# Korean (LANGUAGE)



## Humble artist (Mar 24, 2002)

Does anybody of you study it?
I´m about to begin my self-studies.
I´ve searched the web,have found some minimal advice.
If I would get some information on the basics,structure and character of korean,I could start knowing what I´m gonna do.
I was thinking about ordering some books/tapes etc.
Any response would be great.
:asian:


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## Pyrael (Mar 28, 2002)

the language in general or specifically in the techniques taught in korean MA? 

if youre after the whole language it would be practical to learn from a person who knows it.  if youre after the terms in say tkd, then reading a book about it should have all the terms


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## Shinzu (Apr 2, 2002)

i have yet to come across a good site that teaches korean.  your best bet is the advise pyrael has given.  unless it is MA words you are looking for.


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## arnisador (Apr 10, 2002)

Is the Korean alphabet as difficult as the Japanese one? I imagine it must be nearly so as they're so similar.


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## Cthulhu (Apr 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by arnisador _
> 
> *Is the Korean alphabet as difficult as the Japanese one? I imagine it must be nearly so as they're so similar. *



Actually, I don't find them similar at all.  I can always distinguish Korean from Japanese.  To me, Korean looks more like old Chinese.

If it has lots of little ovals and circles, it's Korean 

Cthulhu


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## arnisador (Apr 10, 2002)

I know what you mean *Cthulhu*! I meant similar in the sense that they are related (Chinese, Japanese, Korean).


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## Cthulhu (Apr 10, 2002)

Well, Japanese is a PITA because it has *three* written 'alphabets':  kanji, hiragana, and katakana.  I don't think Korean has that issue, but I'm not familiar enough with the language to know for sure.

Cthulhu


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## arnisador (Apr 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Cthulhu _
> 
> *Well, Japanese is a PITA because it has three written 'alphabets':  kanji, hiragana, and katakana.  I don't think Korean has that issue, but I'm not familiar enough with the language to know for sure.*



I knew that about Japanese but it was part of what I was wondering about with respect to Korean.


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## Cthulhu (Apr 10, 2002)

> _Originally posted by arnisador _
> 
> *
> 
> I knew that about Japanese but it was part of what I was wondering about with respect to Korean. *



When I go to Asian markets, I don't notice any significant differences in writing on the Korean goods.  However, that could just be due to my uneducated eye...for all I know, one package could have 12 different Korean lettering systems on there and I'd have no way of knowing.

Just go to a Korean market and ask 

Cthulhu


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## Chris from CT (Apr 10, 2002)

I am pretty illiterate in Korean, but it is different than Chinese and Japanese because Korean is a Phonetic Language (is that the correct term?).  Each Character represents a sound and are put together to make words much like the English alphabet.  Where as Japanece and Chinese characters make up a idea by themselves.  

Here is one of the sites  that have helped me...

Introduction to Korean
http://www.langintro.com/kintro/

There are a couple more, but I can't seem to find them.  Sorry.  

Hope this helps. 
Take care


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## Chris from CT (Apr 10, 2002)

OOPS.   
I gots a itchy trigger finger. :mp5: 

Take care.


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## KumaSan (Apr 10, 2002)

Here is an interesting (to me anyway) post about a possible link between Korea and written Japanese.



> _Originally posted by Chris from CT _
> 
> *...Korean is a Phonetic Language (is that the correct term*



I _think_ (and there's a good chance I'm wrong) this is called a 'syllabary'. And Japanese has this also. Two in fact, in addition to the ideagrams. That's what Cthulu was referring to about the 3 Japanese alphabets.

Someone (who may or may not be entirely full of it) once told me that in the Korean alphabet, the way characters are drawn contains clues to how the character is pronounced. Is this true? If so, could you elaborate? If not, let me know so I can let him know he's a jackass. Thanks!


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## Chris from CT (Apr 11, 2002)

> _Originally posted by KumaSan _
> *Here is an interesting (to me anyway) post about a possible link between Korea and written Japanese. *



That's pretty interesting.  Also the title was kind of interesting too.  "This should tick some japanese off."   Because of the Japanese occupation of Korea, before and during WW2, the Koreans don't like the Japanese and vice versa. This may not be the case anymore, but it was a big to do with Hapkido's history.  



> _Originally posted by KumaSan _
> *Someone (who may or may not be entirely full of it) once told me that in the Korean alphabet, the way characters are drawn contains clues to how the character is pronounced. Is this true? If so, could you elaborate? If not, let me know so I can let him know he's a jackass. Thanks! *



From what I am understanding he is correct.  In Korean, each character is actually "a group of characters" that make up one syllable.  Depending on the position of the character within the grouping will dictate what type of sound it will produce when spoken.  For example a certain character in the first position will have a "s" sound while that same character in the end position will have a 't" sound.  

This is also the case with the the word Hapkido when written in Korean.  The first syllabe "Hap" has the charachter that makes a "p" sound when it's in its end position, but if it was in the middle position (the "a" in Hap) it would have a "b" sound.

Man, this is difficult without using any pictures!   
I hope I didn't confuse you with my attempt to explain what little I know.

Take care.


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## Chris from CT (Apr 11, 2002)

If I didn't confuse you too much, I just made up a page off of our site that has examples.  You know, for those of us who are "visual learners."  guilty! 

Korean Starter Page 

Take care.



Mod Note : edited link on member request - Kaith


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## arnisador (Apr 11, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Chris from CT _
> 
> *Korean Starter Page *



Thanks! That's a beginning! I now know more than I did before at least.


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## KumaSan (Apr 11, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Chris from CT _
> 
> *I hope I didn't confuse you with my attempt to explain what little I know.*



Nope, you did a good job explaining. The pictures were just icing on the cake. Makes sense. Thanks for the lesson!


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## Kennesten (May 10, 2002)

> Someone (who may or may not be entirely full of it) once told me that in the Korean alphabet, the way characters are drawn contains clues to how the character is pronounced. Is this true? If so, could you elaborate? If not, let me know so I can let him know he's a jackass. Thanks!



Hangul, the Korean writing system, was invented in the 15th century by King Sejong.  Yup, it's phonetic, but the characters themselves ARE based on how the character is pronounced, as your friend says.  The shaped of the character corresponding to the physiology of the act of enunciation, i.e. "|" can be the throat, and a "-" can represent the tongue.  The sound "-|" is a guttural "uh" sound, located at the back of the mouth; the sound "|-" is an "ah" sound, and is projected towards the front of the mouth.  

           I don't know too much about Japanese language, but I think the Hiragana is also phonetic, except that characters represent consonant-vowel pairs (except for bare vowels and the ending sound).  In this respect, Korean is more like English, in that every vowel and consonant has its own character.  

Sorry for the dry pedantic tone =).  I've been trying to brush up on my Korean too -- good luck!

Nicholas


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## KumaSan (Jul 4, 2002)

Hangul, the Korean writing system, was invented in the 15th century by King Sejong. Yup, it's I know too much about Japanese language, but I think the Hiragana is also phonetic, except that characters represent consonant-vowel pairs (except for bare vowels and the ending sound). In this respect, Korean is more like English, in that every vowel and consonant has its own character.

Sorry for the dry pedantic tone =). I've been trying to brush up on my Korean too -- good luck!


Okay, I admit I skipped a bunch of what was writtten above. If you want to know, read what was written. Japanese can be straightforward, for you overachievers. BLESS  YOU!!


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## MartialArtist (Aug 28, 2002)

> _Originally posted by Humble artist _
> 
> *Does anybody of you study it?
> I´m about to begin my self-studies.
> ...


I grew up with it.  I really have no first language, I grew up with both at the same time.  Well, actually, my first language is English, I am much more fluent at it although my first word was in Korean, I don't think it really defines what a first language is, rather, fluency and understanding of the language are bigger factors.

And I haven't met a Westerner who can pronounce tae kwon do correctly.  They pronounce it tai kwan doe which isn't really how it sounds like.  More like tae (tape without the p) ko^n and a much sharper do.


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## Humble artist (Sep 29, 2002)

Thanks everyone.:asian: :asian:


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## arnisador (Aug 21, 2003)

How are your Korean studies going?


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## redfang (Aug 22, 2003)

I started studying Korean about a year agao because my wife was working with some Koreans whom we were becoming friendly with. At first they were helping us to learn. But she no longer works there and we don't see them as often but we are still studying on our own. I'd like to get into some classes but there aren't too many of them in my city.  It's an interesting language tho, easier than I thought in some ways, harder in others.


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## abzack (Aug 22, 2003)

I studied Korean at Yonsei University and Ewha Womens' University.  I lived in Korea for eight of the last ten years.  I lived in Japan for two years before that.  I found Japanese a little more difficult than Korean.  Korean uses Hangul and Han-mun/Hanja (Chinese characters).  As was said previously, Japanes uses Hiragana, Katagana, and Kanji (Chinese characters).  However, they are both difficult to me.  I have a hard time remembering Dano (words(read-vocabulary)). A quick search brought up the site below.  I hope it helps.  If you have any questions, maybe I can help.  


http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/korean/centre/course/index.html 

http://www.yonsei.ac.kr/yu/eng/


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## celtic bhoy (Nov 20, 2003)

I too am learning han'gul, which I am getting great satisfaction from.

From my study material I was surprised to learn that korean is grammatically related to japanese and mongolian. Korean is thought to belong to the Altaic languages, meaning that it is also related to Tungusic and Turkish.

Grammatically korean is totally different from chinese. There is no connection between them. However, many korean words (as opposed to gammar) come from chinese, in the same way many english words come from latin.


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## arnisador (Nov 20, 2003)

Interesting! I hadn't realized they were so different. See also:
http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22163


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