Discussion Post #6
The Korean language system otherwise known as “Hangul” was designed by King Sejong in the 15th century. Though there are debates as to which language family Korean belongs to, it is usually agreed upon that it belongs to the Altaic language family. Interestingly enough, roughly half of the Korean vocabulary has words and spellings derived from the Chinese language. This is because the Korean language borrows words from Chinese. These considerations allow me to recognize the overlap and similarity between multiple languages, especially Korean. Just geographically and culturally speaking, Korea and China have shared a region over a long period of time which would probably explain the influence and overlap in their language. Politically speaking, the Chinese were fairly dominant and had a strong presence from the 2nd century BCE up until the 17th century CE. This in turn led to a strong institutional presence leading much of the elite and scholars to have some form of understanding of the Chinese language. All these factors taken into consideration over time is presumably what led the Chinese language to have such a significant influence in the Korean language.
I think that oftentimes, language changes over time as a result of social patterns and behaviors. This includes trends, and words that were previously nonexistent creating a need for new and existing words. Linguists are able to track and predict these changes through studying and analyzing past trends through pattern recognition.
The Korean language system otherwise known as “Hangul” was designed by King Sejong in the 15th century. Though there are debates as to which language family Korean belongs to, it is usually agreed upon that it belongs to the Altaic language family. Interestingly enough, roughly half of the Korean vocabulary has words and spellings derived from the Chinese language. This is because the Korean language borrows words from Chinese. These considerations allow me to recognize the overlap and similarity between multiple languages, especially Korean. Just geographically and culturally speaking, Korea and China have shared a region over a long period of time which would probably explain the influence and overlap in their language. Politically speaking, the Chinese were fairly dominant and had a strong presence from the 2nd century BCE up until the 17th century CE. This in turn led to a strong institutional presence leading much of the elite and scholars to have some form of understanding of the Chinese language. All these factors taken into consideration over time is presumably what led the Chinese language to have such a significant influence in the Korean language.
I think that oftentimes, language changes over time as a result of social patterns and behaviors. This includes trends, and words that were previously nonexistent creating a need for new and existing words. Linguists are able to track and predict these changes through studying and analyzing past trends through pattern recognition.
Comments
Many of the things you found I also found as well!
I found your part about history of the Korean language and its connection to Chinese very insightful. I agree with you that the shared history between Korea and China, especially through the influence of Chinese scholars and elites, really explains the large amount of vocabulary borrowed from Chinese. Your point about language change driven by social patterns and trends is also so true. As societies evolve, so do the languages spoken within them. New technologies, social movements, and cultural shifts create a need for new words, while old ones might fall out of use. The ability of linguists to track these changes through pattern recognition is crucial in understanding not just the languages themselves but also the cultures they reflect. It’s exciting to think about how languages will continue to adapt in the future.