Korean language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Korean |
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|---|---|
| Hangugeo, Chosŏnmal | |
Two names for Korean, Hangugeo and Chosŏnmal, written vertically in hangul
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| Native to | South Korea North Korea Jilin·Liaoning·Heilongjiang, China Japan (Koreans in Japan) |
| Native speakers | 76 million (2007) |
| Language family |
isolated
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| Early forms: |
Old Korean
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| Dialects | |
| Writing system | Hangul (primary) Hanja (mixed script) Korean Braille Cyrillic (Koryo-mar) |
| Official status | |
| Official language in |  South Korea North Korea Yanbian, China |
The Korean language is spoken by over 78 million people. Most of these speakers live in North Korea and South Korea.
People in South Korea call their language han'gukmal or han'gugeo. In North Korea, it's known as chosŏnmal or chosŏnŏ. These names are different because North and South Korea have different names for their countries. Koreans often lovingly call their language "our language" or "our country's language."
How Korean is Written
The Korean language uses two main writing systems. The first is Hangul, which is the main alphabet. In North Korea, only Hangul is used by law. It is called Chosǒngǔl there.
In South Korea, Hangul is used in most public places like schools. However, the second system, Hanja, is still used in some newspapers and for special purposes.
Understanding Hanja
Hanja is a system of Chinese characters used in Korean. Before Hangul was created in the 15th century, Hanja was the only way to write Korean. It was very common in novels before the 19th century.
The Creation of Hangul
King Sejong the Great helped create Hangul. He wanted more people to be able to read and write. He also wanted a writing system that better showed how Korean sounds.
Even though Hangul was made for everyone, the upper classes in Korea did not use it at first. Hanja stayed the official writing system until the late 19th century. However, common people often used Hangul. They used it to write down Korean stories and to talk to each other.
Images for kids
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The oldest Korean dictionary (1920)
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The Latin alphabet used in romanization on road signs, for foreigners in South Korea
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Regional dialects of Korean
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Highway sign in Korean and English, Daegu, South Korea
See also
In Spanish: Idioma coreano para niños
