Introduction:
Korean is the official and national language of both Koreas: North Korea and South Korea, with different standardized official forms used in each country. In South Korea, it is known as 한국어/韓國語 (hangugeo), and in North Korea, it is known as 조선말/朝鮮말 (chosŏnmal). It is an East Asian language spoken by about 77 million people. Korean is also spoken in parts of Sakhalin, Russia, and Central Asia. It is a recognized minority language in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County of Jilin Province, China.
The linguistic homeland of the Korean language is believed to be somewhere in Manchuria.
Historical and modern linguists classify Korean as a language isolate; that is it does not have any close relative or other languages belonging to the same family. It, however, does have a few extinct relatives which together with Korean itself and the Jeju language (spoken in the Jeju Province and considered somewhat distinct) formed the Koreanic language family.
Modern Korean descends from Middle Korean, which in turn descends from Old Korean, which descends from the Proto-Koreanic language which is generally suggested to have its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria.
Chinese characters arrived in Korea, together with Buddhism during the Proto-Three Kingdoms era in the 1st century BC. They were adapted for Korean, and became known as Hanja, and remained as the main script for writing Korean for over a millennium.
The number writing system in the Korean language is quite complex. There are two distinguished numbering systems in the Korean language.
They are ‘Native Korean Numbers’ and ‘Sino-Korean Numbers’. The numbers are written and pronounced totally differently in both these systems. Sino-Korean numbers are used for dates, money, time, addresses, and numbers above 100.
Korean Numbers
Korean is the official and national language of both Koreas: North Korea and South Korea, with different standardized official forms used in each country. In South Korea, it is known as 한국어/韓國語 (hangugeo), and in North Korea, it is known as 조선말/朝鮮말 (chosŏnmal). It is an East Asian language spoken by about 77 million people. Korean is also spoken in parts of Sakhalin, Russia, and Central Asia. It is a recognized minority language in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County of Jilin Province, China.
The linguistic homeland of the Korean language is believed to be somewhere in Manchuria.
Historical and modern linguists classify Korean as a language isolate; that is it does not have any close relative or other languages belonging to the same family. It, however, does have a few extinct relatives which together with Korean itself and the Jeju language (spoken in the Jeju Province and considered somewhat distinct) formed the Koreanic language family.
Modern Korean descends from Middle Korean, which in turn descends from Old Korean, which descends from the Proto-Koreanic language which is generally suggested to have its linguistic homeland somewhere in Manchuria.
Chinese characters arrived in Korea, together with Buddhism during the Proto-Three Kingdoms era in the 1st century BC. They were adapted for Korean, and became known as Hanja, and remained as the main script for writing Korean for over a millennium.
The number writing system in the Korean language is quite complex. There are two distinguished numbering systems in the Korean language.
They are ‘Native Korean Numbers’ and ‘Sino-Korean Numbers’. The numbers are written and pronounced totally differently in both these systems. Sino-Korean numbers are used for dates, money, time, addresses, and numbers above 100.
Let us see how the numbers one to ten are written in these two scripts.
Native Korean Numbers 1-10
1 하나 hana
2 둘 dhul
3 셋 sehtt
4 넷 nehtt
5 다섯 da-seot
6 여섯 yeo-seot
7 일곱 il-gop
8 여덟 yuh-deol
9 아홉 ah-hop
10 열 yeol
Sino-Korean Numbers 1-10
1 일 il
2 이 i (pronounced as “e”)
3 삼 sam
4 사 sa
5 오 o
6 육 yuk
7 칠 chil
8 팔 pal
9 구 gu
10 십 ship
How would you write the number 12 in Sino-Korean?
The answer is:
10 is 십 and two is 이. Add those two together and you get 십이, that is, 12
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Conclusion:
After reading the above, are you thinking that it is too difficult to learn numbers in the Korean language?
Or are you thinking that understanding the differences between the two number systems in Korean is too time-consuming?
Well, it is not so!
Learning the number systems in Korean seems to be very easy if they are taught in the correct manner and using appropriate or correct techniques.
An online learning platform or tech platform, Multibhashi, has Korean language instructors who are certified Korean language trainers having in–depth knowledge of the language. When you take Korean learning online classes from Multibhashi, you can be assured of the quality of training that they provide. The regular pre–in – post-session assignments given to a learner make sure that the learner is making constant progress, and that his or her Korean language skills are improving gradually with every session. Students can observe the facial movements of the tutors to understand the pronunciation of each word, number, and syllable clearly.
Here, the language instructors who are connoisseurs of the Korean language even help students prepare for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) which is a standardized and internationally recognized, and accepted test of proficiency in the Korean language for non-native Korean speakers.
If you are looking forward to learning numbers in Korean from a reliable and trustworthy source such as an online Korean learning platform, why not try a few classes with Multibhashi?
You must just as well develop a keen interest in learning Korean right up to the most advanced level, master the Korean language in a short period, and soon get ready for any test in the Korean language!
