Languages of Korea, South

[kor] 42,000,000 in Korea, South (1986). Population total all countries: 66,305,890. Also in American Samoa, Australia, Bahrain, Belize, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Japan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Mauritania, Mongolia, Mozambique, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Islands, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Russian Federation (Asia), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Suriname, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan. Alternate names: Hanguk Mal, Hanguohua.  Dialects: Seoul (Kangwondo, Kyonggido), Ch’ungch’ongdo (North Ch’ungch’ong, South Ch’ungch’ong), Kyongsangdo (North Kyongsangdo, South Kyongsangdo), Chollado (North Chollado, South Chollado), Cheju Island. Scholars differ as to whether or not Korean is related to Japanese. 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.  Classification: Language isolate 
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[kvk]   Dialects: Related to Japanese and Taiwanese sign languages.  Classification: Deaf sign language 
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