Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1) SOV language
Korean is classified as an SOV language, which stands for <Subject-Object-Verb> word order. English on
the other hand is an SVO language. A subject is the one who acts. An object is the one who receives the
subjects action. For example:
<English> Bob loves Jenny.
Who loves Jenny? Bob does. Who is loved by Bob? Jenny is. In Korean this sentence will be in the the
word order:
<Korean> Bob Jenny loves.
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:
<Korean> Lunch, I ate.
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.
Hangul
1. Consonants ()
Consonant chart
Plain
Aspirated
tensed
[k]
[k']
[kk]
[t']
[tt]
[p']
[pp]
[n]
[t]
[ r / l ]
[m]
[p]
[s]
[ss]
[zero / ng ]
[ch]
[ch']
[cc]
[h]
dictionary order:
is similar to g as in god.
is similar to k as in sky.
is similar to k as in kill.
is similar to d as in do.
is similar to t as in stop.
is similar to t as in two.
is similar to tt as in butter (not [t] but a flap like a Spanish [r]), in a syllable initial position.
is similar to l as in filling, in a syllable final () position.
is similar to b as in bad.
is similar to p as in spy.
is similar to p as in pool.
is similar to s as in astronaut.
is similar to s as in suit.
is similar to j as in jail.
is similar to tz as in pretzel.
is similar to ch as in charge.
is similar to h as in hat.
2. Vowels ()
Vowel Chart
Simple
Palatalized
[a]
[ya]
[ae]
[yae]
[o^]
[yo^]
[e]
[ye]
labiovelarized
[o]
[yo]
[wa]
[oe]
[wae]
[u]
[yu]
[wo^]
[ui]
[we]
[u^]
[u^i]
[i]
dictionary order:
(, ), , (, ), , (, , ), , (, , ), , (),
is similar to "Ah".
is similar to "yard".
is similar to "cut".
is similar to "just" or "Eliot".
is similar to "order".
is similar to " Yoda".
is similar to " Ungaro".
is similar to "you".
is similar to "good" or "le chatau".
is similar to "easy".
is similar to "add".
is similar to "yam".
--
and series
(, , , , )
yin (dark)
--
and series
(, , , , )
neutral
--
and
V
vowel
(CC)
final consonant (coda)
Some vowels are placed on the right side of the initial consonant; some are placed underneath the
initial consonant: Vowels , , (and their derivatives, i.e. , , ,) are placed on the
right; and vowels , , are placed undersneath the initial consonant. Final consonants are
always placed at the bottom.
E.g)
[kam]
[kuk]
[na]
[hwa]
[ae]
[ot]
[kot]
[kkot]
[pat]
[hu^(r)k]
[o^p]
[tto^(r)p]
, , , , , , , , ,
Except for , , , , , , (ones with placed befre another consonant), when followed by
another consonant or nothing, the second consonant of the cluster becomes silent. This second
consonant will come alive when there is a vowel after it.
= kap "price"
+ = kap kwa "price and"
+ = kapsi "price (with a subject particle)"
Final clusters with '+consonant' fomp3ation are pronounced with slight irregularity. As for ,
, , , , the foregoing liquid sound [] of the cluster is ignored when followed by another
consonant or nothing. This 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 even when the cluster is followed by a consonant or nothing.
+ = sal mi
sound
examples
[k]
[n]
, , , , ,
[t]
, , , , , all pronounced as [ ]
[l]
[m]
[p]
, both pronounced as []
[ng]
3) These merged sounds regain their original values when they are followed by a zero-initial syllable (i.e.
vowel).
(topic/subject marker)
[ kagi]
(place marker)
[ puo^k`e]
(temporal marker)
[ naje]
(place marker)
[ nach`e]
(top./sub. marker)
[ ibi]
(top./sub. maeker)
[ ip`i]
2. Rules of Pronunciation
[]
[]
[]
[ ]
[]
[]
2) The second part of a double 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 (,), the non-nasal consonant absorbs
the nasality, keeping its place of articulation. Remember, '' in the initial position is not a nasal consonant
but a zero.
,
, , , , ,
/ before or
ex)
[]
[]
[]
2.3. Aspiration
When
/ before or after
ex)
[]
[]
[]
[]
2.4. Palatalization
When or is followed by [i], a paplatalization occurs.
ex)
[t]
[ch]
[t`]
[ch`]
/ before
[]
[]
[]
2.5. Liquidation
/before another
ex)
[]
[]
stem
"to go/leave"
mid-polite suffix
(present tense)
"", a lexical verb stem, is attached with a mid-polite suffix "", making a present-tense
predicate. ("-" 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.
""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 "" at the end of a
stem. Thus,
Stem + = Base Form
+ = (Base Form, "to go")
High-polite -
When addressing a senior (in terms of age or social ranking), a high-polite style of speech is
used. "-" is a typical suffix of this style. A simple "How are you?" is made as the following.
stem
"to be well"
high-polite suffix
(present tense)
"" is a stem, the base form of which is "". Apart from the politeness of the
style, "-" can be used you use "", 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 "--" is for the subject, not the
addressee, whereas "-" 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] --- (to meet), (to sleep), (to buy), (to ride), (to dig)
<Key>
(to
?
go):
!
Please go!
It's cheap.
Is it cheap?
<Key>
? Do you do (it)?
! Do (it)!
verb like "to be," which can be used both in nominal predicates and adjectival predicates. ("I am
a student" and "I am tall".) In order to relate two nouns (i.e., the subject and the nominal
complement), such languages use so-called 'copula'. In Korean, that copula is "-". "-"
is of course the base form, which still has to be conjugated to be used in actual sentences.
Hence, "" ("to be a student"); "" ("to be clouds").
True stories of the present-tense suffix - and -
In Lesson 4, - and - were introduced. It was, however, not exactly everything that we
should know about them.
1) Mid-polite suffix -/
Verbs and adjectives that we practiced with for - suffix in Lesson 4 have something in
common: they all have the stem ending in vowel ? without any patch'im followed ('', '',
'', etc.) Those whose stems end otherwise, should take either - or -. 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:
to be small
: + -
to come
: + -
[]
to be alright
: + -
to give
: + -
to eat
: + -
"It's small." or "He/She is small."?
()
"Come!" or "I come" or "He/She
comes."
[]
"It's OK."
()
"Give (me, etc.)!" or "I give."
"Eat!" or "I eat." or "He/She eats."
[]
to read
: + -
[]
"Read!" or "I read." or "He/She
reads."
to work
to study
to be nice (person)
to laugh
[]
""
Practice
1. Using the following words, make sentences with -/ and -() 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>
"It is good."
"Is it good?"
"He/She is good."
"I work."
"He/she works."
<Words>
[]
(to be hated)
(to be small)
(to buy)
(to be expensive)
(to read)
(to be OK)
(to be comfortable)
(to be cold)
[]
(to be many/much)
(to laugh)
[]
(to be healthy)
(to study)
(to see)
A-?
B- , .
Is that a duck?
Yes, it is a duck.
a duck
<Nouns>
(tree);
(baby)
(hat)
(pants)
(butterfly)
(car)
(banana)
(star)
(bear)
As mentioned in Lesson 1, Korean is an agglutinating language. It means that Korean uses little
grammatical devices attached to words to specify their roles in a sentence. English is not an
agglutinating language, employing rather a fixed word order and prepositions in order to specify
the role of each part.
A subject of a sentence is the agent (doer) of the action described by the sentence. Assuming
that a state of being can also be treated as an action, a subject can take any kind of predicate, i.e.,
a verbal, an adjectival, or a nominal predicate. Think of "S goes," "S is bad," and "S is a man."
In each case, S is the subject. To mark this subject, Korean attaches either or to it. - is
used when the subject word ends without a final consonant (patch'im), whereas - is for those
ending without a final consonant.
Only nouns can be subjects in Korean, such is the case in English. In other words, when you see
a part of a sentence attached with - or -, you will know that it must be a noun. However,
you might hear sometimes people say sentences without using subject markers -/ for
subjects. It is because the sentences were simple and a conversational reality is presumed. For
these sentences, subject markers can be replaced by a short pause. In sentences the structure of
which is complex, or in written forms, the markers should be specified.
subject
This is a bear.
<practice>
Use the following pairs of words to make sentences in mid-polite style. Don't forget to use
subject markers, and to translate each sentence, as given in the above examples.
subject
predicate
1.
(this person)
(friend)
2.
(rose)
(to be expensive)
3.
(water)
(to be cold)
4.
(tree)
(to be good)
5.
(that person)
(to be healthy)
6.
(money)
(to be many/much)
7.
(baby)
8.
(this [thing])
(hat; cap)
9.
10.
(to be small)
11.
(studying)
(to be dislikable)
12.
(car)
(to come)
13.
(to work)
14.
(home)
(where)
15.
(who)
16.
(book)
(to be cheap)
17.
18.
(this computer)
(to be okay)
19.
(a younger sibling)
(to sleep)
20.
(homework)
(America)
This is a friend.
2. .
3. .
4. .
5. .
6. .
7. .
8. .
This is a hat.
9. .
10. .
11. .
12. (<+).
13. .
14. ?
15. ?
16. (<+).
17. (Madison) .
18. .
19. (<+).
20. .
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.
A dog
bites
a person.
subject
verb predicate
object
If you switch the positions of the subject and the object, you get a completely different meaning.
A person
bites
a dog.
subject
verb predicate
object
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.)
The meaning can only change when you switch the markers.
<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 -, , -(), when needed.
Key
,
(friend)
(television)
(watch, see)
Q: ?
A: .
Who is it?
It's Sun-i.
Q:
A: .
I meet sun-i.
Q: ?
A: .
What is it?
It is an apple.
Q: ?
A: .
I like apples.
Q: ?
A: .
Where is it?
It is in Seoul.
Q: ?
A: .
I go to Seoul.
who
(often > )
what
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 - and -, object markers.
- is used when there is a final consonant (patch'im) preceding; whereas is for elsewhere. Note that
(where) is also a noun (pronoun), while "where" in English is not.
what
sub.
obj.
(= )
(=)
who
(>)
where
E.g.
?
What is difficult?
Who is coming?
Where do I hit?
For similar reasons, - is needed after in the above dialogues. - is a marker that functions like
the preposition ('in' or 'to') in English, though they are placed after the noun they work with.
<English>
in Seoul
<Korean>
=
(Seoul + in)
+thing
+person
+place
this
that
Q-word
(what)
(who)
(where)
When the referent (an object or a person) is close to the speaker, it is referred to as --. When it
is closer to the listener than to the speaker, it is referred to as --. If it is rather distant from both
parties, it is referred to --. The only thing that is different from the case in English would be
that what is referred to with -- should be in the sight of the speaker.
?
Using ('person') is not polite enough to refer to an older person. You replace
with in such cases. Then, the predicate will have to change accordingly into high-polite
(with honorific infix --) style.
?
TO
ABOUT
formal ending
informal ending
-/
-/
-()
-()
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 ( instead of plain
for 'I'), lexically honorific words ( instead of 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.
(Talking to my friend) The teacher is coming to our house.
.
(Talking to my mother) The teacher is coming to our house.
.
(Talking to my younger sister) My friend is coming to our house.
.
(Talking to my mother) My friend is coming to our house.
.
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 neighbourhood, modern 'nuclear' families offer very few
opportunities for the children to practice different speech styles. )
2. or written style
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 - at the end.
polite formal ending -- -/
non-polite formal ending -- -/ (present-tense verb) or - (elsewhere)
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 .
Korean
one
yi
ichi
il ()
two
er
ni
i ()
three
san
san
sam ()
four
si
shi
sa ()
five
wu
go
o ()
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.
Korean numbers
Chinese numbers
10
There is no semantic difference between the two sets. Both '' and '' 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
20 = 2 x 10
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
tens
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
hundreds 100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
thousands 1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10 thou. 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000
100 thou. 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000
millions 1 mil.
2 mil.
10 mil.
100 mil.
100
mil.
200
mil.
300
mil.
400
mil.
500
mil.
600
mil.
700
mil.
800
mil.
900
mil.
3 mil.
4 mil.
5 mil.
6 mil.
7 mil.
Notice that 'one hundred', 'one thousand', etc. are not '', '', etc.
Now, let us see how these work.
168:
250:
7,892:
980,768,543:
Some examples in the usage of Chinese numbers.
Money: (12,000 won), (3,500 dollar)
Phone number: 238-7834 ( )
8 mil.
9 mil.
Korean
one
yi
ichi
il ()
two
er
ni
i ()
three
san
san
sam ()
four
si
shi
sa ()
five
wu
go
o ()
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.
Korean numbers
Chinese numbers
10
There is no semantic difference between the two sets. Both '' and '' 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
20 = 2 x 10
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
tens
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
hundreds 100
thousands 1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10 thou. 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000
100 thou. 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000
millions 1 mil.
2 mil.
10 mil.
100 mil.
100
mil.
200
mil.
300
mil.
400
mil.
500
mil.
600
mil.
700
mil.
800
mil.
900
mil.
3 mil.
4 mil.
5 mil.
6 mil.
7 mil.
Notice that 'one hundred', 'one thousand', etc. are not '', '', etc.
Now, let us see how these work.
168:
250:
7,892:
980,768,543:
Some examples in the usage of Chinese numbers.
Money: (12,000 won), (3,500 dollar)
Phone number: 238-7834 ( )
Room/APT Number: Room 305 ( )
8 mil.
9 mil.
-
state
in ( at )
( , , )
directional
to
from
( , , )
action
in ( at )
x
( , , , etc.)
x indicates that the respective marker is not used with the predicates.
<Answers>
1. [In which school do you study?]
---- "To study" is an action.
2. or [Where do you live?]
---- "To live" can be understood either as action or as state. This is an unusual case due to the
two different, but subtle, modes of "living." Combined with , it sounds to be asking the
place where the action of living--eat, sleep, go to work, pay bills, etc.--takes place, whereas with
, simply asking the place of residence.
3. [My girl friend is at the library.]
---- "Being" is a state.
4. [I am going to the library now.]
---- "To go" is directional.
5. [A friend is coming from Japan.]
---- gives the origin of "coming".
6. [I am watching a movie at a theater tomorrow.]
---- "Watching a movie", though it may not be very 'active', is an action.
7. [Where is the theater?]
---- Again, "being" is a state.
8. [My older brother is reading a book in the room.]
---- "Reading" is an action.
9. [The teacher is not in the class room.]
---- " ", same as " ", is a state.