한국어

Korean

Koreanic

FamilyKoreanic Speakers~80M ScriptHangul CountriesSouth Korea, North Korea Official inSouth Korea, North Korea Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3kor Glottocodekore1280

Also known as: Korean, Hangugeo, Chosŏnmal

Korean (한국어 hangugeo / 조선어 chosŏnŏ) is the official language of South Korea and North Korea with ~80M speakers, and the dominant member of the Koreanic family alongside Jeju (jejueo). It is written in Hangul, a phonemic alphabet (jamo: 14 consonants + 10 vowels grouped into syllabic blocks) promulgated in 1443 by King Sejong the Great of Joseon and detailed in the Hunminjeongeum Haerye (1446) — celebrated for its scientific phonological design (vowel forms encode tongue position; consonant forms encode articulator shape) and inscribed in UNESCO Memory of the World 1997. Typologically agglutinative SOV, with honorific verb endings encoding subject and addressee respect levels. Sino-Korean (hanja-derived) loanwords account for ~57% of the lexicon. The hanja-only convention dominated until the 20th century; modern Korean has used hangul-only orthography since the 1990s, with hanja occasionally retained in formal/legal contexts.

Where it is spoken

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87 core words in Korean

Water

물

mul

Fire

불

pul

Sun

해

hɛ

Moon

달

tal

Star

별

pjʌl

Night

밤

pam

Rain

비

pi

Snow

눈

nun

Wind

바람

paɾam

Earth

흙

hɯk̚

Stone

돌

tol

Mountain

산

san

Sea

바다

pada

Mother

어머니

ʌmʌni

Father

아버지

abʌdʑi

Daughter

딸

t͈al

I

나

na

You

너

nʌ

We

우리

uɾi

Name

이름

iɾɯm

Person

사람

saɾam

Head

머리

mʌɾi

Eye

눈

nun

Ear

귀

kɥi

Nose

코

kʰo

Mouth

입

ip̚

Tooth

이

i

Tongue

혀

çʌ

Hand

손

son

Foot

발

pal

Heart

마음

maɯm

Bone

뼈

p͈jʌ

Blood

피

pʰi

Poop

똥

t͈oŋ

Love

사랑

saɾaŋ

Tree

나무

namu

Dog

개

kɛ

Cat

고양이

kojaŋi

Fish

물고기

mulɡoɡi

Bird

새

sɛ

Butterfly

나비

nabi

Egg

달걀

talɡjal

Bear

곰

kom

Horse

말

mal

House

집

tɕip̚

Milk

우유

uju

Honey

꿀

k͈ul

Salt

소금

soɡɯm

Wine

포도주

pododʑu

Rice

쌀

s͈al

Chocolate

초콜릿

tɕʰokʰolːit̚

Iron

철

tɕʰʌl

Wheel

바퀴

pakʰwi

Silk

비단

pidan

Book

책

tɕʰɛk̚

Eat

먹다

mʌk̚t͈a

Drink

마시다

maɕida

Sleep

자다

tɕada

One

하나

hana

Two

둘

tul

Three

셋

set̚

Four

넷

net̚

Five

다섯

tasʌt̚

Hundred

백

pɛk̚

Hello

안녕하세요

annjʌŋhasejo

Thank you

고맙습니다

komap̚s͈ɯmnida

Good

좋다

tɕotʰa

New

새로운

sɛɾoun

Red

빨갛다

p͈alɡatʰa

White

하얗다

hajatʰa

Black

까맣다

k͈amatʰa

Green

초록

tɕʰoɾok̚

Blue

파랗다

pʰaɾatʰa

Cuckoo

뻐꾸기

p͈ʌk͈uɡi

Woof

멍멍

mʌŋmʌŋ

Cock-a-doodle-doo

꼬끼오

k͈ok͈io

Computer

컴퓨터

kʰʌmpʰjutʰʌ

Wi-Fi

와이파이

waipʰai

Sushi

초밥

tɕʰobap̚

Tea

차

tɕʰa

Coffee

커피

kʰʌpʰi

Sugar

설탕

sʌltʰaŋ

Orange

오렌지

oɾendʑi

Ninety-nine

아흔아홉

ahɯnahop̚

Dopamine

도파민

topʰamin

At sign

골뱅이

kolbɛŋi

Internet laughter

ㅋㅋㅋ

kʰɯkʰɯkʰɯ

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Koreanic

Meaning KoreanNorth KoreanYanbian KoreanBusan KoreanHamgyong KoreanJeolla KoreanJeju
Water 물 /mul/ 물 /mul/ 물 /mul/ 물 /mul/ 물 /mul/ 물 /mul/ 물 /mul/
Fire 불 /pul/ 불 /pul/ 불 /pul/ 불 /pul/ 불 /pul/ 불 /pul/ 불 /pul/
Sun 해 /hɛ/ 해 /hɛ/ 해 /hɛ/ 해 /hɛ/ 해 /hɛ/ 해 /hɛ/ 헤 /he/
Moon 달 /tal/ 달 /tal/ 달 /tal/ 달 /tal/ 달 /tal/ 달 /tal/ 달 /tal/
Star 별 /pjʌl/ 별 /pjʌl/ 별 /pjʌl/ 별 /pjʌl/ 별 /pjəl/ 별 /pjəl/ 별 /pjʌl/
Night 밤 /pam/ 밤 /pam/ 밤 /pam/ 밤 /pam/ 밤 /pam/ 밤 /pam/ 밤 /pam/
Rain 비 /pi/ 비 /pi/ 비 /pi/ 비 /pi/ 비 /pi/ 비 /pi/ 비 /pi/
Snow 눈 /nun/ 눈 /nun/ 눈 /nun/ 눈 /nun/ 눈 /nun/ 눈 /nun/ 눈 /nun/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

Korean
저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 본 양복을 입어보고 싶어요
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 で 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
我 想 试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 里 看到的 那套西装
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with languages in the same classification

저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 본 양복을 입어보고 싶습니데이
저는 旅館 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 본 衣服을 입어보고 싶사이다
저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 본 양복을 입어보고 싶수다
Korean
저는 호텔 맞은편 가게 ‌에서 본 양복을 입어보고 싶어요
나는 쥬ᅎᆞᆸ 맞은편 져자 ‌에서 본 옷을 닙어보고져 ᄒᆞ노라

Han readings compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Koreanic

Character KoreanNorth KoreanOld Japanese Go-onLate Middle KoreanPhags-pa ChineseJapaneseTaiwanese Hakka
一 il /il/ il /il/ iti /iti/ ·qilq /ʔilʔ˥/ yi /ʔi/ 漢音 / Kan-onitsu /itsɯ/呉音 / Go-onichi /itɕi/ id5 /it̚˨/
二 i /i/ i /i/ ni /ɲi/ ·zi /zi˥/ ži /ʐi/ 漢音 / Kan-onji /dʑi/呉音 / Go-onni /ni/ ngi4 /ŋi˥˥/
三 sam /sam/ sam /sam/ sam /sam/ sam /sam˩/ sam /sam/ san /saɴ/ sam1 /sam˨˦/
四 sa /sa/ sa /sa/ si /ɕi/ ·sʌ /sʌ˥/ shi /sɨ/ shi /ɕi/ si4 /si˥˥/
五 o /o/ o /o/ go /ŋo/ :ngwo /ŋo˩˥/ u /wu/ go /ɡo/ ng3 /ŋ̩˧˩/
六 yuk /juk̚/ ryuk /ɾjuk̚/ roku /roku/ ·lyuk /ljuk̚˥/ lėu /lɥu/ 漢音 / Kan-onriku /ɾikɯ/呉音 / Go-onroku /ɾokɯ/ liug6 /liuk̚˥/
七 chil /tɕʰil/ ch'il /tsʰil/ siti /ɕiti/ ·chilq /tsʰilʔ˥/ tsʻi /tsʰi/ 漢音 / Kan-onshitsu /ɕitsɯ/呉音 / Go-onshichi /ɕitɕi/ cid5 /tsʰit̚˨/
八 pal /pʰal/ p'al /pʰal/ pati /pati/ ·palq /palʔ˥/ ba /pa/ 漢音 / Kan-onhatsu /hatsɯ/呉音 / Go-onhachi /hatɕi/ bad5 /pat̚˨/
九 gu /ku/ ku /ku/ kiu /kiu/ :kwu /ku˩˥/ giw /kiw/ 漢音 / Kan-onkyū /kjɯː/呉音 / Go-onku /kɯ/ giu3 /kiu˧˩/
十 sip /ɕip̚/ sip /ɕip̚/ zipu /ʑipu/ ·ssip /s͈ip̚˥/ ši /ʐi/ 漢音 / Kan-onshū /ɕɯː/呉音 / Go-onjū /dʑɯː/ siib6 /sɨp̚˥/
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