한국어

Korean

Etymology

한국 (han-guk, “Land of the Han of the korean peninsula”, 韓國) + 어 (eo, “language”, 語)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɐːngugʌ̹/
• Phonetic hangul: 한:구거

Romanization

Revised	Han-gugeo	transliteration	Hāngug-eo
McCune–Reischauer	Han'gugŏ	Yale	Hānkwuk.e

Proper noun

한국어 (Han-gugeo) (hanja 韓國語)

1. the Korean language

Usage notes

Of the many Korean names for the Korean language, this is the most formal in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). 한국말 (han-gungmal) is more commonly used, but it denotes exclusively the spoken language (말 (mal) is speech). In North Korea, 조선말 (joseonmal) is more common.

Synonyms

• 한국말 (han-gungmal, “Korean spoken language”) (broadly)
• 우리말 (urimal, “our spoken language”) (broadly)
• 조선어 (joseoneo, “Joseoneo”) (broadly)
• 조선말 (joseonmal, 朝鮮말) (broadly)
• 고려말 (goryeomal, 高麗말) (broadly)