was a Japanese linguist who studied the

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

. In the 1920s, Ogura made the initial breakthroughs in the decipherment of the ''

hyangga ''Hyangga'' () were poems written using Chinese characters in a system known as ''hyangchal'' during the Unified Silla and early Goryeo periods of Korean history. Only a few have survived: 14 in the ''Samguk yusa'' and 11 by the monk Kyunyeo. ...

'' songs, which are now key sources on

Old Korean Old Korean () is the first historically documented stage of the Korean language, typified by the language of the Unified Silla period (668–935). The boundaries of Old Korean periodization remain in dispute. Some linguists classify the sparsely ...

. Ogura conducted an extensive national survey of

Korean dialects A number of Korean dialects are spoken on the Korean Peninsula. The peninsula is very mountainous and each dialect's "territory" corresponds closely to the natural boundaries between different geographical regions of Korea. Most of the dialects ...

. Partly because such surveys have been impossible since the

division of Korea The division of Korea began with the defeat of Empire of Japan, Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allies of World War II, Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached ...

in 1945, his dialect classification is still widely used, with some modifications.

Selected works

* Revised edition, 1940: . * * * Volume 1: . Volume 2: .

Selected works

References

Further reading