한국어

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 韓國語, from 韓國 (“Korea”) + 語 (“language”)

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈha̠(ː)nɡuɡʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [한(ː)구거]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	han'gugeo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	hangug'eo
McCune–Reischauer?	han'gugŏ
Yale Romanization?	hānkwuk.e

Noun

한국어 • (han'gugeo) (hanja 韓國語)

2. 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, “speech”)). In North Korea, 조선말 (joseonmal) is more common.

Synonyms

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