The History of the Korean language

The Korean language is believed to be part of the Altaic language family and is spoken by nearly 80 million people around the world. It is native to North and South Korea, but is also spoken in parts of the People's Republic of China, and parts of Japan, and by people in the United States and Russia. Korean is the official language in North and South Korea, but also in the region of Yanbian, within the People's Republic of China. We are happy to take your orders for translations from and into Korean.

Historical development

Today it is assumed that the Korean language evolved from the dialects of the Buyeo. Out of the language of these tribes, so called Middle Korean developed over various intermediary steps and is traceable back to a thousand years before Christ. Middle Korean was strongly marked by the influence of the Manchurians and Chinese. At that time in Korea, writing was done exclusively in Chinese characters. In about the sixteenth century the formation of Middle Korean into today’s spoken version of the Korean language took place. In modern-day North and South Korea, Korean is the official language. The North Korean dialect is based in particular off the manner of the accent typically used in and around the capital city Pyongyang. The language of South Korea is significantly influenced by the dialect in the capital Seoul. Nevertheless, the differences in the dialects spoken in North and South Korea are minimal and inhabitants of both country sections can easily communicate with each other. There is only one variant of Korean that is not understandable to the North and South Koreans and it is spoken on the south Korean volcanic island of Jeju-do. Jeju-do has a status of a special province of South Korea.

A Popular But Complex Language

Korean is currently enjoying a large amount of popularity. Today, many people from all around the globe are learning Korean for various reasons. Especially the polite forms, similar to polite forms in many Asian languages, are very complex and can be confusing when first learning Korean. There are numerous titles or descriptions of kinship relation that are used as titles and using these in the correct situations and context is something foreigners painstakingly strive to learn. When using polite forms there is also a cultural assessment of your conversation partner. Therefore, the verbs of the Korean language, for example, are often used in a social context. The appropriate use of greeting formulas in the Korean language, therefore, is no less difficult. Their vocabulary contains loanwords from Chinese, Japanese, English, and German. A professional translator knows the intricacies of the language and can translate your text professionally and accurately. He/she always matches the right tone to the translation and is acquainted with unique regional characteristics of the language. We have these professional translators! Regardless of whether you need a manual or a notarized document translated – we have every expertise covered.