History of Korean

The traditional periodization of Korean distinguishes:[1][2]

  • Old Korean (고대 한국어, 古代韓國語, to 918), the earliest attested stage of the language, through to the fall of Unified Silla. Many authors include the few inscriptions from Silla in the Three Kingdoms period. Authors differ on whether the poorly attested speech of the Goguryeo and Baekje kingdoms and Gaya Confederacy were dialects of Old Korean or separate languages.[3]
  • Middle Korean (중세 한국어, 中世韓國語, 918–1600), corresponding to the Goryeo period (918–1392), when the capital moved from the southeast to Kaesong, and Joseon up to the Imjin Wars (1592–1598). Middle Korean is often divided into Early and Late periods corresponding to the two dynasties. The introduction of the Hangul alphabet in 1446 (early in the Late period) transformed the documentation of the language in comparison with previous systems based on adaptations of Chinese characters.
  • Early Modern Korean (근세 한국어, 近世韓國語, 17th to 19th centuries), corresponding to the later part of Joseon.
  • Modern Korean (근현대 한국어, 近現代韓國語, from the beginning of the 20th century).

Nam Pung-hyun has suggested that the division between Old and Middle Korean ought to be drawn at the time of the Mongol invasions of Korea (mid-13th century).[4][5] He divides his extended Old Korean period into Early (Three Kingdoms), Middle (Unified Silla) and Late (early Goryeo) periods.[4]

  1. ^ Lee & Ramsey (2000), pp. 273–274.
  2. ^ Cho & Whitman (2019), pp. 9–10.
  3. ^ Lee & Ramsey (2000), p. 276.
  4. ^ a b Nam (2012), p. 41.
  5. ^ Whitman (2015), p. 421.