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Languages > Korean
Most Popular Korean Language Product Types
Baby - Kindergarten
WHERE'S THE PUPPY? board book in Korean Only
Bible
Large Print Color (all) Korean Agape Bible
Children's Books
Harry Potter in Korean [1-1] The Sorcerer's Stone in Korean [Book 1 Part 1] Harry Potter Wa Mabup
Classroom/Schools
Intensive - FSI Korean Level 1 (18 Audio CDs)
Dictionary
Word to Word Korean / English Dictionary (Paperback)
Handheld Dictionary
UDEA COOL 260 - English & Korean Electronic Dictionary with Chinese & Japanese Support
Harry Potter
Harry Potter in Korean [3-1] Prisoner of Azkaban in Korean (Book 3 Part 1)
Keyboard
Korean Keyboard Black USB
Keyboard Stickers
Keyboard Stickers (Black Opaque) for Korean
Learn
Korean Language Fundamental 1 / Hangul Basics 1 (Paperback)
Software - Mac
LaserKorean for Mac
Travel
Berlitz Korean Travel Pack (Book and Audio-CD)
Word Processing
Korean Kancom 2010 Academic for Korean Windows
All Korean language product types


Language Information


Korean is spoken in both North and South Korea by about 65 million people. There are also about 2 million speakers in China, 700,000 in Japan, and 600,000 in the United States.

Korean's linguistic affiliation is uncertain, though in its grammatical structure it is most similar to Japanese. It is certainly not related to Chinese, although it has borrowed many Chinese words and has used the Chinese characters, together with the Korean alphabet, for many centuries. This latter practice was abolished in North Korea after World War II and is gradually being phased out in South Korea. In the fourth line of the poem above the proper nouns Yongbyon and Yag San appear with the Chinese characters following in parentheses.

The Korean alphabet, invented in the years 1443-46, is the only true alphabet native to the Far East. Each of the twenty-five letters repre-sents a single consonant or vowel—not a syllable as in Japanese, or a concept as in Chinese. Korean writing differs from that of most other languages, however, in that the letters of each syllable are grouped together into clusters—as if the English word "seldom" were written

S D
E O or SLE DMO
L M

The third word of the last line of the poem below, for example, consists of two clusters, each containing three letters arranged vertically. The first contains the letters n, u, and n, the second m, u, and l. Nun is the Korean word for "eye," mul the word for "water." Together they form the word nunmul which means "tear" or "tears."


Korean is spoken/used in the following countries:
China, Guam (U.S.), Japan, Korea (North), Korea (South), United States of America.

Language Family
Family: Independant


Copyright © Kenneth Katzner, The Languages of the World, Published by Routledge.


Writing Sample


Writing Sample

Translation


THE AZALEA

When you take your leave,
Tired of seeing me,
Gently and silently I'll bid you go.

From Mount Yag of Yongbyon
An armful of azaleas I shall pick,
And strew them in your path.

Go now, I pray, with short steps!
Let each footstep gently tread
The flowers which I have spread for you.

When you take your leave,
Tired of seeing me,
Though I should die, I shall not weep.

KIM SO-WOL


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