Koryo-mar


Koryo-mal, Goryeomal, or Koryŏmal is the dialect of Korean spoken by the Koryo-saram, ethnic Koreans in the countries of the former Soviet Union. It is descended from the Hamgyŏng dialect and multiple other varieties of Northeastern Korean. Koryo-saram often report difficulty understanding speakers of standard Korean; this may be compounded by the fact that the majority of Koryo-saram today use Russian and not Korean as their first language.
According to German Kim, Koryo-mar is not widely used in the media and is not taught in schools. Thus it can be classified as endangered.

Names

In the speech of Koryo-saram, the language is referred to as Koryo-mar, with several alternative pronunciations, including Kore-mar and Kore-mari.
In South Korea, the dialect is referred to as Goryeomal or Central Asian Korean.
In Russia and other former Soviet states, the language is referred to as Koryo-mar or Koryo-mal, of which the former reflects the spoken form while the latter reflects the literary form of Korean.

Orthography

Speakers do not generally use Koryo-mar as a literary language. Written Korean during the Soviet period tended to follow the North Korean standard language, while both Northern and Southern forms have occurred after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, some modern writers, most notably Lavrenti Son, have created plays and short stories in Koryo-mar using Hangul.
A movement for the romanization of Koryo-mar took place in the late 1930s, promoted by various government officials and linguists, but it did not have much success.

Phonology

Characteristics of Koryo-mar distinct from that of Standard Korean include the following phonological differences:
Koryo-mar is not taught as a subject or used as the medium of instruction in any schools. The Korean language as taught in universities of the post-Soviet states is Standard Korean, with instructors being native to or trained. In one instance, a South Korean professor tried to teach Koryo-mar at Almaty State University, but he did not achieve much success.