Korean

Korean is the principal language of the Koreanic family, spoken across the Korean Peninsula, with its linguistic homeland plausibly in Manchuria; its speakers expanded into the southern peninsula around 300 BC, blending with earlier Japonic-speaking cultivators. Its recorded form passes from Old Korean, the language of Silla, through the Middle Korean of Goryeo and early Joseon.

Chinese characters reached Korea in the first century BC and long served as the medium of government and formal writing; scholars adapted them to Korean grammar through the idu, hyangchal and gugyeol systems.

In 1446 King Sejong promulgated the Hunminjeongeum, now called Hangul, designed for common people to learn within days. The yangban aristocracy disdained the script as vulgar, yet it spread through popular novels and royal notices. Chinese-character writing dominated official life into the nineteenth century.