Editing Korean language (section)

==Grammar==
{{Main|Korean grammar}}

Korean is an [[agglutinative language]]. The Korean language is traditionally considered to have [[Korean parts of speech|nine parts of speech]]. Modifiers generally precede the modified words, and in the case of verb modifiers, can be serially appended. The sentence structure or basic form of a Korean sentence is [[subject–object–verb]] (SOV), but the ''verb'' is the only required and immovable element and [[word order]] is highly flexible, as in many other agglutinative languages.

'''Question'''
{{fs interlinear|lang=ko
| 가게에 가셨어요?
| gage-e ga-syeoss-eo-yo
| store-LOC go-HON.PAST-CONJ-POL
| 'Did [you] go to the store?'
}}
'''Response'''
{{fs interlinear|lang=ko
| 예/네.
| ye/ne
| AFF
| 'yes.'
}}

The relationship between a speaker/writer and their [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] and audience is paramount in [[Korean grammar]]. The relationship between the speaker/writer and subject referent is reflected in ''[[honorific]]s'', whereas that between speaker/writer and audience is reflected in ''[[Korean speech levels|speech level]]''.

===Honorifics===
{{Main|Korean honorifics}}
When talking about someone superior in status, a speaker or writer usually uses special nouns or verb endings to indicate the subject's superiority. Generally, someone is superior in status if they are an older relative, a stranger of roughly equal or greater age, or an employer, teacher, customer, or the like. Someone is equal or inferior in status if they are a younger stranger, student, employee, or the like. Nowadays, there are special endings which can be used on declarative, interrogative, and imperative sentences, and both honorific or normal sentences.

Honorifics in traditional Korea were strictly hierarchical. The caste and estate systems possessed patterns and usages much more complex and stratified than those used today. The intricate structure of the Korean honorific system flourished in traditional culture and society. Honorifics in contemporary Korea are now used for people who are psychologically distant. Honorifics are also used for people who are superior in status, such as older people, teachers, and employers.{{sfnp|Sohn|2006}}

===Speech levels===
{{Main|Korean speech levels}}
There are seven verb [[paradigm]]s or [[Korean speech levels|''speech levels'' in Korean]], and each level has its own unique set of verb endings which are used to indicate the level of formality of a situation.<ref>{{cite book |last= Choo|first=Miho |date=2008 |title=Using Korean: A Guide to Contemporary Usage |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=3 |isbn=978-1-139-47139-8}}</ref> Unlike [[honorifics]]—which are used to show respect towards the referent (the person spoken of)—''speech levels'' are used to show respect towards a speaker's or writer's audience (the person spoken to). The names of the seven levels are derived from the non-honorific [[Imperative mood|imperative]] form of the verb {{lang|ko|[[wikt:하다|하다]]}} (''hada'', "do") in each level, plus the suffix {{lang|ko|체}} (''che'', [[Hanja]]: {{lang|ko|體}}), which means "style".

The three levels with high politeness (very formally polite, formally polite, casually polite) are generally grouped together as ''jondaesmal'' ({{lang|ko|존댓말}}), whereas the two levels with low politeness (formally impolite, casually impolite) are ''banmal'' ({{lang|ko|반말}}) in Korean. The remaining two levels (neutral formality with neutral politeness, high formality with neutral politeness) are neither polite nor impolite.

Nowadays, younger-generation speakers no longer feel obligated to lower their usual regard toward the referent. It is common to see younger people talk to their older relatives with ''banmal''. This is not out of disrespect, but instead it shows the intimacy and the closeness of the relationship between the two speakers. Transformations in social structures and attitudes in today's rapidly changing society have brought about change in the way people speak.{{sfnp|Sohn|2006}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}

===Gender===
In general, Korean lacks [[grammatical gender]]. As one of the few exceptions, the [[third-person singular]] pronoun has two different forms: 그 ''geu'' (male) and 그녀 ''geunyeo'' (female). Before 그녀 was invented in need of translating 'she' into Korean, 그 was the only third-person singular pronoun and had no grammatical gender. Its origin causes 그녀 never to be used in spoken Korean but appearing only in writing.

To have a more complete understanding of the intricacies of gender in Korean, three models of language and gender that have been proposed: the deficit model, the dominance model, and the cultural difference model. In the deficit model, male speech is seen as the default, and any form of speech that diverges from that norm (female speech) is seen as lesser than. The dominance model sees women as lacking in power due to living within a patriarchal society. The cultural difference model proposes that the difference in upbringing between men and women can explain the differences in their speech patterns. It is important to look at the models to better understand the misogynistic conditions that shaped the ways that men and women use the language. Korean's lack of grammatical gender makes it different from most European languages. Rather, gendered differences in Korean can be observed through formality, intonation, word choice, etc.{{sfnp|Cho|2006|p=189}}

However, one can still find stronger contrasts between genders within Korean speech. Some examples of this can be seen in: (1) the softer tone used by women in speech; (2) a married woman introducing herself as someone's mother or wife, not with her own name; (3) the presence of gender differences in titles and occupational terms (for example, a ''sajang'' is a company president, and ''yŏsajang'' is a female company president); (4) females sometimes using more [[tag question]]s and rising tones in statements, also seen in speech from children.{{sfnp|Cho|2006|pp=189–198}}

Between two people of asymmetric status in Korean society, people tend to emphasize differences in status for the sake of solidarity. Koreans prefer to use kinship terms, rather than any other terms of reference.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kim |first=Minju |title=Cross Adoption of language between different genders: The case of the Korean kinship terms hyeng and enni |journal=Proceedings of the Fifth Berkeley Women and Language Conference |location=Berkeley |publisher=Berkeley Women and Language Group |year=1999}}</ref> In traditional Korean society, women have long been in disadvantaged positions. Korean social structure traditionally was a patriarchically dominated family system that emphasized the maintenance of family lines. That structure has tended to separate the roles of women from those of men.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Palley |first=Marian Lief |title=Women's Status in South Korea: Tradition and Change |journal=Asian Survey |volume=30  |number=12 |date=December 1990 |pages=1136–1153|doi=10.2307/2644990 |jstor=2644990 }}</ref>

Cho and Whitman (2019) explore how  categories such as male and female and social context influence Korean's features. For example, they point out that usage of ''jagi'' (자기 you) is dependent on context. Among middle-aged women, ''jagi'' is used to address someone who is close to them, while young Koreans use ''jagi'' to address their lovers or spouses regardless of gender.

Korean society's prevalent attitude towards men being in public (outside the home) and women living in private still exists today. For instance, the word for ''husband'' is ''bakkannyangban'' (바깥양반 'outside nobleman'), but a husband introduces his wife as ''ansaram'' (안사람 an 'inside' 'person'). Also in kinship terminology, ''oe'' (외 'outside' or 'wrong') is added for maternal grandparents, creating ''oeharabeoji'' and ''oehalmeoni'' (외할아버지, 외할머니 'grandfather and grandmother'), with different lexicons for males and females and patriarchal society revealed. Further, in interrogatives to an addressee of equal or lower status, Korean men tend to use ''haennya'' (했냐? 'did it?')' in aggressive masculinity, but women use ''haenni'' (했니? 'did it?')' as a soft expression.{{sfnp|Brown|2015}} However, there are exceptions. Korean society used the question endings ''-ni'' ({{Korean|hangul=니|labels=no}}) and ''-nya'' ({{Korean|hangul=냐|labels=no}}), the former prevailing among women and men until a few decades ago. In fact, ''-nya'' ({{Korean|hangul=냐|labels=no}}) was characteristic of the [[Jeolla]] and [[Chungcheong]] dialects. However, since the 1950s, large numbers of people have moved to Seoul from Chungcheong and Jeolla, and they began to influence the way men speak. Recently, women also have used the ''-nya'' ({{Korean|hangul=냐|labels=no}}). As for ''-ni'' ({{Korean|hangul=니|labels=no}}), it is usually used toward people to be polite even to someone not close or younger. As for ''-nya'' ({{Korean|hangul=냐|labels=no}}), it is used mainly to close friends regardless of gender.

Like the case of "actor" and "actress", it also is possible to add a gender prefix for emphasis: ''biseo'' (비서 'secretary') is sometimes combined with ''yeo'' (여 'female') to form ''yeobiseo'' (여비서 'female secretary'); ''namja'' (남자 'man') often is added to ''ganhosa'' (간호사 'nurse') to form ''namja ganhosa'' (남자 간호사 'male nurse').<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Song |first=Sooho |date=2022 |title=Analysis of Gender Pronoun Errors in Korean Speakers' English Speech |url=http://journal.kate.or.kr/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/v77_1_02.pdf |journal=English Teaching |volume=77 |issue=1 |pages=7–8 |doi=10.15858/engtea.77.1.202203.21 |s2cid=247804299 |access-date=21 December 2023 |archive-date=21 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221211809/http://journal.kate.or.kr/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/v77_1_02.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Another crucial difference between men and women is the tone and pitch of their voices and how they affect the perception of politeness. Men learn to use an authoritative falling tone; in Korean culture, a deeper voice is associated with being more polite. In addition to the deferential speech endings being used, men are seen as more polite as well as impartial, and professional. While women who use a rising tone in conjunction with ''-yo'' ({{Korean|hangul=요|labels=no}}) are not perceived to be as polite as men. The ''-yo'' ({{Korean|hangul=요|labels=no}}) also indicates uncertainty since the ending has many prefixes that indicate uncertainty and questioning while the deferential ending has no prefixes to indicate uncertainty. The ''-hamnida'' ({{Korean|hangul=합니다|labels=no}}) ending is the most polite and formal form of Korea, and the ''-yo'' ({{Korean|hangul=요|labels=no}}) ending is less polite and formal, which reinforces the perception of women as less professional.{{sfnp|Brown|2015}}{{sfnp|Cho|2006|pp=193–195}}

Hedges and euphemisms to soften assertions are common in women's speech. Women traditionally add nasal sounds ''neyng'', ''neym'', ''ney-e'' in the last syllable more frequently than men. Often, ''l'' is added in women's for female stereotypes and so ''igeolo'' (이거로 'this thing') becomes ''igeollo'' (이걸로 'this thing') to communicate a lack of confidence and passivity.{{sfnp|Sohn|2006}}{{page needed|date=January 2022}}

Women use more linguistic markers such as exclamation ''eomeo'' (어머 'oh') and ''eojjeom'' (어쩜 'what a surprise') than men do in cooperative communication.{{sfnp|Brown|2015}}