Zainichi Korean language


Zainichi Korean is a variety of Korean as spoken by Zainichi Koreans. The speech is based on the southern dialects of Korean, as the majority of first-generation immigrants came from the southern part of the peninsula, including Gyeonggi-do, Jeolla-do and Jeju-do.
Due to isolation from other Korean speech-communities and the influence of Japanese, Zainichi Korean language exhibits strong differences from the standard Korean of either North or South Korea.

Languages among Zainichi Koreans

The majority of Zainichi Koreans use Japanese in their everyday speech, even among themselves. The Korean language is used only in a limited number of social contexts: towards first-generation immigrants, as well as in Chosŏn Hakkyo,, pro-Pyongyang ethnic schools supported by Chongryon.
Since most Zainichi Koreans learn Korean as their second language, they tend to speak it with a heavy Japanese accent. This variety of speech is called Zainichi Korean language, a name which, even when used by Zainichi Koreans themselves, often carries a critical connotation.

Sounds

Vowels

While Standard Korean distinguishes eight vowels, Zainichi Korean distinguishes only five, as in Japanese.

Initial consonants

In syllable-initial position, standard Korean distinguishes among plain, aspirated, and tense consonants, such as,, and. Zainichi Korean, on the other hand, distinguishes only between unvoiced and voiced consonants, as in Japanese.
There are no geminates after nasal consonants. Thus 앉자, in Standard, becomes, not.
As in the North Korean standard, initial or never change their values. 역사 in South Korea is 력사 in North Korea, or among Zainichi Koreans.

Final consonants

Seven consonants occur in the final position of Standard Korean syllables, namely,,,,,, and. In Zainichi Korean, again, those sounds are treated differently.

Grammar

Zainichi Korean grammar also shows influence from Japanese.
Some particles are used differently from the Standard Korean. For instance, "to ride a car" is expressed as chareul tanda in standard Korean, which can be interpreted as "car- ride". In Zainichi Korean, the same idea is expressed as cha-e tanda, just like Japanese kuruma ni noru.
Standard Korean distinguishes hae itda and hago itda. For instance, "to be sitting" is anja itda, not ango itda, as the latter would mean "being in the middle of the action of sitting, but has not completed the action yet". Zainichi Korean, however, does not distinguish these two, as Japanese does not either; it uses hago itda form for both continuous state and continuous action.

Writing system

Zainichi Korean is not typically written; standard Korean is used as the literary language. For example, a speaker who pronounces the word geureona as gurona, will still spell the word in the former form. In much the same way, Standard Korean speakers retain the grapheme difference between ae ㅐ and e ㅔ, even though they may pronounce the two identically.