Spoken in North and South Korea.
The written language
- In South Korea, many loan words from Chinese are used. In the
North, Chinese characters have been abolished from instruction in
schools.
- Uses general formulaic expressions such as "Some people
say" rather than specific citations when the writer takes a
stand. 1e, 9e, 9f
- Korean alphabet has forty letters, on the principle of one letter
per unit of sound.
Sentence structure and word order
- Usual pattern is S-O-V, with verb at end of clause. 37c,
62b.
- First- and second-person subjects are regularly omitted,
third-person pronoun subjects can be omitted. *When Jack arrived,
brought flowers. (When Jack arrived, he brought flowers.) 38d,
62a.
- A relative clause precedes the noun it modifies, with no relative
pronoun: *The enrolled in community college student . . . (The student
who enrolled in community college) 46, 62b.
- Korean has no there is/there are equivalent: *This article
says four reasons to eat beans. (The article says there are four
reasons to eat beans.) 30b, 37c, 64a.
Nouns and pronouns
- No relative pronouns. 46a.
- Plural forms are not obligatory after quantity words and numerals. Plural markers can be attached to adverbs. 43h, 60b.
Verbs and verbals
- A verb does not agree in number or person with the
subject. 43a.
- Use of the passive is defined differently from
English: *We can divide a year into four seasons. *My name base on
Chinese characters. (My name is based on Chinese characters.) *Times
have been changed. (Times have changed.) 42.
- The infinitive is not used to express purpose: *I go
out for having my dinner. (I go out to have dinner.) 37d,
61e.
Adjectives and adverbs
- An adjective includes the idea of be: *It results in too
busy with our own lives. (It results in being too busy with our own
lives.) 38c, 41c, 45c, 61a.
Articles
- Korean does not make a distinction between the definite and
indefinite article. 60e.
- Often uses one for a: *When I was working, one man
came into the store. (When I was working, a man came into the store.)
60e.
