Pyongan dialect

Pyongan
Pyeongan
평안도 사투리
Native to	North Korea, China
Region	P'yŏng'an, Chagang, Liaoning
Language family	Koreanic Korean Northern Pyongan
Dialects	Munhwaŏ?
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	pyon1239

The Pyeongan dialect (Korean: 평안도 사투리; MR: p'yŏngando sat'uri), alternatively Northwestern Korean (Korean: 서북 방언; Hancha: 西北方言; MR: sŏbuk pangŏn), is the Korean dialect of the Northwestern Korean Peninsula and neighboring parts of China. According to North Korea, it is the base of the country's standard Korean, however some South Korean researchers have claimed that the Gyeonggi dialect is the foundation of standard Korean in both the North and the South.

Pronunciation

Vowels

In the Pyongan dialect an eight vowel system is used (이·에·애·으·어·아·우·오). The sound of 어 is much closer to that of 오 compared to other dialects as it is [ɔ], the rounded equivalent to South Korean [ʌ̹]. 으 is also closer to [i] than to [ɨ], e.g. 그렇다 becomes 기렇다. However, the opposite is true after ㅅ. The palatalization that occurred for other dialects with 시 is absent in the Pyongan dialect, e.g. 싫다 becomes 슳다. There are various features that differentiate the sound of words from southwestern and midland dialects. 위, 왜, 워 and 와 are closer to an original sound of 야, 여, 요 and 유.

Palatalization

The ㄷ (d) consonant, in addition to the first syllable of ㄱ (g) and ㅎ (h) are not palatalized in the Pyongan dialect (e.g. 뎡거댱, 정거장: chyŏnggŏjyang, chŏgŏjang). Sino-Korean words beginning with ㄴ (n) in southern dialects are pronounced as ㄹ (r), as in the cases of 류행 (ryuhaeng) and 로동 (rodong).

In the example of 같이, southern Korean dialects palatize the sound to resemble the sound "ca-chi", as if it was written 가치, but Pyeonyan accents do not palatize the sound, pronouncing it phonetically as "catti".

Conjugation

Stems of the ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ irregulars use both forms, such as in the case of 듣다· 드드니, 들으니 (tŭtta-tŭdŭni, tŭrŭni) (listening, to hear).

Words

Vocabulary

Various words used in the Pyongan dialect differ to that of other Korean dialects, such as 간나 (kanna) (sissy), 클마니 (k'ŭlmani) (father) and 클마니 (grandmother). The etymology of words such as "우틔" (ut'ŭi) (衣) arises from the Manchu language, but has been removed by the North Korean government in order to promote language purity.