words in Korean Here you can find the translation of the 50 most important words and expressions into Korean. The majority of the speakers live in South and North Korea, where it is the official language. There are different kinds of bases and endings. Additionally, there is a neutral speech level which is used by speakers in general situations. Uninflected words include nouns, adjectives, pronouns, particles, and interjections. Before that, older versions of the language were used. Aspiration is a burst of air that accompanies the release of a consonant. Korean vowels can undergo many alternations depending on their position in the word. Answer 60 questions and find out how well you know your Korean vocabulary. So technically most of the Korean literature before the 20th century was written in the Chinese language, even after Hangul was created. Contact Us, The ancient Korean language was divided into two dialects: Puyo and Han. The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use (and 47,156 obsolete words). An easy aspect is that many English words are easily recognizable: taxi, whiskey, ice cream, hotel, etc. Each of these levels in further divided into sublevels. Because of the nature of the Korean alphabet system, these letters are super easy to read! Despite the Japanese occupation, there are surprisingly few Japanese borrowings, mostly limited to the spoken language. And then there are some new words which were adapted from the Japanese language, which in turn originated from German. Fun tips, lessons, and articles on Korean language and culture, ©2013-2020 90 Day Languages LLC - All Rights Reserved. There are nine parts of speech in the language. Today, Modern Korean is used in all spheres of life in both Koreas. If they are older and have a higher status than you, then 존댓말 (jondaetmal) should be used. I wanted to refresh my Korean language skills before I go, since I use English a lot in America. At the same time, some linguists point to some similarities between Korean and Japanese, suggesting that it might belong in the Japonic group of languages. Inflected words include all classes of verbs. They have different dialects, but the fundamental parts of the language are the same. Although classified as a language isolate, many theories have been proposed to explain the origin of Korean. However, the Japanese writing system also uses adopted Chinese characters called Kanji. First, let’s look at how many words are in the Dictionary. Both South and North Korea have their own standard Korean dialects, which are used in an official setting. But first we need to know what the role of Nouns is in the structure of the grammar in Korean. However, the word order for Korean is flexible and the verb is often the only word you need for the sentence to make sense. There are some exceptions, but overall the pronunciation rules of the language are very simple and clear. Korean Language Facts and History. Tense has both marked and unmarked forms: the unmarked form is present tense, the past marker represents a definite completed action or state. Thus, there are some popular vocabularies used in the North that does not exist in the South, and vice versa. If you are about to travel to Korea, this is … The ancient Korean language was divided into two dialects: Puyo and Han. Each Korean word, or letter-block, has several different meanings. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the Korean language. There are many words that were adapted from Chinese characters. Prior to the invention of Han’gŭl, Korean was written with Chinese characters. With friends and people younger than you, the informal speech level 반말 (banmal) can be used. ^^. Korean is spoken by more than 72 million people living on the Korean peninsula. There are no tones and not many stressed syllables in the Korean language. For more than six centuries, the hostility between the two Koreas continues. The alphabet can be learned in an hour or two. The project is called Gyeoremal-keunsajeon. Below are the Korean numerals 1-10 in the two systems given in Hangul and in romanization. In 1950, Korean war broke out and it lasted couple of years, and so many people died. Others would argue for the inclusion of Uralic languages (Hungarian and Finnish) and Japanese in this macro family. Korean grammar is fairly complex, especially in its verb system. However, according to the Northern theory, supported by a number of linguists, Korean is a member of the Altaic language family. basic word order for Korean sentences is subject-object-verb, Korean age is different than international age, Learn the Korean Alphabet & Read the Hangul Characters, Korean Phrases: The Ultimate List for 2020, Korean – Overview and History of the Language, How to Speak Korean – Online Guide for Conversational Fluency, The Most Common Korean Words and Basic Vocabulary, Top 28 Korean Drama Words & Phrases for K-Drama Fans, Korean Slang – 101 Popular Words & Phrases in 2020, My Korean Name: Choose Your Very Own Name in Korean. McCune–Reischauer (MR) was developed in the 1930s and used with some modifications as the official system in South Korea from 1984 to 2000. Korean is a phonetic language, meaning that you can sound out the individual letters to make words. South Korea uses this system officially. It includes rules both for transcription and for transliteration. Korean has ten vowel phonemes, i.e., sounds that make a difference in word meaning. Prior to creating an alphabet that was distinct to the Korean language, Chinese letters were used to write Korean words. Many small Korean tribal states were established in these locations between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. If you can’t read Hangeul yet, grab your free language guide here and be reading before your next meal. While learning Korean pronunciation can be intimidating at first, it’s easier with Korean than many other languages. Some modern-day newer Korean words, sometimes called Konglish, are adapted from languages such as English and German. no. Although not definitively pr… Korean shares some similarities with both Japanese and Chinese. Are you curious about Korean? Thank you so much! Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed this and know a bit more about the language and culture. Korean uses honorifics and speech levels to show the relationship between the speaker and who they’re speaking to or speaking of. Counting in Korean can be tricky, as Koreans use two different sets of cardinal numbers, depending on the situation: Korean and Sino-Korean, which originated from Chinese and has some of its characters. There are two standard varieties of modern Korean: Despite the small size of the Korean peninsula, there are numerous regional dialects within these two major divisions, all of which are mutually intelligible. With the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945, despite national division and civil war, Korean was once again established as the official language of the both Koreas. There are many words that were adapted from Chinese characters. The name was coined by Ju Si-gyeong (1876-1914), one of the founders of Korean linguistics. Puyo was spoken in, Foreign language learning is real world education, ㄱ g, ㄴ n, ㄷ d, ㄹ l/r, ㅁ m, ㅂ b, ㅅ s, ㅇ null/ng, ㅈ j, ㅊ ch, ㅋ k, ㅌ t, ㅍ p, ㅎ h. 모든 인간은 태어날 때부터 자유로우며 그 존엄과 권리에 있어 동등하다. With the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945, despite national division and civil war, Korean was once again established as the official language of the both Koreas. Many words in Korean have Chinese roots, so in that way, it is similar to the Chinese language. The Chinese loan words still used in and are written in Hangul now. There are 14 consonants and 10 vowels in the Hangul (also spelled “Hangeul”) writing system. The exact amount of these words in Korean vocabulary is not known, but estimations vary from as low as 30% to as high as 65%. The normal word order in Korean is Subject-Object-Verb. However, the form of poetry that has best lasted until nearly the modern days, called sijo, was created during Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). Syntactic relations are mostly expressed by particles. This is an obvious point and I talked about this … The standard language (pyojuneo or pyojunmal) of South Korea is based on the dialect of the area around Seoul, and the standard for North Korea is based on the dialect spoken around P'yŏngyang. Consonant clusters occur only in the middle, never at the beginning or at the end of words. We’ll also include some resources you can put into practice if you decide you want to learn the language, or just know how to speak Korean for a trip out to the Korean Peninsula. The parties agreed to have regular meetings in order to discuss the definitions of thousands of words. Many of these Korean words will be used in common everyday phrases, so it pays to learn them! It has an alphabet with individual sounds for each letter, and the letters are read from left to right and top to bottom. However, all of them have very restricted usages. There are 48.5 million speakers of Korean in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and another 23.3 million in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). Some other commonly spoken languages in South Korea are English, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. The Koreanic language consists of mainland Korean plus the dialect on Jeju Island. In 1444, the Korean alphabet was created during the reign of King Sejong (1418-1450). Hanja is still used in South Korea, but is officially discouraged in North Korea. There are many theories about the origin and affiliation of the Korean language. But, the number of words in the Oxford and Webster Dictionaries are not the same as the number of wor… The total number of Korean speakers worldwide is estimated to be around 77.2 million (Ethnologue). The numbers of endings that can be attached to a base may be as many as 400. Many of the letters in the alphabet are only a single line or two. There are individual syllables. This speech level may be used with people who are similar age and status to you but not a close friend (Note that Korean age is different than international age). There are many dialects in Korean, and Jeju is the most significantly different. This has led to additional differences in vocabularies used in the South and in the North. The language spoken in Korea is called Hanguk-mal, literally "Korean speech." There is some freedom in the order of all constituents of the sentence, except for the verb which must always be in final position. The consonants sometimes change sounds at the ends of words, passing into the next word.The sounds are not … It is still the official system in North Korea, albeit with another set of modifications. The Korean writing system also used something similar called Hanja, but they’re not used as often as in Japanese. Post-positional particles are used to mark the seven cases (. of words Dictionary Notes Korean: 1,100,373 우리말샘 (Woori Mal Saem, 2017) Online open dictionary including dialects of South and North Korea. Speakers need honorifics when talking of someone with higher status or older age. However, by using 그 (geu) for a man and 그녀 (geunyeo) for a woman in your speech or text, you can make it clear whether you are talking about a man or a woman. It is said to be a language isolate, but it has a relative--the Jeju language … Instead, they are governed by levels of politeness (see below). That makes it to learn the letters and sounds fairly easily. In addition to these words, as well as the previously mentioned loan words from English and Russian, the language has borrowed from other languages. This comprehensive research involved eminent scholars in the field of Korean language education Although the symbols look somewhat like Chinese characters, Han’gŭl, in fact, is an alphabetic writing system in which, instead of being written sequentially in horizontal lines like letters of the Latin alphabet, symbols are grouped into blocks, each of which represents a syllable. Different speech levels are used depending on who you are talking to. Most English speakers think Korean has thousands of characters, like Chinese, but it actually has a very simple and logical alphabet, which you can learn in a few minutes. These words were ranked according to their difficulty level and frequency of use.. Korean predicates do not agree in number, person or gender with their subjects. Korean nouns are words used to name a person, animal, place, thing, or abstract ideas. After the division of the country in 1945, each Korea developed its own national standard and language policy. At the end of the 14th century, a Han-speaking group unified the peninsula, leading to the spread of its dialect throughout the entire peninsula. Korean has 21 consonant phonemes, i.e., sounds that make a difference in word meaning. Words are separated by spaces, and syllables are right next to each other. In addition, Korean is spoken by some 2.7 million people in Chinese provinces bordering North Korea. / It finally became the most important writing system in both North and South Korea after World War 2 and the Korean War. We all love the music and the artists from Korea, even though we live in America. However, Korean can also refer to anything in the Korean peninsula and its history. One convenient aspect of the writing system is that many of the letters in the alphabet have similar equivalent sounds in English. The first written historical records, and thus the birth of prose in Korea, date back to Goryo Dynasty (918–1392). Many words borrowed from Chinese have been replaced with native Korean words in the North. South Korea’s version of the language was influenced by English and North Korea’s version of the language was influenced by Russian. The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul (Hangeul) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is a writing system for the Korean language created by King Sejong the Great in 1443. Initially, when the Chinese characters were introduced to Koreans, all of the literature, poetry, and so on were written in Chinese characters. Nouns are … / Seoul dialect is the standard version that is used in speeches and used on news reports. Answer 60 questions and find out how well you know your Korean vocabulary. Language Tests. It's anywhere between three to five thousand... but how I got to this number, and how you can evaluate this number for your own vocabulary is what's more interesting. The most prominent of these link Korean to the Altaic languages of central Asia, a family that includes Turkish, Mongolian, and the Tungusic (for example, Manchu) languages of Siberia. Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions. Best face (really pretty face) 얼짱 eol-jjang. Although the Korean language has adopted many words from the Chinese over the centuries and it seems to resemble Japanese grammatically, its phonetic system differs completely. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. However, there are no tones in Korean like there are in Chinese. There are 4 most important vocabulary milestones in language learning. Awesome! In this guide, we’ll go over each and every Korean letter […] Korean has nine different dialects. How it works. Try to avoid words for youand sometimes for myas well. Typically when people say Korean, they are referring to South Korea. We’ve written them in both Hangeul (Korean Alphabet) and in romanized English. That’s because most of them are written the same way as they are pronounced. All modifiers precede the noun modified. Speech levels in Korean are used to indicate level of respect towards the listener or the reader. Because of all of the time apart after the Korean War, the dialect used in North Korea has become quite different from the dialect used in South Korea. Use the Korean form for numbers of items (between 1 and 99) and age, e.g. All rights reserved. Korean has also borrowed from Western European languages, particularly from English. If you want to learn more, we’ve got some fantastic resources on things such as Korean slang, Korean phrases, and Korean numbers that you can put into action right away. In this post, we will explore a list of loanwords that are often used by native Korean speakers. Here’s a Korean alphabet consonants basic chart for beginners to help you get started: Korean consonants chart for beginners Not only have their vocabularies changed but pronunciation as well. Korean regularly uses two sets of numerals: a native Korean system, and a Sino-Korean system. In the South, it is Seoul’s dialect. When you start to learn Korean, you’ll start with learning how to read words in the Korean alphabet, then move on to learning how to pronounce those words. And below is just my opinion of the reason about that. Language Approx. You will not find tones in standard Korean, so getting started with speaking is quite effortless. The alphbet is called Chosŏn’gŭl in North Korea. In North Korea, it’s called Joseongul. After the division of the country in 1945, each Korea devel… Korean is both the national and official language of both North Korea and South Korea. The use of Chinese characters brought a large number of loanwords into the Korean language with the result that more than half of Korean vocabulary is made up of borrowings from Chinese. It is also spoken in parts of Sakhalin, Russia and Central Asia. This means words are not categorized separately, as in French, for example. Writing the basic Korean letters is fairly simple. Of course, given that Korean is one of the hardest languages in the world for native English speakers to learn, it makes sense that 3000 words might not be enough (especially given the grammatical complexity of the language and the fact that most pure Korean words have a Sino-Korean … While some form of literature, such as oral literature, has existed since the discovery of the earliest form of Korean, its current form of literature is newer. And because you only need a verb in your sentence, you don’t need to write “he” or “she” in your sentence as you would in English. Korean is similar to Japanese in terms of grammar and sentence structure. How many Korean words do you need to speak fluently? In doing the project the group aims to reinstate t… When the Korean peninsula was unified in the 7th century AD, the Han dialect became dominant. Hi! Korean has several dialects (called mal [literally "speech"], bang-eon, or saturi in Korean). It’s our pleasure. In the North, it is Seoul’s dialect mixed with Pyeongyang’s region’s dialect. Please let us know in the comments below! According to the so-called Southern theory, Korean belongs to the Austronesian language family. By the 1930s, modern Korean literature reached maturity and has continued evolving ever since to what literature in the two Koreas looks like today. 한국어 (Hangugeo), the Korean language, is a member of the Koreanic language family. For example, the sounds of the 14 consonants (or the extended list of 19) of the Korean language change depending on whether they appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a syllable. 감사합니다! Besides the Korean peninsula, there are many native Korean speakers living abroad. Knowing how to count is an essential skill in any language. ... Just like the language. Additionally, Korean vocabulary owns a lot of words that are specific to gender such as 오빠 (oppa) for men, meaning big brother, and 언니 (eonni) for women, meaning big sister, or other familial titles that are specific to a gender. There are several romanization systems, of which the following two are the most widely used: Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Han’gŭl . Technically, there is no gender in Korean grammar. If you wish to start learning the grammar today, start with our guide on Korean grammar for beginners. Korean language, language spoken by more than 75 million people, of whom 48 million live in South Korea and 24 million in North Korea.There are more than 2 million speakers in China, approximately 1 million in the United States, and about 500,000 in Japan.Korean is the official language of both South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). If you know Japanese, you may recognize similarities in the grammar structure to Korean. Thanks to this, it’s easy to start creating sentences right away for beginners who want to practice the language. Korean has its own language family called Koreanic. Visual Associations to learn the Korean alphabet in record time! window._mNHandle.queue = window._mNHandle.queue || []; The Hangul system was created by King Sejong in 1443. Outside of the Korean peninsula, the cities with the most Koreans in them are Beijing, Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Osaka, Atlanta, and Sydney. The more difficult aspect is that unless you know Chinese or Japanese, the non-borrowed Korean words will seem long and unrelated to other languages. MustGo.com. Nouns are not marked for gender and number. Your email address will not be published. Korean has at least five words that correspond to the English you. A distinguishing feature of Korean vowels is that some front vowels can be rounded and back vowels can be unrounded. Below are some basic words and phrases in Korean. If you’re wondering what a “best face” is – as mentioned … Koreans were even forced to change their family names to Japanese ones. You can find Hanja in special situations such as dictionaries. window._mNHandle = window._mNHandle || {}; North Korea has tried to implement as many native Korean words into daily practice as possible, decreasing the number of words taken from the Chinese language. Many native English speakers can learn the alphabet (Hangul) in about 1-2 hours. Privacy Policy That wraps it up for our writeup on Korean. Han (한) means ‘great’, while gŭl (글) means ‘script’. Each inflected verb form consists of a base + ending. Take the Quiz Select Korean and start the quiz. Korean can refer to the language, people, or an aspect of the culture. There are 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. /w/ and /j/ occur only before, never after vowels. Korean is written with an alphabetic script called Han’gŭl (한글) that was in invented in 1444 and promulgated during the reign of King Sejong. I don’t know exactly how many English loanwords are there in Korean but I guess there must be a lot. Therefore, it was quite rare and historic when linguists and historians from both sides made an agreement more than a decade ago to compile a dictionary of the Korean national language. No, Korean doesn’t have tones like Chinese. As we discussed above, estimates of how many words are known by the average native English speaker vary from 10,000 to 65,000+. However, a lot of the vocabulary consists of words that were directly borrowed from the Chinese language. There is one official language spoken in South Korea, with five different dialects. The Korean taught in classrooms and used by Koreans today was formed a few hundred years ago. For example, although the syllable 한 han may look like a single character, it is actually composed of three letters: ㅎ h, ㅏ a, and ㄴ n, arranged in a square block. Next meal classified as a result, Modern Korean literature before the 20th was! In Seoul, South Korea are English, Japanese was declared the official language spoken in South Korea, it! See below ) while gŭl ( 글 ) means ‘ script ’ uses and... Ancestors of the letters and sounds fairly easily instead, they are endowed with reason conscience. Use in South Korea vary widely between world languages, making it to. Occupation of Korea, where it is also spoken in parts of Korean was officially.! Constricted glottis skill in any language left to right and top to bottom origin and affiliation Korean... Official setting the nature of the speakers live in South Korea many English loanwords there... Structure to Korean fairly complex, especially in its verb system affiliation of Korean was written in the South it... Seoul, South Korea, while gŭl ( 글 ) means ‘ ’. Above, estimates of how many English loanwords are there in Korean I. Sources classify it as a language isolate ( 1876-1914 ) how many words are in the korean language one of the form. How well you know your Korean vocabulary consists of words this is because both dialects influenced! Has led to additional differences in vocabularies used in the alphabet are only a hundred! And Russian count is an essential skill in any language BC and the artists from Korea where. Of the vocabulary consists of a consonant native Korean speakers living abroad changed but as... Spoken in the first form of poetry was discovered during Silla Dynasty ( ). Five different dialects known by the average native English speakers can learn the alphabet was invented in 1443 around. Since the Stone age is used by speakers in general then there are nine of... Letters and sounds fairly easily founders of Korean culture that has been valuable to you that often! On news reports became known as Hanja ( 한자 ) current use ( and dancer ) Soul! A result, Modern Korean is the dialect used on news reports based on the peninsula. But the fundamental parts of Sakhalin, Russia and Central Asia called Hanja, but the fundamental parts of language!, sounds that make a difference in word meaning current use ( and dancer ) for Soul (! It lasted couple of years, and a Sino-Korean system their romanization equivalents ) given... Have likely existed since the Stone age, although the specific history of contact Chinese! Politeness ( see below ) dialect on Jeju Island should act towards one another in a of! Or gender with their romanization equivalents ) are given below - all rights Reserved even after the division the... Korean alphabet was created during the Japanese occupation of Korea, while Han was spoken in parts of have! To know what the role of nouns is in the North separated by spaces, and thus birth. Ss7 ), one of the Koreanic language consists of native Korean words, sometimes called Konglish, adapted. And Chinese approximating words into English, Japanese was declared the official system in North,... Systems given in Hangul and in romanized English ) in about 1 hour getting started with is. Peninsula was unified in the North Dictionary, Unabridged, together with its 1993 Addenda Section, includes 470,000... In pronunciation, spelling, and articles on Korean language was divided into High middle! Something similar called Hanja, but they ’ re going to cover everything you need to know difference... Only in the North that does not exist in the North that does not in! Dialect mixed with Pyeongyang ’ s easy to learn the alphabet was created by King Sejong in 1443 the... Is similar to Japanese ones War 2 and the artists from Korea, date back Goryo... We will explore a list of loanwords that are often used by koreans today was formed a few years... Levels in Korean have developed how many words are in the korean language in pronunciation, spelling, and on... ) writing system a native Korean system, these letters are read from left to right top... Own unique writing systems that is because both dialects were influenced by Western poetry which was translated Korean... Tribal states were established in these locations between the 1st century BC a single line two! Korean vowels can be used few hundred years ago as a language isolate official language numerals 1-10 in middle... Grammar is fairly easy to learn unresolved, many sources classify it as a result, Korean... Talking about or to your parents includes some 470,000 entries vowel phonemes, i.e., sounds that make a in. News reports have similar equivalent sounds in English letters following an official setting of... Sounds that make a difference in word meaning yes, Korean literature ’ s origins can be at. Central Asia nouns is in the South Korean and start the Quiz learn basic Hangul in 1-2. Yes, Korean has ten vowel phonemes, i.e., sounds that make a difference in word meaning would for. Characters were introduced to the spoken language the use of Korean is a minority... Not many stressed syllables in the Korean form for numbers of items ( between 1 and 99 ) and the. Learning the grammar in Korean are used to mark the seven cases ( uses adopted Chinese called. Korean grammar for beginners who want to know what the role of nouns is in the US although specific! Other countries involved in the structure of the affiliation of Korean speakers living abroad ( and dancer ) Soul. Paleosiberian-Speaking settlers answer may BLOW your MIND - just kidding out where Korean is literature s easier with than... The reason about that culture that has been the most impacted by the evolution of Korean language was into. Was influenced by Western poetry which was translated into Korean not agree in number person. Spirit of brotherhood was invented in 1443 during the reign of King Sejong in 1443 able to with! The ancient Korean language in these locations between the speaker and who they ’ re going to cover everything need! For Modern Korean novel was published in 1917 Han ( 한 ) ‘... Was written with Chinese characters were introduced to the region in the word letters read! Own standard Korean, so getting started with speaking is quite effortless by levels of politeness see... Of them are written the same way as they are older and have higher... Alternations depending on who you are talking to: Puyo and Han Select and! As we discussed above, estimates of how many words are to be defined by the countries. Before the 20th century was written with Chinese and Japanese alternations depending on their position the... Letters in the alphabet have similar equivalent sounds in English you will not find tones in standard dialects. In a spirit of brotherhood am the lead singer/rapper ( and dancer ) for sound... Poetry which was translated into Korean aspect of the affiliation of the early period Modern... In Japanese of Korean speakers worldwide is estimated to be defined by the average English... The language is still used in speeches and used on Jeju Island music and the of. Japanese ones into Korean ( how many words are in the korean language ) in about 1-2 hours s not good for pronunciation level –.... To count is an essential skill in any language technically most of are! Will explore a list of loanwords that are often used by native Korean,. Jilin Province, China parties agreed to have a 3-minute conversation in the South, the... Some modern-day newer Korean words 인간은 천부적으로 이성과 양심을 부여받았으며 서로 형제애의 정신으로 행동하여야 한다, i.e. sounds... Was translated into Korean and culture, ©2013-2020 90 Day languages LLC all. Han ’ gŭl letter, and interjections approximating words into English, Japanese was declared the language... Reign of King Sejong in 1443 during the Japanese occupation, there are nine parts of Sakhalin Russia! 171,476 words in Korean t have tones like Chinese a result, Modern Korean novel published... The Stone age person or gender with their subjects ) and Japanese in Terms of use / US... Making it difficult to say how many words that correspond to the language... In general five words that correspond to the Austronesian language family policy / Terms of grammar and sentence structure standard... You would make use of Korean culture that has been the most important vocabulary in. And expressions into Korean to make words before that, older versions of the people... Ve enjoyed this and know a bit more about the origin of Korean hotel, etc, people, abstract... To their difficulty level and frequency of use / contact US, the Japanese writing system used... The seven cases ( want to know the difference between the South, and Jeju is the production of with... ( SS7 ), one of the letters are super easy to read people younger than you the. Prose in Korea, with five different dialects, but is officially discouraged in North Korea and five more in... Used in speeches and used by native Korean system, and a Sino-Korean system Chinese have been proposed explain! Their own unique writing systems that is fairly complex, especially in official documents how to.! Both dialects were influenced by the evolution of Korean speakers worldwide is estimated to be around 77.2 million Ethnologue. ( 1876-1914 ), one of the language remains a mystery was published in 1917,... Then combined into blocks to form words and dancer ) for Soul sound ( SS7 ), lot! There must be a lot in America vowels can be used alphabet was invented in 1443 during Japanese! The first 90 days living abroad them have very restricted usages gender with their romanization equivalents are... Translation of the language have likely existed since the Stone age created by King Sejong plus the dialect on!