Jeju dialect

Jeju dialect (Korean: 제주 방언, Hanja: 濟州方言) or Jeju language(제주어; 濟州語) is the dialect used on the island of Jeju in Korea, with the exception of Chuja in former Bukjeju County area of Jeju City. It differs greatly from the dialects of the mainland, and preserves many archaic words which are lost in them. It has borrowed some words from foreign languages, including about 240 words from Mongolian, 53 words from Chinese, 50 words from Japanese, and 22 words from Manchu. [Korean Wikipedia article on the Jeju dialect] There are also many words which appear to be original formations (possibly from the language of Tamna).

Another difference is the slightly different intonation of words. The Jeju dialect tends to use more stress on certain syllables.

One large difference is the lack of formality and deference to elders. For example, while a speaker of the Seoul Dialect might say 안녕하세요 "annyeonghaseyo" (“Hello”) to an older person, a speaker of the Jeju dialect would say 반갑시오 "ban-gapsio" (“How do you do?”). To many mainlanders, a child saying this to an adult would be appalling, but on the islands, a more “egalitarian” form of speech is used.

Phonemes

There are 9 vowels, ㅣ IPA|/i/, ㅔ IPA|/e/, ㅐ IPA|/ɛ/, ㅡ IPA|/ɨ/, ㅓ IPA|/ʌ/, ㅏ IPA|/a/, ㅜ IPA|/u/, ㅗ IPA|/o/, ㆍ IPA|/ɒ/.

Phonological change

Middle Korean /IPA|kj/ > Jeju /IPA|ʨ/ (e.g. Middle Korean /IPA|kjər/ > Jeju /IPA|ʨər/ "wave")
Middle Korean /IPA|əːj/ > Jeju /IPA|i/ (e.g. Middle Korean /IPA|kəːj/ > Jeju /IPA|ki(ŋi)/ "crab")

Vocabulary

Examples:

References