[...]... English, the kinship terms grandfather and grandmother can be either paternal or maternal In Korean, on the other hand, the kinship terms halapeci ‘grandfather’ and halmeni ‘grandmother’ – unless they are used to refer to very old people who are biologically unrelated to the speaker – normally refer to paternal, not maternal, grandparents To indicate that someone is a maternal grandfather or grandmother,... History The history of Korea can be best understood in terms of the way Koreans have interacted with their neighbours in the north (i.e China, Manchuria and, more recently, Russia) and in the south and the east across the Korean Strait and the Sea of Japan (i.e Japan and, more recently, the USA) The geographical position of the Korean peninsula between China, Manchuria and Russia on the one hand and Japan... and language This book is an invitation to the Korean language (known as Hankwukmal in South Korea and Cosenmal in North Korea) The bulk of the book is devoted to the description of the structure and use of the language, i.e sound patterns, vocabulary, word and sentence structure, discourse and writing systems That description is also situated in the historical, sociocultural context in which the Korean. .. descendants of the various waves of migration from the north Some ancient Koreans settled in Manchuria and northern Korea, while others ventured further down to southern Korea, and probably also across the Korea Strait into Japan (There is archaeological and linguistic evidence for the continuity between Korea and Japan.) This domination by Koreans of southern Manchuria and the Korean peninsula (then known... Following the demise of the Chinese colonies, southern Manchuria and northern Korea were once again left wide open for other ethnic groups (e.g Korean and Tungusic) to dominate By the fourth century ce, there had emerged a number of tribal states in these areas, the most prominent ones being Kokuryo in southern Manchuria (or the Liaodong region) and northern Korea, and Paekche and Shilla in southern Korea The. .. location of the Korean peninsula is similar to that of the Iberian peninsula and Greece to the west and the state of California to the east There are about 3,000 islands within Korea’s territory, the majority of which are located around the Yellow Sea The largest, Cheju Island, lies 145 kilometres off the south-west corner of the peninsula The total area of the territory, inclusive of the islands, is... the East Sea’, as Koreans prefer to call it) and in the west by the Yellow Sea 1 KOREA (or Hwanghay the Yellow Sea’ in Korean) (see Maps 1 and 2) The shape of the Korean peninsula reminds Koreans of that of a rabbit standing on its hind legs Korea and eastern China (i.e the Shandong Peninsula) are separated by 200 kilometres, and the shortest distance between Korea and Japan across the Korea Strait... knowledge of Korean culture and society Thus the first chapter of this book is designed to provide an informative account of the geographical, historical and sociocultural context of the Korean language and its speakers Geography: land and population Korea is a peninsular country bounded in the north by China and Russia, in the south by the Korea Strait, in the east by the Sea of Japan (or Tonghay, the East... kilometres The northern boundary with China and Russia is clearly demarcated by the Yalu River (or Amnokkang in Korean) and the Tumen River (or Tumankang in Korean) The whole peninsula, together with its islands, lies between the 33° 06 40″ N and 43° 00′ 39″ N parallels and 124° 11′ 00″ E and 131° 52′ 42″ E meridians Longitudinally, Korea is situated near the Philippines or central Australia, while the latitudinal... southernmost island, formed largely because of its geographical isolation from the mainland The Kyengsang and Cenla dialects, on the other hand, may have come into existence because of the absence of a major transport route between the two zones in the past as well as the fact that the areas was under the control of two different kingdoms until the mid-seventh century More recently, the geopolitical . terms of the way Koreans have interacted with their neighbours in the north (i.e. China, Manchuria and, more recently, Russia) and in the south and the east across the Korean Strait and the Sea. historical and socio- cultural context of the Korean language and its speakers. Geography: land and population Korea is a peninsular country bounded in the north by China and Russia, in the south by the. 2: Korea and the region xv 1 Korea: history, culture and language 1 Geography: land and population 1 History 3 Culture and society: age, gender and chwulsin 10 Korean: the language and its wider