The Pyeongan dialect (), alternatively Northwestern Korean (), is the
Korean dialect of the Northwestern Korean peninsula and neighboring parts of China. It has influenced the standard Korean of
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
, but is not the primary influence of North Korea's standard Korean (the
Gyeonggi dialect
The Gyeonggi dialect () or Seoul dialect () of the Korean language is the prestige dialect of the language and the basis of the standardized form used in South Korea. It is spoken throughout the Korean Peninsula and in the Korean diaspora, but i ...
, the Korean language standard of
Joseon
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
-era Korea for roughly 500 years, is the foundation of standard Korean in both North and South Korea).
Pronunciation
Vowels
In the Pyongan dialect an eight vowel system is used (이·에·애·으·어·아·우·오). The sound of 어 is much closer to that of 오 compared to other dialects as it is
the rounded equivalent to South Korean
̹ 으 is also closer to
than to
e.g. 그렇다 becomes 기렇다. However, the opposite is true after ㅅ. The palatalization that occurred for other dialects with 시 is absent in the Pyongan dialect, e.g. 싫다 becomes 슳다.
There are various features that differentiate the sound of words from southwestern and midland dialects. 위, 왜, 워 and 와 are closer to an original sound of 야, 여, 요 and 유.
Palatalization
The ㄷ (d) consonant, in addition to the first syllable of ㄱ (g) and ㅎ (h) are not palatalized in the Pyongan dialect (e.g. 뎡거댱, 정거장: chyŏnggŏjyang, chŏgŏjang).
Sino-Korean words beginning with ㄴ (n) in southern dialects are pronounced as ㄹ (r), as in the cases of 뉴행 (nyuhaeng) and 노동 (nodong).
Conjugation
Stems of the ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ irregulars use both forms, such as in the case of 듣다·드드니, 들으니 (tŭtta-tŭdŭni, tŭrŭni) (listening, to hear).
Words
Particles
Vocabulary
Various words used in the Pyongan dialect differ to that of other Korean dialects, such as 간나 (''kanna'') (sissy), 클마니 (''k'ŭlmani'') (father) and 클마니 (grandmother). The etymology of words such as "우틔" (''ut'ŭi'') (衣) arises from the
Manchu language
Manchu (Manchu:, ) is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China.
As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qing dyn ...
, but has been removed by the North Korean government in order to promote
language purity.
References
Korean dialects
Korean language in North Korea
Languages of North Korea
Korean language in China
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