Korean

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A language of Korea, South

ISO 639-3
kor
Alternate Names
Hanguk Mal, Hanguk Uh
Population

48,400,000 in Korea, South (2010). Population total all countries: 77,155,030.

Location

Widespread.

Language Maps
Language Status

1 (National). De facto national language.

Classification
Koreanic
Dialects

Cheju Island, Chollado (North Chollado, South Chollado), Ch’ungch’ongdo (North Ch’ungch’ong, South Ch’ungch’ong), Kyongsangdo (North Kyongsangdo, South Kyongsangdo), Seoul (Kangwondo, Kyonggido). Scholars differ as to whether or not Korean is related to Japanese [jpn]. Some suggest that both languages are possibly distantly related to the Altaic group. Dialect boundaries generally correspond to provincial boundaries. Some dialects are not easily intelligible with others (Voegelin and Voegelin 1977). The suffix, -do, on dialect names means Province. Comprehension of standard Korean may be lower on Cheju Island.

Typology

SOV.

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 98% (1995). Higher adult illiteracy is reported on Cheju Island. Fully developed. Bible: 1911–1993.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Korean
Writing

Braille script [Brai]. Hangul and Han scripts [Kore], primary usage. Latin script [Latn], used for maps and signs.

Other Comments

Jeju (Cheju) has been identified as a language separate from Cheju Island dialect of Korean, but not yet assigned an ISO code (Moseley 2010). Buddhist, Christian.

Also spoken in:

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