Jeju language

Jeju (Cheju) is the moribund variety of the Korean language spoken on Jeju Island in South Korea. It differs greatly from the Korean dialects of the mainland.

Name

The name is transcribed Jeju in Revised Romanization and Cheju in McCune-Reischauer. In Korean, it is known as 제주 방언 (濟州方言) Jeju bang-eon or 제주 사투리 Jeju saturi "Jeju dialect", as 제주어 (濟州語) Jejueo "Jeju language",^[4] or as 제주말 Jejumal "Jeju speech". The last covers both language and dialect.

Classification

Although many Koreans, including those who speak Jeju, consider Jeju a dialect of Korean, it can be considered a separate language because it is nearly mutually unintelligible with Korean dialects of the mainland.^[5] It has been recognized as a distinct language locally and by UNESCO.^[6]

Demographics

There are 5,000–10,000 fluent speakers, all born before 1950. Jeju was once spoken across Jeju Island, apart from the Chuja islands in the former Bukjeju County (currently Jeju City), where the Chuja dialect, a variety of the Jeolla dialect, is spoken. It also survives in diasporic enclaves in Japan.^[7]

In January 2011, UNESCO added Jeju to its Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger as a "critically endangered language".^[6]

Phonology

There are 9 vowels:

Jeju maintains the arae-a vowel ㆍ [ɒ], which has been lost from standard Korean.

Historical changes

• Middle Korean *kj > Jeju [t͡ɕ] (e.g. *kjər > [t͡ɕər] "wave")
• Middle Korean *əːj > Jeju [i] (e.g. *kəːj > [ki-ŋi] "crab")

Pragmatics

A notable difference between Jeju and the dialects of mainland Korea is a lack of formality and honorific deference to elders. For example, while a speaker of the Seoul dialect might say 안녕하세요 annyeonghaseyo ("Hello") to an older person, a speaker of the Jeju dialect would say 반갑수다 ban-gapsuda, which is roughly equivalent to "Howdy". In mainland Korea it would be inappropriate for a child to say this to an adult, but this usage is acceptable in Jeju.

Vocabulary

Jeju preserves many archaic words which have been lost elsewhere, and has borrowed foreign words that are not found in standard Korean. There are also many words which have not been traced to external sources, and which possibly derive from the language of the ancient kingdom of Tamna.^{[citation needed]}

Grammar

Verb

Present tense

Jeju honorifics differ from Standard Korean. Where the standard has declarative ㅂ니다 -mnida, Jeju has 암/엄수다 -amsuda or -eomsuda. Where Korean has interrogative ㅂ니까? -mnikka?, Jeju has 암/엄수과? -a/eomsugwa?

Stative verbs ("adjectives") are similar. Where standard has ㅂ니다/까 -mnida/mnikka or 습니다/까 -seumnida/seumnikka, Jeju has 우다/꽈 -uda/uggwa or 수다/꽈 -suda/suggwa.

Past tense

Jeju past declarative 앗/엇수다 -assuda/eossuda corresponds to standard 았/었습니다 -asseumnida/eusseumnida and interrogative 앗/엇수과? -assugwa/-eossugwa to standard 았/었습니까? -asseumnikka/eosseumnikka.

References

• National Institute for the Korean Language, JEJU National University, South Korea

External links

• 제주어 표기법 (Jeju dictionary orthography) at Wikisource
• Computer input for hangul syllabic blocks containing arae-a
• Galbijim