The Korean Language

Structure, Use and Context

Jae Jung Song

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2006
• ISBN:
  9781134335893
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Languages & Linguistics
• Categoría: Languages

Suitable for students of all levels, this book provides a general description of the Korean language by highlighting important structural aspects whilst keeping technical details to a minimum. By examining the Korean language in its geographical, historical, social and cultural context the reader is able to gain a good understanding of its speakers and the environment in which it is used. The book covers a range of topics on Korean including its genetic affiliation, historical development, sound patterns, writing systems, vocabulary, grammar and discourse.

The text is designed to be accessible, primarily to English-speaking learners of Korean and scholars working in disciplines other than linguistics, as well as serving as a useful introduction for general linguists. The book complements Korean language textbooks used in the classroom and will be welcomed not only by readers with a wider interest in Korean studies, but also by Asian specialists in general.

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KOREA

History, culture and language

This book is an invitation to the Korean language (known as Hankwukmal in South Korea and Cosenmal in North Korea). The bulk of the book is devoted to the description of the structure and use of the language, i.e. sound patterns, vocabulary, word and sentence structure, discourse and writing systems. That description is also situated in the historical, sociocultural context in which the Korean language has ‘evolved’ into what it is today, because no languages develop or exist in a socio-cultural vacuum. The shape and form of a given language are inevitably the outcome of its historical origins, developments and changes. To fail to understand this fundamental fact is to fail to understand where languages have come from or how and why they have become what they are. Moreover, although some linguists may choose to regard them merely as a collection of linguistic rules, languages are influenced by the need to communicate in socio-cultural contexts. In other words, language use is, more often than not, dictated by socio-cultural conventions, values and expectations. As a consequence, languages reflect various socio-cultural factors within their structural properties, including not only vocabulary but also grammatical rules. (Needless to say, some languages are more likely to do so than others.) This is particularly true of Korean, as is amply attested in the rest of the book. More to the point, discussion of the historical, socio-cultural context of the Korean language is indispensable in a book like the present one because the majority of readers are likely to come from a Western cultural background – very different indeed from Korean culture – or to have little prior knowledge of Korean culture and society. Thus the first chapter of this book is designed to provide an informative account of the geographical, historical and sociocultural context of the Korean language and its speakers.

Geography: land and population

Korea is a peninsular country bounded in the north by China and Russia, in the south by the Korea Strait, in the east by the Sea of Japan (or Tonghay, ‘the East Sea’, as Koreans prefer to call it) and in the west by the Yellow Sea (or Hwanghay ‘the Yellow Sea’ in Korean) (see Maps 1 and 2). The shape of the Korean peninsula reminds Koreans of that of a rabbit standing on its hind legs. Korea and eastern China (i.e. the Shandong Peninsula) are separated by 200 kilometres, and the shortest distance between Korea and Japan across the Korea Strait is also 200 kilometres. The northern boundary with China and Russia is clearly demarcated by the Yalu River (or Amnokkang in Korean) and the Tumen River (or Tumankang in Korean). The whole peninsula, together with its islands, lies between the 33° 06′ 40″ N and 43° 00′ 39″ N parallels and 124° 11′ 00″ E and 131° 52′ 42″ E meridians. Longitudinally, Korea is situated near the Philippines or central Australia, while the latitudinal location of the Korean peninsula is similar to that of the Iberian peninsula and Greece to the west and the state of California to the east.

There are about 3,000 islands within Korea’s territory, the majority of which are located around the Yellow Sea. The largest, Cheju Island, lies 145 kilometres off the south-west corner of the peninsula. The total area of the territory, inclusive of the islands, is 221,154 square kilometres. About 45 per cent of this area is occupied by South Korea, and the rest by North Korea. The combined area of North and South Korea is about the size of Britain or Guyana, with South Korea about the size of Hungary or Jordan. Nearly 70 per cent of the Korean peninsula is made up of mountains and hills. Mt Paektu (or Paektusan) (2,744 metres), the highest mountain in Korea (and indeed throughout Manchuria as well), is located at the North Korea – China border, and this is the source of the Yalu and Tumen Rivers. The highest mountain in South Korea, Mt Halla (or Hallasan) (1,950 metres), is located on Cheju Island. The preponderance of mountains and hills in the Korean peninsula means that only about 20 per cent of the land can be cultivated for agricultural purposes. The arable area is confined largely to plains in the west and south. These plains, however, do not compare in size with those in China or Japan.

Unlike its southern neighbour Japan, Korea is a stable landmass with no active volcanoes and rare earthquakes. The two best known mountains in the Korean peninsula, Mt Paektu and Mt Halla, have volcanic origins. It is said, however, that in terms of seismic activities the Korean peninsula is more stable than Japan but less stable than Manchuria, and South Korea in turn is seismically less stable than North Korea.

Most of Korea’s major rivers flow into the Yellow Sea or the Korea Strait, except for the Tumen River, which empties into the Sea of Japan. The longest river is the Yalu River (790 kilometres), with the Nakdong River (525 kilometres) the second longest. Like elsewhere in the world, Korea’s principal rivers support arable plains and major cities by providing irrigation and hydroelectric power. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is situated near the mouth of the Han River, and the Taedong River flows through Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The Taedong River also provides water for the single large plain in North Korea, the Pyongyang – Chaeryong plain. In South Korea, on the other hand, the fertile plains are supported by three major rivers, the Kum, Yengsan and Nakdong.

The Korean peninsula has a coastline of about 8,700 kilometres. There is a distinct topographical contrast between the coastline in the east and those in the west and south. The eastern coastline is relatively smooth, with few islands offshore, whereas the west and south coasts are characterized as irregular, with indentations or protrusions, bays and offshore islands in great numbers. This irregularity is more conspicuous on the south coast than on the west coast.

South Korea (48 million) has more than twice as many people as North Korea (22 million). South Korea is, in fact, regarded as one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 440 people per square kilometre. North Korea, on the other hand, has 181 people per square kilometre. The population density of South Korea exceeds those of most Asian countries including China and India. In South Korea, however, most people are concentrated in major cities such as Seoul (almost 11 million) and Pusan (over 4 million). Other major cities, including Taegu, Inchon, Kwangju, Taejon and Ulsan, have over 1 million people each. This urbanization of the population, triggered and fuelled by South Korea’s industrialization in the 1960s and 1970s, means that over 85 per cent of South Korea’s population now live in these major cities. North Korea, on the other hand, was about 60 per cent urban as of 1987, with its capital Pyongyang being the only city with more than one million residents. The next biggest city is Hamhung, with a population of slightly over 700,000. More than half of North Korea’s population live in cities with fewer than 100,000 people. This is probably due not as much to North Korea’s slow urbanization as to the North Korean government’s restrictions on people’s migration or movement, very much as was the case in China until the late 1980s or the early 1990s.

History

The history of Korea can be best understood in terms of the way Koreans have interacted with their neighbours in the north (i.e. China, Manchuria and, more recently, Russia) and in the south and the east across the Korean Strait and the Sea of Japan (i.e. Japan and, more recently, the USA). The geographical position of the Korean peninsula between China, Manchuria and Russia on the one hand and Japan on the other has no doubt had a significant bearing on the history of Korea.

The origins of the Korean people are far from clear. This hardly comes as a surprise. The origins of many other peoples in the world are equally unclear. Scholars, however, generally agree that the Korean peninsula was settled by humans migrating from the north, not from the south. The Late Pleistocene, which began between 130,000 and 75,000 years ago, witnessed the appearance of modern humans in East Asia. During subsequent cold phases, sea levels in East Asia were much lower, transforming the Sea of Japan into a huge lake that drained through what is the Korea Strait today. This must have resulted in increased land areas, allowing people to move among parts of East Asia. These prehistoric humans, however, may not be directly related to modern Koreans. Archaeological evidence suggests that humans, probably Palaeosiberians, also reached the Korean peninsula over 30,000 years ago. About 4,000–5,000 years ago, a different race started to migrate from the north – probably north-eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria and northern China – towards the Korean peninsula. It is believed that these people were ancient Koreans or progenitors of Koreans. But, of course, it cannot be ruled out that they may have exchanged their genes with the ‘older’ inhabitants, although the majority of the latter may probably have migrated further or have been driven into other areas outside the Korean peninsula, i.e. north-eastern Manchuria and Japan. It thus seems safe to conclude, contrary to what many Koreans would like to believe, that the Korean people may be not racially completely homogeneous but descendants of the various waves of migration from the north.

Some ancient Koreans settled in Manchuria and northern Korea, while others ventured further down to southern Korea, and probably also across the Korea Strait into Japan. (There is archaeological and linguistic evidence for the continuity between Korea and Japan.) This domination by Koreans of southern Manchuria and the Korean peninsula (then known as Chaoxian in Chinese) was punctuated by Han China, which in an effort to assert its power in these areas established four colonies (or commanderies) in northern Korea and southern Manchuria. This period (108 BCE to 313 CE) must have been when Chinese culture, including the use of Chinese characters and the emerging iron industry, started to make a real impact on the Korean tribal states and their inhabitants, not to mention a certain amount of racial intermingling between Koreans and Chinese. Following the demise of the Chinese colonies, southern Manchuria and northern Korea were once again left wide open for other ethnic groups (e.g. Korean and Tungusic) to dominate.

By the fourth century CE, there had emerged a number of tribal states in these areas, the most prominent ones being Kokuryo in southern Manchuria (or the Liaodong region) and northern Korea, and Paekche and Shilla in southern Korea. The territorial ambition and rivalry of these three kingdoms led inevitably to a series of wars, and Shilla, albeit with aid from Tang China, gained the upper hand and eventually ‘unified’ the three kingdoms in 668. Strictly speaking, however, this was not a complete unification, because, although Paekche was fully incorporated into the Unified Shilla Kingdom, most of Kokuryo’s territory was not. Only less than one-half of the combined territories of the three kingdoms came under the control of Unified Shilla. In fact, Kokuryo subsequently transformed itself into a new state, Parhae (or Bohai in Chinese) (698–926). This does not come as a total surprise when one considers the fact that Kokuryo occupied not only the northern part of Korea but also southern Manchuria, which was home to other ethnic groups, Tungusic people in particular. This suggests that Kokuryo may have been ethnically more heterogeneous than Shilla or even Paekche, although its ruling class may indeed have been made up of Koreans. Parhae was subsequently overthrown by the Khitan, who had formed the Liao Empire in Manchuria and northern China.

The Unified Shilla Kingdom (668–892) is said to have achieved political unity on the Korean peninsula. This may have been possible owing to non-Koreans (i.e. Tungusic people) moving out of the territory now lost to Shilla into the north, and then into Parhae, which was probably ethnically dominated by Tungusic people. This political unity witnessed an increased cultural influence from China. After all, Shilla defeated Kokuryo and Paekche with help from Tang China. Buddhism came to the fore in Unified Shilla society, although later Confucianism emerged as a competing system of thought. Towards the end of the eighth century, the Unified Shilla Kingdom started to decline in the midst of disputes among nobles and power struggles among aristocrats.

This weakening of Unified Shilla gave rise to a number of insurgent groups, out of which one powerful kingdom emerged as the new ruler of the Korean peninsula. This kingdom, claiming to be the legitimate successor of Kokuryo, called itself Koryo (918–1392). (This name gave rise to the English name, Korea.) The Chinese influence intensified as Koryo imported more ideas, policies and systems from China. Buddhism had now firmly established itself not only as the state religion but also as the dominant system of thought, especially within the royal house. Its predominant status could not be better illustrated than by the carving of the Chinese-based Buddhist scripture Tripitaka in some 8,300 wooden blocks in the midst of the Mongol invasion in 1251. While the Unified Shilla Kingdom was responsible for achieving the political unity of (most of) the Korean peninsula, the Koryo Dynasty can be said to have brought the process of ethnic homogenization to its conclusion. The rise of Koryo was soon followed by the collapse of Parhae, from where ethnic Koreans migrated south to join the new state on the Korean peninsula. Moreover, the ruling class of Unified Shilla was embraced or absorbed by that of Koryo. This process of ethnic homogenization, however, was marred by incessant conflicts with its neighbours, i.e. the Khitan (Liao Empire), the Jurchen-based Jin Empire (Yecincok in Korean) and then Japanese marauders and pirates. However, the Mongol invasion and domination (i.e. the Yuan Dynasty), which began in 1231 and lasted for over 100 years, were really the last nail in the Koryo Dynasty’s coffin. The pillaging of Koryo by the Mongols, together with internal problems, e.g. the animosity between Buddhists and Confucian scholars within and outside the court even during the Mongol invasion, was too much for the dynasty to bear. Koryo met its fate in 1388 when the general who was sent to assist the Mongols against Ming China turned around his troops near the Yalu River to seize power (in a military coup d’état).

The last dynasty on the Korean peninsula, Yi Choson, or Cosen Wangco as some Koreans prefer to call it (1392–1910), coincided with the rise of Ming China, the last Chinese-led dynasty. During this dynasty the northern boundaries of Korea were clearly demarcated along the Yalu and Tumen Rivers (i.e. the present North Korea – China border). The Yi Choson Dynasty’s capital was moved from Songhak (now Kaesong) to Hanyang (now Seoul). The animosity between Buddhists and Confucian scholars that had plagued Koryo was dealt with once and for all when Buddhism was discarded as the state creed or ideology in favour of Confucianism. As will be seen, Confucianism would make a lasting impact on society not only in Yi Choson but also in present day Korea. Early political instability within the royal house notwithstanding, the first two hundred years of Yi Choson can be characterized as relatively peaceful and orderly, and indeed many notable cultural and scientific achievements were made during this period, especially during the reign of King Sejong (1417–50), the most remarkable by world standards being the development of a highly sophisticated but simple writing system called Hankul (see Chapter 3 for further discussion).

Confucianism, which emphasized rigid social relations – loyalty between the ruler and the ruled, filial piety between father and son, the wife’s obedience to the husband, the order of seniority between the old and the young etc. – may indeed have played a crucial role in this period of relative peace, but ironically contributed to the demise of Yi Choson in the end. Loyalty led to power struggles between different groups, especially between the monarchy and Confucian scholars on the one hand and between orthodox Confucian and neo-Confucian scholars on the other, while the demand for absolute obedience gave rise to resentm...