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The Korean Language: Structure, Use and Context
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.
- GenresLanguage
185 pages, Hardcover
First published September 8, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 22, 2021
a great birdseye view of hangeul including its history, intricacies, grammar, and even the divergences between north & south korean language policy. I thought it was fantastic as both an companion piece to korean language learners And intro to linguistics in general! 대박!!!
December 28, 2019
As a casual (very casual) learner of Korean I found this book immensely interesting. It speaks about the language as a whole, as a system that works within the culture and society, representing their traits and pecularities through vocabulary, grammar and general use.
The parts where the author explores and explains the ways Korean culture and traditions manifest themselves in the language were absolutely fascinating. Things that sometimes left me dumbfounded or amused when seen and heard in Korean dramas, things concerning social interactions and etiquette mostly, were thouroughly explained here - and through the prism of the language.
The way people switch between levels of politeness, the way they do it even with the same people but in different social situations, the way even siblings might switch to a higher speech level when they are no longer kids - reading about this really explains more than just the grammar, there's the whole centuries of tradition in here.
The explanations of logic within the language, its words creation or words order in a sentence, the ways things are expressed in Korean, it really helps to get into the language a bit more, a bit beyond the textbook.
No less fascinating were the chapters about Hangeul history and its creation "based" in a way on the existing writing system of the time (that being Chinese characters). I may be dumb but only after reading that I realized why it's actually written in blocks, because - what other way could have been there then?
All in all, it was an incredible read and I don't regret for one bit that I once spent three hours at work reading this instead of, well, working.
Yet I must - just must - mention the two things that drove me crazy all the way.
One is the complete and utter lack of Hangeul in a book about Korean.
I mean - it just blows my mind. I mean - how is it even possible. And yet here we are: 200 pages about Korean, and the actual Hangeul is used (maybe) twice.
I had to literally decipher - to de-romanize - every freaking example given in the book to make sense of it. At times it proved almost impossible if the words or word forms used in the example were unknown to me.
When in the last pages, where the author was comparing the spelling in North and South Korean, Hangeul finally made an appearance I almost cried in relief, my eyes not hurting anymore.
Because - and here we reach the second driving-me-crazy thing - I swear to god, the Yale romanization was created to torture people.
It's true that any transcription/transliteration system, be it romanization or cyrillization, makes Korean look horrid and incomprehensible, but damn this one takes the cake.
I had to keep the cheat sheet close to me at all times while reading because I had to look up the 'cipher' every few minutes.
I kinda got a hang of it, more or less, by the end of the book, but still the fact that 그러나 is written as kulena and 할아버지께서 as halapecikkeyse makes me wanna scream.
And yet: an amazing book. Absolutely enjoyed it.
The parts where the author explores and explains the ways Korean culture and traditions manifest themselves in the language were absolutely fascinating. Things that sometimes left me dumbfounded or amused when seen and heard in Korean dramas, things concerning social interactions and etiquette mostly, were thouroughly explained here - and through the prism of the language.
The way people switch between levels of politeness, the way they do it even with the same people but in different social situations, the way even siblings might switch to a higher speech level when they are no longer kids - reading about this really explains more than just the grammar, there's the whole centuries of tradition in here.
The explanations of logic within the language, its words creation or words order in a sentence, the ways things are expressed in Korean, it really helps to get into the language a bit more, a bit beyond the textbook.
No less fascinating were the chapters about Hangeul history and its creation "based" in a way on the existing writing system of the time (that being Chinese characters). I may be dumb but only after reading that I realized why it's actually written in blocks, because - what other way could have been there then?
All in all, it was an incredible read and I don't regret for one bit that I once spent three hours at work reading this instead of, well, working.
Yet I must - just must - mention the two things that drove me crazy all the way.
One is the complete and utter lack of Hangeul in a book about Korean.
I mean - it just blows my mind. I mean - how is it even possible. And yet here we are: 200 pages about Korean, and the actual Hangeul is used (maybe) twice.
I had to literally decipher - to de-romanize - every freaking example given in the book to make sense of it. At times it proved almost impossible if the words or word forms used in the example were unknown to me.
When in the last pages, where the author was comparing the spelling in North and South Korean, Hangeul finally made an appearance I almost cried in relief, my eyes not hurting anymore.
Because - and here we reach the second driving-me-crazy thing - I swear to god, the Yale romanization was created to torture people.
It's true that any transcription/transliteration system, be it romanization or cyrillization, makes Korean look horrid and incomprehensible, but damn this one takes the cake.
I had to keep the cheat sheet close to me at all times while reading because I had to look up the 'cipher' every few minutes.
I kinda got a hang of it, more or less, by the end of the book, but still the fact that 그러나 is written as kulena and 할아버지께서 as halapecikkeyse makes me wanna scream.
And yet: an amazing book. Absolutely enjoyed it.
May 22, 2023
some mistakes are made esp in the phonetic description and the romanisation seems inconsistent at times, which makes the examples very hard to read. a decent intro book though
September 2, 2021
I can't say this book was what I was hoping it to be. I wanted to read a linguistic grammar of Korean, but this book was a bit too learner-oriented. I'm no linguistics expert, but I know some terms, so I thought an overview of the language would be helpful. This book did contain some new information... I can't say it was totally useless... but the issue is, some bits were outdated maybe, so I couldn't trust other bits.
November 26, 2024
Considering it is a grammar book, i'm finding it really interesting and compelling. It is a shame the examples are not written in hangul, but in the english romanisation... The only thing that would make this the perfect introductory book. Great read!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews