What Is the Korean Language?

Abstract

T HERE are two separate elements in Korean language, namely: written and spoken. The difference between these two is very great, for each has a distinct grammatical structure. One can hardly speak of the Korean language without first having a clear knowledge of this distinction. The Korean written language is no other than the Chinese written language, the use of which has existed in the country since the early Chinese Han dynasty (second century B.C.). Ever since then it has been the literary language of the Koreans and used for governmental documents, correspondence, and other purposes. Korean literature is practically all written in the Chinese characters and composed principally of the Chinese classics and books concerning them, Chinese philosophy and history, works on government, ethics and the like. Many of them are particularly valuable in their throwing light on the interpretation of Chinese. There is very little drama in Korean belles-lettres, but there is a large number of stories, which are often recited or told in public by the professionals called kwang-da, or story-tellers. The recitation or telling of a story sometimes lasts from three to four days. Ballads seem to have scarcely any appeal to the Korean writers, who have largely interested themselves in tales. Fiction has a popular appeal for every class of the populace, especially for the women. Korean poetry is largely lyrical, and deals mainly with nature and familiar subjects. There are voluminous collections of Korean works, among which is the famous Pi-go, an encyclopaedia consisting of 112 volumes. The Korean scholars treasure their literature very dearly. They make great efforts to master it. Some of them have indeed brought honor on themselves because of their literary achievement. As early as the ninth century a famous Korean scholar by the name of Choe Chi-won attained great honor at the imperial court of China for literary proficiency and later became the leader of a group of distinguished scholars in the native kingdom of Silla.