Text RONJA HELDER, Master’s degree in English language and linguistics
What happened to the Korean Language after the Korean war? As the Korean people inthe two nations no longer were in contact with each other, the language has slowly changed to reflect the new cultures and societies of each nation.
What happened to the Korean Language after the Korean war? As the Korean people inthe two nations no longer were in contact with each other, the language has slowly changed to reflect the new cultures and societies of each nation.
North and South Korea are often discussed in a social and political context, but we rarely hear about the languages of the two nations. It is certainly interesting to linguists, as we can see how the same language has evolved into two varieties over the past seven decades and how the different approached of North and South Korea have affected how the language has changed.
Of course I am simplifying when I say there is a Southern and a Northern variety of Korean. Just like in Norway, there are regional dialects, both in the North and in the South, but here I am mainly discussing the standard dialects, which is the Seoul dialect in the South, and the Pyeongyang dialect in the North.
At the end of World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided into the North and the South around the 38th parallel, the North being backed by China, the Soviet Union and communist allies, while the South was backed by the United States and other Western allies. Growing tensions between the two halves led to the Korean War, which lasted from 1950- 1953. The division remained and the two nations worked on rebuilding after the destructions of the war. The conflict is still ongoing, but in 2018 the Panmunjom Declaration was signed as a part of the process to work towards a peaceful reunification.
With this background, we can explore how the Korean language was affected by the divide of the Korean peninsula. The Korean language is generally accepted to be a language isolate, meaning that it has no common ancestor language with other existing languages. For centuries, close political and cultural contact with China meant that also language was influenced by Chinese. Chinese characters (hanja) were used for writing, even for a long time after the Korean writing system was developed. Many loanwords were also taken from Chinese, commonly named Sino-Korean vocabulary.
After the Korean peninsula was divided into the North and the South, different approached to the national language, in addition to a great lack of language contact between the two has resulted in two separate varieties of the Korean language. These differences encompass everything from the orthography, to the vocabulary and the phonology.
“An issue for many North Korean refugees who come to South Korea is the differences in vocabulary”
The Korean script was developed in 1443 by King Sejong the Great and is meant to reflect the phonetic features of each letter, such as the position of the tongue and lips as they are pronounced. In South Korea this script is called Hangul (한글) and in North Korea it is called Chosŏn’gŭl (조선글). Just like the Latin alphabet that we are used to, the letters in the Korean script have an order in which they tend to be placed, but this order differs between North and South Korea.
An issue for many North Korean refugees who come to South Korea is the differences in vocabulary. Since the Korean war, society in the two countries has developed in different directions, and each of them has adopted new words that are relevant in their respective societies.
North and South Korea also have different approaches to how the language is influenced by other languages. For instance, North Korea tends to favour using native Korean words over Sino-Korean words, while South Korea is more liberal in the adoption of loan words. For instance, the North Korean word for friend is dongmu (동무), a native Korean word, while South Korea adopted the Sino-Korean word chingu (친구) after the Korean war, as dongmu became associated with the North Korean ideology and use of the word to mean comrade. It is estimated that around 60% of South Korean vocabulary is Sino-Korean. Post-war North Korean includes many loanwords from Russian, whereas South Korean language has taken many loanwords from English.
Not only are there differences in the vocabulary itself, but there are also differences in inflections between the northern and southern varieties. For instance, the word for thank you, komapta (고맙다) becomes komawa (고마와) in North Korea, while it becomes komawo (고마워) in South Korea.
As we can see, North Korea tends to have a much more conservative approach to their language, preserving more of the traditional vocabulary and spelling methods, whereas South Korea is more open to new loan words and language change. In North Korea, the language is considered to be an important part of the education of the people in political matters and is a component in their juche (주체) ideology. Central to this ideology is the idea that a nation can only achieve socialism when they become truly self-reliant. North Korean linguists and politicians have based this on the idea that language can influence, or even determine, thought. This idea is known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and although no solid proof has been found for a strong version of this theory, which says that language determines thought, indications have been found that language can have minor influences on thought.
“Language in North Korea is not merely a cultural and social feature, but also a significant political device”
Perhaps this ideology sounds familiar? George Orwell presents a similar scenario in his 1949 novel Ninety-eightyfour, where the political party in Oceania actively use language to suppress the thoughts of the people. This language is called Newspeak and has been extremely simplified to prevent the people from thinking critically of the government, and at the same time new words have been added that are meant to enforce the governments power and ideas further.
Fortunately, this does not work in reality, as is indeed the case in North Korea. The people are still able to think in non-communist ways, and some people do escape the country. Yet, it is possible to see clear differences in the language that are greatly due to the government’s language policy. Language in North Korea is not merely a cultural and social feature, but also a significant political device.
After the Korean peninsula was split into two, the two peoples, who, historically, have so much shared culture, were divided. As they were no longer in contact, their language also diverged, and has over time seen significant changes, although they are still mutually intelligible. Arguably it is easier for someone from South Korea to understand a person from North Korea than the other way around, as South Korea has gained so many new words and adopted words related to popular culture and culture borrowings from other countries.
What would happen to the Korean language if the two Koreas were unified? Perhaps the two varieties would still remain dialectal variations, as there today are different dialects in the different regions in North and South Korea. The North Korean people would likely adopt many new words related to popular culture and other cultural elements. South Korea might also adopt new words related to the situation and culture as it has developed in North Korea. As time would pass, the two varieties would probably become more similar again, as the people intermix and move around, and mainly the dialectal variation would remain as a witness of their separation.
