•a: & a <§ ^ $ AN INTRODUCTION TO THE KOREAN SPOKEN LANGUAGE BY HORACE GRANT UNDERWOOD IN TWO PARTS : PART I. GRAMMATICAL NOTES PART II. ENGLISH INTO KOREAN SECOND EDITION REVISED AND ENLARGED WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF HORACE HORTON UNDERWOOD, A.B. EUROPE AND AMERICA The MacMillan Company, New York THE FAR EAST Kelly & Walsh, I/td., Yokohama, Shanghai The Korean Religious Tract Society, Seoul, Korea (all eight reserved) 39fb ■- 7?5. 5 PRINTED BY THE FUKUIN PRINTING Co., L'id., YOKOHAMA, JAPAN. K ■ PREFACE. It was hardly expected when this volume saw the light of day in 1889 that so many years would pass before it was supplemented by something more elaborate and better and it is only the fact that nothing else has been prepared to take its place and that the author has been so beseeched for a new edition that has led us to issue this second edition. "We have sought advice and help and suggestions for changes on every hand and regret very much that the press of work has hindered others from giving to us the assistance that would have made this book of much more value to the studenj of Korean. In the present edition the author i3 glad to say that he has had the assistance of his son who went over the revision of the book with the enthusiasm of a new student of the language. We regret that more changes have not been made because we feel that the imperfections of the book would have warranted a more thorough revision of the book, but ■ a careful review of all the parts with the assistance of some of the best Korean scholars available did not result ■in more than what is seen in this new edition. There are one or two appendices that have been added which will contribute not a little to the study of the language The use of the book we believe will be very much enhanced by the alphabetical indices ; one, a general index in English and the other an index of gram matical forms in Korean. O 81271 IV PREFACE . Special credit should be given to Mr. Sang-Kyu Pack, Ph. B. of Brown University, U. S. A. who has assisted me throughout. As before, so again the author would gladly welcome any criticisms or suggestions either as to form or matter with which the student of the language may kindly favor him. Seoul, Korea, January 1914. H. G. U. PREFACE. To Fiest Edition. In this introduction to the study of the Korean spoken language, a systematic grammar, in the strict sense of the word, has not been aimed at. It has been attempted simply to introduce the student to the study, to clear away some of the obstacles and difficulties that present them selves, and to show him the way by which he can become a proficient speaker of Korean. Passing through Japan on my way to Korea, Dr. Imbrie's " English-Japanese Etymology " was brought to my notice ; and, the plan of study there presented appealing to me as best suited to my individual needs, I decided to adopt it in the study of Korean. In carrying out this idea, I was greatly aided by ob taining the Korean translation of Dr. Imbrie's sentences prepared by Mr. Song Soun Yong, (who had become my teacher) at the direction of Lieut. Bernardo (U.S.N.) After correcting, arranging and adding to them, I found them of so great advantage to myself, and they proved of such valuable assistance to the many to whom I loaned them, that I determined, to carry the classifica tion still further, to formulate rules of which the sentences should be illustrations, and to throw the whole into a form similar to Dr. Imbrie's book. Most of this was done over three years ago, but various circumstances hindered its publication, and, in the mean time, realizing that such a work Was in a measure one VI PBEFACE. sided and approached the language merely from the English standpoint, a first part, which has been called " Grammatical Notes," and which views the subject from the opposite side has been prepared. From the very nature of the case, the second part taking English idioms and phrases and showing their Korean equivalents, assumes more of a practical than a theoretical form. On the other band, the first part taking Korean phrases, idioms, sentences, showing their use among the Koreans, their structure, and their various forms, becomes more theoretical than practical. This complete division of a work on a language into two parts, each of which approaches it from a different standpoint, has, it is believed, never been attempted in one book before, and yet it is felt that such a division will materially aid the student in obtaining an accurate and well systematized knowledge of neat distinctions, and idioms, and enable him more speedily to speak a pure and not an Anglicized Korean. It is true that at times, the one naturally overlaps the other, but is equally certain, that each has its own especial place, which the other can in no way fill, and a true conception of any language can best be obtained by viewing them separately. The author takes pleasure in acknowledging valuable suggestions made by Prof. Homer B. Hulbert of the Eoyal Korean University, concerning some of the uses of the compound tenses, and also his indebtedness to Mr. A. Stewart Annand who kindly corrected much of the proof, and whose friendly assistance in many ways has greatly aided him. Credit also is due to the pioneers in the language, the French missionaries, from whose work the author gained PREFACE. VII his first ideas of Korean grammar. To more than any one else, however, thanks are due to Mr. Song Soun Yong (5jc?¥ 3§t) whose sound ideas on the use of the language as it is spoken to-day, and whose intimate acquaintance with the Chinese classics, combined with his thorough knowledge of the use of the native Ernmun have been of invaluable assistance. The author will gladly welcome any criticisms or suggestions either as to form or matter, with which students of the language may kindly favor him. H. G. U. Seoul Korea, November 1889. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. GRAMMATICAL NOTES. CHAPTER I. Introductory remarks on the study of Korean. 1, * Difficulties surrounding the study. — 2, A Korean teacher. — 3, Approach the study from two sides.— 4, Use of this book. — 5. Korean written language. — 6, Necessity for the study of Chinese. — 7. Onmun and Chinese rarely if ever mixed. — 8, Pronounciation.— 11, Arrangement of chapters. — 12, Honorifics Page 1.— 10. CHAPTER II. The Korean alphabet and its Sounds. 13, An alphabet.— 14-22, Vowel sounds.— 23-27, Diphthongs and triphthongs. — 28, The consonants. — 29, The part euphony plays.— 30- 38, Simple consonantal sounds. — 39, Aspirated consonants. — 41, Names of simple consonants Page 10-23. CHAPTER III. The Noun. 42, Korean noun indeclinable. — 43, Distinctions of number, subject, object not made. — 44, Postpositions. — 45, Methods of expressing gender. — 46, Ambiguity in regard to number.— 48, Reduplication of words. — 51, — Compound nouns and the use of a knowledge of Chinese. — 52, * These numbers refer to the paragraphs. X TABLE OF CONTENTS. Uses of i, 3J«1. 2 etc. — 53, Verbal nouns.— 54, Surnames.— 56, Korean titles.— 57, No names for women.— 58, The wrong and proper use of the term -f$l : Page 24—39. CHAPTEE IV. Pronouns and Pronominal adjectives. 59, All pronouns really nouns.— 60, Personal Pronouns.— 62, Personal pronouns and postpositions united, — 63, No third personal pronoun in Korean. — 65, Keflexive pronouns. — 66, All Korean inter rogates also indefinite.— 67, '1 \, Si "9, and J£.-£ used adjectively. — 69, Use of f>\3.. — 71, Demonstrative pronouns.— 72, Words derived from these.— 73, The relatives 7% and «} '. Page 40—53. CHAPTER V. The Numeral. 74, Two sets of numerals. Adjective and substantive forms. — 75, Sinico-Korean numerals have only an adjective form. — 77, Specific classifiers. — 79, Money. — 81, Oriental numbers. — 82, The months of the year. — 83, Days of the month. — 85, Hours of the day — 86, Fractions. — 87,— Multiples,— 88, Interest on money.— 89, The Korean word (fl. — 90, Weights and measures. — 92, The peculiar use of ■£ and the meaning of 3.£ Page 54—71. ' CHAPTER VI. The Postposition. 93, Kinds of postpositions. — 94, Simple postpositions. — 95, Eupho nic changes that may creep in. — 109, v| and ^ considered as post positions.— Ill, Composite postpositions, — 113, Verbal postpositions. Page 72—86. CHAPTER VII. The Verb. 114, Difficulties; terminations and conjunctions not distinguished. — 115, Verb impersonal and no number.— 118, A few so called " personal TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI forms.— 119, Two kinds of verbs, active and neuter; active verbs. — 120, Neuter verbs. — 121, Three voices ; active, causative and passive. — 122, - Method of forming the passive voice. Method of forming the causative. — 123, Causative in xl]. — 125, But one conjugation. — 127, The Basal Conjugations. — 128, Each part divisible into three parts. — The stem.— 129, The tense root— 132, The particle *|.— 133, Simple and compound tenses.— 134, The use of the simple tenses. — 135, The use of the compound tense. — 13G, The form ^J defective and pick of discrimination between terminations, and conjunctions. — 137, Different kinds of terminations. — 138, Declarative terminations.— 141, Interrogative terminations. — 144, Propositi ve terminations.— 145. Imperative termination. — 14G, The parts of the Basal Conjugations. — 147, Indicative mood. — 148, Volitive mood. — 149, Two kinds of parti ciples. — 150 Verbal participles. — 151, Different forms of past verbal par ticiple have caused discussion.— 153, Postpositions may be affixed. — 155, The use of the verbal participle ; As connectives.— 156, Introducing cause, manner, mean3.