Korean language

Korean (S. K.: 한국어, Han-guk-o; N. K.: 조선말, Jo-son-mal) is the language of the two Koreas, written in a unique alphabet.

Korean's relationship to other languages is yet to be precisely determined. Studies of vocabulary and grammar have tried to link the language to the Altaic languages, which include Turkish and various others spread across Asia. Structural similarities with Japanese have also been highlighted, though the words and pronunciation are very different. A link with Japanese persists as a hypothesis partly because the Japanese and Korean peoples share deep cultural roots. A final view is that Korean has no relationship to any other surviving language; it is an isolate, with its nearest relatives long-dead.