IntroductionThis is a list of basic Korean Vocabulary. The list contains approximately 5,900 entries, but that number will change as entries are merged or added. The entry words come from South Korea's
National Institute of the Korean Language (국립국어원), in their May 2003 publication
Vocabulary List for Studying Korean (한국어 학습용 어휘 목록) [
1]. The list includes 5,965 words that its anonymous compiler(s) consider essential for students of Korean to learn, is the fruit of much productive research [
2], and has resulted in at least one or two published dictionaries since the list was released [
3].
How to Read EntriesTypical entries are of the following format:
가능 [가ː능] (可能), n.: possibility
|
| 가능성 [-썽] (-性), n.: possibility
|
| 가능하다, adj. (-해, -하니): be possible
|
| 가능해지다, v.i. (-져, -지니): become possible
|
가다01, v.i., v.t., v.aux. (가, 가니; low formal imperative: 가거라): go
|
| (as an auxiliary verb, indicates an ongoing action; see here for examples.)
|
Main entry words are listed alphabetically (that is, in Han'gŭl (Hangeul) "가나다" order). Each entry word is linked to the
Naver Korean Dictionary (네이버 국어사전) page for that word, except where such a page does not exist. The Naver Korean Dictionary's content is identical to that of the
National Institute of the Korean Language (국립 국어원)'s
Dictionary of Standard Korean (표준국어대사전).
Derived entry words are listed under the corresponding principal entry words and indented. Derived entry words ending in -되다, -적, -하다, or -히 often link to and are covered on the same Naver dictionary page as the corresponding principal entry words.
A
numerical superscript (e.g.,
01) identifies a specific entry for a word in the
Dictionary of Standard Korean. The superscript
80 indicates a word that occurs in the
Frequency Survey of Modern Korean Usage (현대 국어 사용 빈도 조사) but not in the
Dictionary, where multiple entries exist in the latter.
Pronunciation glosses are marked in [square brackets] when a word's pronunciation differs from its spelling (either because of regular, rule-defined sound changes, or because the word's pronunciation is simply irregular). A pair of triangular dots (ː) indicates that the preceding vowel is long. Long vowels in Korean are simply pronounced for a longer period of time than short vowels. For example,
가능 [가ː능] sounds like
가——능, with the the mouth held open on the ㅏ sound in 가 longer than for, say,
가다01.
Hancha (Hanja) are marked in (parentheses), and are omitted where they are redundant, to save space. (E.g., (可能) is shown for
가능02 in the example above, but omitted for
가능성, for which (-性) is shown for the suffix
-성.)
Parts of speech are given after the entry words, pronunciation glosses, and hancha. (Note that intransitive and transitive verbs are not identified as such in the Naver Dictionary, but they are distinguished in many print dictionaries, and their distinction is an essential one for learners to know.) Parts of speech are identified by English abbreviations:
| adj. | adjective | (형용사)
|
| adj.aux. | auxiliary adjective | (보조 형용사)
|
| adv. | adverb | (부사)
|
| dep.n. | dependent noun | (의존 명사)
|
| det. | determiner | (관형사)
|
| int. | interjection | (감탄사)
|
| n. | noun | (명사)
|
| num. | number | (수사)
|
| pron. | pronoun | (대명사)
|
| v.aux. | auxiliary verb | (보조 동사)
|
| v.i. | intransitive verb | (자동사)
|
| v.t. | transitive verb | (타동사)
|
Verb and adjective conjugations are shown in (parentheses) after the part of speech. The "paradigmatic" infinitive (-아/어) and connective (-(으)니) forms are shown for all verbs and adjectives, whether regular or irregular. If there are other notable irregular forms, they are marked and shown (e.g., the
low formal imperative 가거라 for the verb
가다01). For many entry words, only the part of the word that changes is shown, to save space (e.g., (-해, -하니) for
가능하다 and (-져 [-저], -지니) for
가능해지다 in the example above).
[
1]. The list is accessible through the National Institute's website, but requires a bit of navigation to get to. Go to the bulletin board at this link:
http://korean.go.kr/06_new/press/korean_list.jsp, then navigate to post #50. (As of 10 September 2007, it's on page 5, but the page number will increase over time as newer posts bump it down.) That link will take you to an introduction to the list, from which a Microsoft Excel Workbook version of the list may be downloaded (called "contents.xls"). Post 52 gives the same list, in Arae-A Hangul 97 format. Post 51 links to a Unicode text file, but as of 10 September 2007, that file seems to be inaccessible. For a translation of the introduction to the list, see
this page.
[
2]. Much of the early research seems to have been spearheaded by 김광해 (Kim Kwang-Hae), a Korean Language professor at Seoul National University, who has since passed away. He had evidently done a lot of research on the topic, and wrote a lengthy article in the
Autumn 2003 issue of "
새국어생활" (
New Korean Life), exploring the concept of basic (or literally, "foundational") vocabularies: '
기초어휘의 개념과 중요성' ("The Concept and Importance of a Basic Vocabulary").
[
3]. Since I first discovered the vocabulary list soon after it was published (it was an answer to my prayers!), the list parlayed itself into a major project: the
Learner's Dictionary of Korean (외국인을 위한 한국어 학습 사전). The dictionary appears to draw its selection of entries directly from the vocabulary list I'm using for this project. Not to toot my own horn, but I wrote up a wholly informal, non-academic, and unsolicited review of the dictionary on the Korean Studies discussion list
here. The dictionary has its plusses and minuses, as discussed by others as well as myself
here,
here, and
here. Rumour has it that there has been at least one other dictionary published based on this word list, but I haven't seen it and I don't know its title.
NotesLong-vowel stems: When a single-syllable verb or adjective stem has a long vowel (e.g., 갈ː-다, 개ː-다), special rules apply. Generally, if the syllable following the stem starts with a consonant sound, then the long vowel is retained (갈ː다, 갈ː고, 개ː다, 개ː고); but if the syllable following the stem starts with a vowel sound, then the long vowel is dropped (갈아, 갈으니, 개어, 개으니). When any single-syllable verb stem (whether long or short) ends in a vowel and is merged with the ending -아 or -어, however, the long vowel is retained or gained (개ː다 → 개어 or 개ː, 하다 → 하여 or 해ː, 되다 → 되어 or 돼ː). Note, however, that if 하다 or 되다 are used as suffixes following a word root (e.g., 강하다, 가ː능하다, 감ː소되다), -해 and -돼 may be short (the jury's still out; I'm still looking into it).
Stems ending in ㄹ: All verb and adjective stems ending in
ㄹ change their form by dropping the ㄹ before certain endings and affixes, as follows:
☞ Before
-을, the
-을 is simply dropped. For example,
*놀을 becomes
놀.☞ Before
-음, the
ㄹ is replaced by
ㄻ, although one often sees ㄹ음. For example,
놀음 is used, but more properly should be written as
놂.☞ Before
-은, the
ㄹ is replaced by
ㄴ. For example,
*가늘은 becomes
가는.☞ Before endings starting with
-으ㄴ or
-으ㅅ (
-으는, -으니, -으시- etc.), the
ㄹ is dropped, as is
-으-. For example,
*갈으니 becomes
가니, and
*알으십니다 becomes
아십니다.☞ Before
-소 or
-습니다, the
ㄹ is dropped, and
-소 or
-습니다 is changed to
-오 or
-ㅂ니다 respectively. For example,
*말소 becomes
마오, and
*살습니다 becomes
삽니다.The table below lists common verbs and adjectives with stems ending in
ㄹ:
| Regular
(stem changes) | 가늘다, 갈다
|
Stems ending in ㅂ: Most verb and adjective stems ending in
ㅂ are irregular, changing their form before endings or affixes that start with vowel sounds (
-어, -었-, -은, -을, -음, -으면, -으시-, etc.). In such cases, the
ㅂ is replaced by
우 and merged with the following syllable. For example,
*가깝어 becomes
가까워, *가볍었다 becomes
가벼웠다, and
*눕으시네 becomes
누우시네. The table below lists common verbs and adjectives with stems ending in
ㅂ:
| Irregular
(stem changes) | 가깝다, 가볍다, 갑작스럽다
|
| Regular
(no change) | 넓다, 씹다, 입다, 잡다, 좁다
|
Copyright (©) 2006-2007 Stefan Ewing. All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced for the purpose of public redisplay in any form whatsoever, except with the express written consent of the author.
