ABSTRACT
This book is an invitation to the Korean language (known as Hankwukmal in South Korea and Cosenmal in North Korea). The bulk of the book is devoted to the description of the structure and use of the language, i.e. sound patterns, vocabulary, word and sentence structure, discourse and writing systems. That description is also situated in the historical, sociocultural context in which the Korean language has ‘evolved’ into what it is today, because no languages develop or exist in a socio-cultural vacuum. The shape and form of a given language are inevitably the outcome of its historical origins, developments and changes. To fail to understand this fundamental fact is to fail to understand where languages have come from or how and why they have become what they are. Moreover, although some linguists may choose to regard them merely as a collection of linguistic rules, languages are influenced by the need to communicate in socio-cultural contexts. In other words, language use is, more often than not, dictated by socio-cultural conventions, values and expectations. As a consequence, languages reflect various socio-cultural factors within their structural properties, including not only vocabulary but also grammatical rules. (Needless to say, some languages are more likely to do so than others.) This is particularly true of Korean, as is amply attested in the rest of the book. More to the point, discussion of the historical, socio-cultural context of the Korean language is indispensable in a book like the present one because the majority of readers are likely to come from a Western cultural background – very different indeed from Korean culture – or to have little prior knowledge of Korean culture and society. Thus the first chapter of this book is designed to provide an informative account of the geographical, historical and sociocultural context of the Korean language and its speakers.
