American Journal Of Philological Sciences
230
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue04 2025
PAGE NO.
230-232
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue04-58
The Reasons for The Introduction of Chinese Characters
한자
into The Korean Language and Their Role in The
Language
Azizova S.B.
Lecturer of the Department of Korean Philology, Faculty of Oriental Languages, SamSIFL, Uzbekistan
Received:
23 February 2025;
Accepted:
19 March 2025;
Published:
22 April 2025
Abstract:
This article delves into how Chinese characters came to symbolize governance and high culture in Korea,
profoundly shaping intellectual life, political structures, and Confucian philosophy. Since Chinese and Korean are
linguistically distinct languages, Koreans devised creative methods to adapt Chinese characters to the phonetics
and grammar of Korean. Early writing systems such as
이두
(Idu),
향찰
(Hyanchal), and
구결
(Kugyol) are explored
as examples of this adaptation. The article also emphasizes the lasting influence of Chinese-derived vocabulary,
particularly in law, science, and government, enriching the Korean lexicon and enabling more sophisticated
expressions in various intellectual fields. The emergence of
한글
(Hangul) in the 15th century, created by
세종대왕
(King Sejong the Great), marked a pivotal moment in the history of the Korean language, as it was
specifically designed to represent Korean sounds. Despite Hangul’s rise, Chinese characters continued to coexist
with it for scholarly and formal purposes. The article also addresses the decline of Hanja in modern Korea,
particularly in South Korea, where Hangul has become the dominant writing system, although Hanja remains
important for understanding historical texts and certain formal vocabulary.
Keywords:
Hanmun (
한문
), Hyanchal (
향찰
), Kugyol (
구결
), Gojoson (
고조선
), Altaic language family, Proto-
Korean, Koguryo (
고구려
), Pekje (
백제
), Shilla (
신라
) , Hunminjongim (
훈민정음
), Idu writing system (
이두
), old
korean language (
고대
국어
), borrowing characters, Chinese-derived vocabulary, language evolution, Chinese
ideograms, orthography.
Introduction:
As history shows, one of the unique
features of Korea is that its language was officially
recognized and used starting in 1895. Prior to this, for
over two thousand years, the official language of Korea,
as well as the language of science, culture, legislation,
and administration, was the ancient Chinese language,
known in Korea as
한문
(Hanmun refers to the classical
Chinese language or written Chinese that was used
historically in Korea). Hanmun was not only used in
Korea but also in Japan, Vietnam, and even China as an
official language. In the 15th century, no one could
even imagine writing official documents in spoken
language. By that time, the ancient Chinese language
had already diverged from modern Chinese. In all these
countries, the ancient Chinese language had been
dominant until a certain time: in Japan until the 1860s,
in Vietnam until the 1870s, in Korea until the 1890s,
and in China until the 1910s. The period in which
Chinese characters spread across the Korean Peninsula
is considered the
고조선
(Kojoson) period. After this,
for more than 400 years, the process continued, and
Chinese characters began to spread across the region.
METHOD
Languages around the world are divided into several
language families based on their characteristics and
etymology. Among them, the idea that the Korean
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
231
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
language belongs to the Altaic language family is
prominent. The Altaic language family consists of the
Mongolic, Manchu-Tungusic, Turkic, and Koreanic
language groups. Among these four language families,
the Korean language was the first to diverge. Later,
원시
한국어
(Proto-Korean) split into two groups:
원시부여어
(Proto-Puyo) and
원시
한어
(Proto-
Chinese). Proto-Puyo was used as the language of the
고구려
(Koguryo) state, while Proto-Chinese was the
language of the
백제
(Pekje) and
신라
(Shilla) states.
Later, the Silla state united the three kingdoms, and the
Silla language is believed to have formed the basis of
the modern Korean language.
At that time, during the Three Kingdoms period,
Chinese characters were widely used for official
documents. Because the Chinese writing system was
not suitable for expressing speech in Korean with its
own characters or phonetic signs, writing systems like
이두
(Idu- an ancient system of writing Korean using
Chinese characters),
향찰
(Hyanchal- is an ancient
system of writing the Korean language using Chinese
characters, developed during the Unified Silla period
(668
–
935 AD)), and
구결
(Kugyeol- focused on
expressing Korean grammatical particles (such as
subject markers, verb endings, and connectors) using
Chinese characters) were created. During this period,
China had a particularly strong influence on Korea's
culture and politics. Moreover, the ruling classes of
society were well-versed in Chinese. All of this
contributed to Chinese being established as the official
language. At that time, only books published in Chinese
were considered "real books," and therefore writing
was often synonymous with writing in Chinese.
이두
(Idu) is a method of writing the Korean language using
Chinese characters by adopting their sounds and
meanings. There was a method of maintaining the
original meanings of the Chinese characters or a
phonetic alphabet, and a method of writing the Korean
language by abandoning the original meanings of the
characters and only adopting their sounds. It is said that
Seol Chong created this, but rather than being created
by an individual, it is more accurate to say that Seol
Chong organized the existing notation system and
annotated Korean texts. After the creation of
훈민정음
(Hunminjongim - The Correct Sounds for the
Instruction of the People," is the name of the Korean
script), it lost its relevance, but it continued to be used
in a writing style known as
이설지체
(Isoljiche -
represents a blend of
한자
(Chinese characters ) and
Korean language elements in writing, primarily used by
lower social classes ) by some lower social classes,
lasting until it was replaced by a mixed Korean and
Chinese character writing system. The oldest name for
this lineage is found in
제왕운기
(Jewangungi), where
이서
(Iso) refers to the writing system used by the
lower classes. Therefore, it was likely not present in the
united Shilla period or before. Thus, all writings from
the Shilla period are called
향찰
(Hyangchal), and there
is also a view that the
이두
(Idu) system was formed
only after the
고려
(Koryo) period. However, based on
the information, the
이두
(Idu) writing system began to
develop during the Three Kingdoms period and was
established in the Unified Silla period, continuing until
the end of the 19th century.
향찰
(Hyanchal) was
developed and used in the Unified Silla period, so it is
not entirely correct to separate
향찰
(Hyanchal) and Idu
by period.
Idu writing, also called
이두문
(Idumun), is a writing
style that mixes Chinese grammar with Korean
grammar, sometimes showing stronger Chinese
grammar and other times stronger Korean grammar, so
the balance is not constant. The reason for such a
feature in the Idu system is that it developed initially as
a written style. Therefore,
이두
(Idu),
향찰
(Hyanchal),
and
구결
(Kugyeol) are all considered part of the study
of the
고대
국어
(Old Korean Language) period. The
Old Korean language refers to the form of the Korean
language used from the time the Korean people began
to settle on the Korean Peninsula until the Unified Silla
period. After the three kingdoms were united, the Silla
language is thought to have unified the Korean
language, but due to the lack of data, it is difficult to
pinpoint the exact nature of the Korean language at
that time. At this time, there were no unique characters
for writing Korean, so the Korean people borrowed
Chinese characters and wrote them in various ways.
This method is known as
차자
(Chaja), which refers to
borrowing characters from another country to write
one's own language. Therefore, it is not wrong to say
that many Korean words are formed from Chinese
characters or Chinese ideograms. These Chinese
characters have had a significant impact on enriching
the Korean vocabulary.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The historical development of the Korean language and
its writing systems reveals a profound influence from
Chinese characters and the various systems developed
to adapt them to Korean phonology and grammar. The
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
232
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
introduction of
한문
(Hanmun) (the classical Chinese
language) to Korea, beginning around the Kojoson
period, established Chinese characters as the dominant
means of written communication for over two
thousand years. This dominance significantly shaped
the intellectual, cultural, and political life of Korea. The
use of Chinese characters in official documents,
scholarly texts, and administration ensured their
continued influence, especially as the language of
governance and high culture. The evolution of the
Korean writing systems is indicative of the complex
relationship between Chinese characters and the
Korean language. Initially, as Chinese characters were
not directly suited to the sounds and grammar of the
Korean language, Idu, Hyanchal, and Kugyol were
developed as creative adaptations. These systems
allowed for the use of Chinese characters to represent
Korean sounds and grammatical structures. Idu, for
instance, was a system that combined Chinese
characters for their meanings and sounds to represent
Korean speech. However, this system often mixed
Chinese grammar with Korean grammar, creating a
hybrid form of writing that was flexible but not
standardized. While these systems were effective in
allowing the representation of the Korean language,
they were not without limitations. The syntax and
structure of Korean were distinct from those of
Classical Chinese, which created confusion and
complexity in the writing system. The fact that Chinese
characters were adapted to such a degree shows the
importance of these characters in Korean writing and
the challenges faced by Koreans in representing their
own language.
CONCLUSION
In this article we can see that, the history of the Korean
language is deeply intertwined with the influence of
Chinese culture and language. For over two thousand
years, Chinese served as the official language of Korea,
shaping its writing systems, governance, and
intellectual life. The development of Korean writing
systems such as Idu, Hyanchal, and Kugyeol during the
Three Kingdoms period and beyond highlights the
efforts to adapt the Chinese script to express the
Korean language. The creation of Hangul in the 15th
century marked a significant turning point in Korea's
linguistic history, but the legacy of Chinese characters
and their integration into the Korean language
continues to influence modern Korean. The evolution
of the Korean language, from its early borrowing of
Chinese characters to the creation of its own writing
system, underscores the unique blend of indigenous
and foreign elements that define the Korean language
today.
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