"Koryo Mar," The Language of the Koryo Saram
- Harin Yang
- Oct 3, 2024
- 3 min read
Koryo Mar, the unique dialect spoken by the Koryo Saram, represents a fascinating blend of linguistic evolution influenced by geography, history, and cultural integration. Originating from the Hamgyong dialect of Korean, spoken by the initial Korean migrants to Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Koryo Mar has significantly diverged from standard Korean over the years.
Origins and Evolution
The roots of Koryo Mar lie in the speech patterns of Koreans from the Hamgyong Province in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. These early migrants brought their native dialect with them when they settled in the Russian Far East. However, after the forced deportation to Central Asia in 1937, the Koryo Saram community became isolated from the linguistic developments occurring in Korea, particularly after the division of the peninsula and the establishment of North and South Korea.
As a result, Koryo Mar retained many archaic features of Korean that have since disappeared from the standard language spoken in both Koreas. Over time, the influence of Russian and, to a lesser extent, Central Asian languages like Uzbek and Kazakh, led to the incorporation of new vocabulary and grammatical structures into Koryo Mar. This has made it distinct from both contemporary North and South Korean dialects.
Vocabulary and Grammar
One of the most notable features of Koryo Mar is its extensive borrowing from Russian. Many everyday words, especially those related to modern life, technology, and governance, are derived from Russian. For example, Koryo Saram might use Russian-derived terms for items like clothing, food, and transportation, while older, Korean-origin words are used for more traditional concepts.
The grammar of Koryo Mar also reflects Russian influence, particularly in sentence structure and word order. However, the core of Koryo Mar's grammar remains recognizably Korean, with the use of particles, verb endings, and honorifics that are characteristic of the language.
Vocabulary:
Words like "마침 (machim)" meaning "just" or "exactly," retain their older Korean usage, while the Russian "почта (pochta)" for "post office" replaces the original Korean term.
The word "차크사 (chaksa)" is derived from the Russian word "часы (chasy)," meaning "watch" or "clock."
Syntax and Grammar:
Russian influences have altered sentence structures, such as placing the verb closer to the beginning of sentences, which is more typical in Russian than in Korean.
The use of Russian conjunctions like "но (no)" for "but" or "и (i)" for "and" has been integrated into Koryo Mal sentences.
Phonetics:
Some phonetic shifts in Koryo Mal mirror Russian pronunciation. For instance, the softening of consonants, influenced by Russian phonology, can be observed in words like "라디오 (radio)," which mirrors the Russian pronunciation more closely than the South Korean one.
Preservation and Challenges
Today, Koryo Mar faces challenges similar to those of many minority languages worldwide. The dominance of Russian in education and public life, along with the influence of Korean language media from South Korea, has led to a decline in the use of Koryo Mar among younger generations. Many young Koryo Saram now speak Russian as their first language and are more familiar with standard South Korean than with Koryo Mar.
Efforts to preserve Koryo Mar are ongoing, particularly among cultural organizations and elders within the Koryo Saram community. These efforts include the documentation of the dialect, the teaching of Koryo Mar in community schools, and the promotion of its use in cultural events and media. However, the future of Koryo Mar remains uncertain, as it continues to be shaped by the forces of globalization and cultural change.
References
Kang, H. (2011, October 10). Old Korean dialect survives ordeal in Central Asia. koreatimes. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/07/113_96371.html
Spur, M. (2021). Understanding the roots of Koryo-mar : a lexical and orthographic study. DSpace. https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/6eac44e3-fffd-4e51-9f72-54c6dccb188c
Yea-jin, C. (2020, October 16). Kimchi? чимчхи[Jimchi]! is it Korean?. The Argus. https://www.theargus.org/news/articleView.html?idxno=1888
Yeon, J., & Barnes-Sadler, S. (2019, September 27). Diaspora varieties of Korean: Morpho-syntactic contrasts in Koryo mar and vernacular Yanbian Korean☆. Lingua. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0024384119304917