All About Konglish

World Englishes: All about Korean English
1. Origin and History of English Language in Korean

English has been the first foreign language in this country since 1945 (Kaplan and Baldauf,
2003). And, it became a required subject in 1997 (Kwon, 2009). According to Kim-Rivera
(2002), in 1983 the Korean government opened an English school for interpreters; thereby it
contributed to the growth of English language education for the next twenty-two years. In 1905,
when Korea became a Japanese protectorate, this growth was interrupted. As stated by Kim-
Rivera, there were two factors which led to Korea missing opportunities for English language
education between 1938 and 1945. First, when Japan engaged in war the government declared
English as the language of the enemy and suppressed its use and teaching. And, second, when
Japan mobilized the entire colony for the war effort, it stopped all education in Korea by 1945,
including opportunities for ELT development.
South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea, in an independent country in East
Asia located in the southern region of the Korean Peninsula which extends a few kilometres from
the Asian mainland. South Korea is bordered on the west by the Yellow Sea and to the east by
the Sea of Japan (East Sea). The name Korea originated from the old Goguryeo Kingdom also
referred to as Koryŏ. South Korea is a very urbanised country and its citizens lead an urban
lifestyle that is very distinctive. Most of them reside in the high rise city of Seoul which is the
country’s capital city and is ranked the sixth leading global town in the world with the fourth
greatest economy. South Korea’s southern tip occupies the East China Sea and the Korea Strait.
As of April 2016, the population in South Korea was estimated to be roughly 50.8 million and it
was noted that the total fertility rate and the working age population was declining continuously.
Food market in Seoul, Source

The main language spoken in South Korea is Korean. This and other languages spoken in
the country will be discussed in brief below.
The Korean Language
Korean is the formal language of both the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the
Republic of Korea. Different varieties of Korean are spoken in every nation-state. Korean is
also one of the two formal languages in the Changbai Korean Autonomous County of the
People’s Republic of China and the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Roughly 80
million people across the world speak Korean.
Korean has a number of dialects and the main dialect used in South Korea is the Hanguk
dialect. Other dialects spoken in South Korea are as follows:
 The Yeongseo dialects (영서방언): These dialects are used in the Yeongseo area located
in Gangwon Province, South Korea.
 The Jeju dialect (제주방언) : This is used on the Jeju Island located towards the
southwest coast of South Korea. This dialect is at times viewed as a separate Korean
language.
 The Seoul dialect (서울말): This dialect is also referred to as Gyeonggi. It is spoken in
Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon in South Korea. It is also spoken in Kaesŏng in North
Korea. This dialect is the foundation of the standard language.
 The Jeolla dialects (전라방언): These can also be referred to as the South-western
dialects and are used in the Jeolla area (Honam) of South Korea. They are also spoken in
Gwangju city. The dialects have ten vowels: “i, e, ae, a, ü, ö, u,o, eu, and eo”.
 The Gyeongsang dialects (경상방언): These are also referred to as the South-eastern
dialects and are common in the Gyeongsang (Yeongnam) area of South Korea, and also
the cities of Ulsan, Busan and Daegu. It is very easy to differentiate these dialects from
the Seoul dialect because of their pitch which is more varied. These dialects have six
main vowels and there are ‘i, e, a, eo,o, and u”.
 The Chungcheong dialects (충청방언): These dialects are spoken in the Chungcheong
(Hoseo) area of South Korea and also in Daejeon city.

In ancient times, Koreans started using Chinese characters also known as Hanja to write.
Due to the challenges associated with learning the Chinese characters, reading and writing
was initially limited to people from high social classes for a lot of centuries. The Hangul
alphabet was, however, created in the 15th century and it consisted of 24 letters which are
normally arranged in blocks for every syllable, and this somewhat resembles the Chinese
characters. The Korean syllables have single phonetically articulated letters in a manner that
is alike to the Latin alphabet. The Hangul alphabet has made it easier for all Koreans to gain
knowledge and it gained popularity in the 19th century when the locals began attempting to
do away with the Chinese influences.
Newcomers learning the Korean language, Source

Due to the usage of Chinese characters, there is a large quantity of borrowed words in the
Korean language. Very many Korean words are Chinese-derived borrowed words. Despite
the fact that Chinese borrowed words and Korean-derived words have always existed
together, the Chinese borrowed words have become more dominant thus expunging majority
of the local Korean correspondents.
Korean is an agglutinative dialect and it is viewed as a ‘language isolate.’ This implies that
there is no concrete evidence that it has similar origins with an ancient dialect which is also
a foundation for other dialects. Korean has similar features with the Japanese and Chinese
language families. Adoptions from European and Indian languages can be detected in
Korean, but ancient varieties of Korean do not have any close ties to the origins of any of
these dialects.
There are no articles in the Korean language. As a result of this, smaller facts of meaning are
normally articulated by joining small modifiers to a complete word. The base word normally
remains unchanged.
Syllables in Korean always start with a consonant which is then followed by a vowel. The
syllable could end there, or another vowel could follow, or a consonant, or both. The
syllables start with a consonant on the top or the left and the vowel(s) and other consonant(s)
follow to the right or to the bottom. Note that writing in the Korean language runs from left
to right and top to bottom. The words are normally separated by spaces and the syllables are
usually next to each other.
The Korean language has no tones. It also lacks many stressed syllables. The consonants can
at times alter sounds at the end of the words and pass into the word that follows. These
sounds are not that hard to articulate. They are, however, dissimilar from western values.
Korean has an entirely free word-order. The predicates in this language do not match in
person, number, or gender with their subjects. They, however, match with politeness and
honorifics. This language has three major speech stages linked to politeness. These are plain,
politeness, and deferential. The Korean people steer clear of second person singular
pronouns, more so when utilizing honorific forms.
Korean drink label, Source

Verbs in this language do not alter according to plural or person. The verbs, however, have a
number of levels of politeness varieties to correspond the age and superiority of the
individual being addressed. Speech is to be tailored based on the social status of the person
speaking compared to that of the individual they are addressing in a situation where they do
not want to come off as rude.
Korean numbers comprise two commonly used sets. These include the Sino-Korean set and
the native Korean set. The Sino-Korean set is almost completely founded on the Chinese
numbers. The difference between the two systems is of great significance. Anything that can
be counted will utilize one of the two sets, but will rarely use both. Grouping of large
numerals in Koreans conforms to the Chinese tradition of myriads (10000) instead of
thousands (1000) which is common in North America and Europe.
English Spoken in Korea
English is used in South Korea as a second language. It is taught in schools but the majority
of the people do not speak if freely. This language has had a number of uses in the Korean
community over the last century. Its growth in the country after the Korean War was a result
of international trade, especially with the United States. Standard English values have
therefore been given special accent due to the fact that English can be used as an
international or foreign language. It is, however, important to note that the usage of this
language by most of the citizens discloses obvious and frequent diversions from the
Standard English. Most of the people who study English do so for specific reasons such as
academics, trade, business, and so on. Few of them, however, relate with the local speakers,
and between themselves, they opt to speak a South Korean of English that is very unique.
This is the type of English that is used and supported by the local media.
It is important to note that almost all the people in South Korea below 40 years of age have
pursued English lessons as part of their schooling. The level of English in the country is also
being enhanced through investments and government policies. Most of the citizens,
however, have very little knowledge or know a very few basic phrases in English. This has
mostly been brought about by the fear of mis-articulation and lack of practice.
Japanese Spoken in Korea
A few old people in South Korea still talk in Japanese. Most of the Japanese speakers are
located in Busan city. This city is not that far from Fukuoka city in Japan. The dialect used
by these speakers in Busan is very similar to Japanese and in the same way, the Japanese
dialect used in Fukuoka has a lot of Korean influence.
2. Korean English Nowadays

3. Phonology
4. Lexis
5. Usage
6. Sampling

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World Englishes: All about Korean English

1. Origin and History of English Language in Korean

Food market in Seoul, Source

in Gangwon Province, South Korea.

(Hoseo) area of South Korea and also in Daejeon city.

Newcomers learning the Korean language, Source

Korean drink label, Source

2. Korean English Nowadays

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