History of Korea and the Korean Language

Please know that this page has been up on the web since at least 2007 (probably longer), but the hit counter only started in June of 2013. I have decided to add a hit counter to this page, because from 2011 to 2013 this was extremely popular. I have no idea why so many people were so interested in the history/origins of the Korean people at that time. For me, it was just a matter of living in Korea for 10 years and developing an intellectual curiosity. My research is a work in progress, but as of 2013, I believe I have finally solidified my own theory on the origins of the Korean people and their language. After 2015, interest in this page has waned. Probably got blocked in some algorithm. Now, my website seems to get very few hits (and that goes for all pages; not just this one). It is my hope, however, that visitors will benefit from my years of research and find the information on this page of value.

Encyclopedia Britannica (Concise) has an article entitled "Korean Language" wherein one may read the following:

"Korean is not closely related to any other language, though a distant genetic kinship to Japanese is now thought probable by some scholars, and an even more remote relationship to the Altaic languages is possible. Korean was written with Chinese characters to stand in various ways for Korean meanings and sounds as early as the 12th century, though substantial documentation is not evident until the invention of a unique phonetic script for it in 1443. This script, now called Hangul, represents syllables by arranging simple symbols for each phoneme into a square form like that of a Chinese character. Grammatically, Korean has a basic subject-object-verb word order and places modifiers before the elements they modify."

Please Note: I have amassed evidence that will tell us exactly where the Koreans came from. Read on, my reader.

MAJOR PREMISE: My premise for this page is that the analysis of the written histories of peoples of the Far East, analysis of the languages of the Far East, and analysis of the cultures of the Far East will provide some insight to the origins of the Korean people.

THE KOREANS THEMSELVES: have an oral tradition that their ancestors came from Mongolia. After 10 years of living in Korea (1995-2006), it was my deep desire to go to Mongolia in order to see for myself if there could be any truth in such a belief. In 2010, that desire became a reality. I lived in Mongolia for 5 years. What I have found is that the Mongolian language does bear some similarities to the Korean language. More detailed analysis below. Physically, the Mongolians are much taller, but similar in girth. Korean men are short and stocky. Incidentally, I have also lived in Vietnam. The people of Vietnam share many similarities with the Korean people. For one, the Vietnamese are a smaller (shorter) people. I have recently come to the conclusion that the Korean people are a hybrid of Mongols and Viets. The evidence is laid out in the "tome" below. Please enjoy!

My Other Korean-related pages:

My Expat Blog
(Re: My 10-yr Life in Korea)

Korean Food Translated
(fairly comprehensive list)

Korean Origins
(This page!)

Konglish 1
(Konglish Interlanguage)

Konglish 2
(Konglish Lexis)

Konglish 3
(Konglish Pronunciation)

Korean Dictionary Errors
(quite the list)

Korean Language Lessons
(by Leon)

Preface: Most historians say that the Korean peninsula was inhabited by Paleo-Siberians until around 2333 BC, when they were forced out. [I think this is non-sense, and I'll explain why later]. The "official" history of Korea begins at 2333 BC, with Dan-Gun, but I'm not going to start with the "official" history. I'm going to start with the UNofficial history, which is considered to be apocryphal by mainstream historians. [But, mainstream historians don't know everything, in my book].

The Dong Yi (Lit. East Barbarians)
[What Western academics call the PaleoSiberians and the Mongol Tribes]

7193 BC Han-In establishes a country in what is now known as the Mongolian-Siberian territory, called Han-guk (The Han Country).

[Ah! Eureka! Please see over there for explanation --->>>>].

Han-guk [King's Country]
Han guk was comprised of twelve nations, also known as "DongYi" (Eastern Barbarians).
[I don't if the names of the twelve tribes are recorded anywhere, but I imagine that those 12 tribes included the Buryats, Mongols, Manchurians, Huns, Tibetans, Han-Chinese, Han-Koreans (possibly related to the Koryaks), also related to the ChukChi, etc.]

7193 BC - 3898 BC Han-guk was ruled by seven in succession by seven Han-In's.
[Han-In was a title of a ruler, rather than a personal name].

Question: If there were 12 tribes, and presumably each tribe had a leader (king?), then was Han-In the Emperor? I don't know the answer to that question.]

Interesting Side Notes:

Koreans have lost the meaning of "Han" and today think that it is just the name of the people of "Han" (which was both the name of the land, and the title of the first kings).

Today, the Korean language is 70% from the Chinese language, called "Sino-Korean". And today, the Korean the word for "king" is borrowed from Chinese: namely, "wang". I have searched for decades to find the original Korean word for "king," and now I've found it!

After living in Mongolia for five years, where the word for king is "Haan," it became clear that the meaning of "Han" is king.

So, "Han-In" = King "In"
"Han-guk" = King's country
"Hwan-ung" = Han^? Ung (King^? of Power)

This part (below) is also considered apocryphal by mainstream historians, but please compare the Vietnamese history!

Korean History

3898 BC: Establishment of Bak-dal Nara.
[Bak-dal is a possible cognate with Lake Baikal, the largest lake in the region by surface area, and most voluminous lake in the world.]

3898 BC - 2333 BC
There were 18 Hwan-ungs, each ruling in succession of the other.

Hwan-ung was a title, not a name.

The last Hwan-ung begot the first Dan-gun.

(Source)

Vietnamese History

Vietnamese legend tells of a dragon lord named Lạc Long Quân and a mountain fairy named Âu Cơ who had 100 sons together. As the parents belonged to different realms, they parted ways, each taking 50 sons with them.
The eldest son of Lac Long Quan came to power in 2879 BC and became known as Hùng Vương, ruling an area covering what is now North Vietnam and part of southern China. He founded the Hồng Bàng Dynasty, which lasted until 258 BC.
Each successor of the original Hung Vuong took the title of Hung Vuong. There were 18 Hung Vuongs in all. (Source: Wikipedia)

To this day, in Hanoi City, two of the longest, main roads in the city are called, "Lac Long Quan" and "Au Co". I learned the story of Lac Long Quan and Au Co from my son, who learned it at school when we were living in VietNam. [I lived in Vietnam].

Leon's Comment: so the dates don't match up? So what?

Korean: 18 Hwan-Ung; & Vietnamese: 18 Hung-Vuong!!!!!!
(That cannot be a mere coincidence)

Meanings:

Korean: Hwan-Ung = Eternal-Power
Vietnamese: Hung-Vuong = Power King

To me, the similar history and similar names suggests that there is a strong connection between the Korean people and the Vietnamese people. Perhaps the smaller Vietnamese people mixed with the larger Mongolian people, producing a race of mid-sized Korean people.

Furthermore: Where did Korean chili peppers come from?

The Koreans grow and use red-hot chili peppers in their Korean food, which peppers are NOT indigenous to the Korean peninsula. Where did they get the peppers from? I can assure you that they did NOT get them from Mongolia! Mongolian food does NOT use chili peppers at all. (I know. I lived in Mongolia for 5 years). All the Korean restaurants in Mongolia dilute the spiciness of their food for the Mongolian palate. They must have gotten the red chili peppers from South-East Asia, specifically Vietnam! I know what you are thinking, it could just be the result of trade; however, trading means the mixing of languages, and sometimes (rather, quite often) the mixing of blood.

2333 BC Founding of old Jo-Seon (called Chao Xian in Chinese) by Dan Gun.

Now, you need to understand, that it is recognized by all Korean scholars that Dan Gun was a real person, and the founder of the Korean ethnicity. However, as with any great, ancient leader, there exists some legends about him (which are not necessarily accepted by historians, but are extremely fun to explore). Therefore, I give you....

The Legend of Dan Gun

MAIN CHARACTERS:
(1) Hwan-In(Korean: 환인 ) (Chinese: 桓因, "Huan Yin") (English: Eternal Causer) was the King of Heaven
(2) Hwan-Ung (Korean: 환웅 ) (Chinese: 桓雄, "Huan Xiong") (English: Eternal Power) was the son of Hwan-In
(3) Dan-Gun (Korean: 단군) (Chinese: 檀君, "Tan-Jun") (English: Sandalwood Monarch) was the son of Hwan-Ung

PLOT:
Hwan-In's son, Hwan-Ung, asked his father to be sent down to earth to govern his own land at Taebaek-san 태백산 / 太白山) [Great White Mountain] as the best site, opened heaven (Gae Cheon Jeol) and sent down his son to benefit humanity (hongik-ingan). Shinshi, (신시, 神市, 'city of the gods'). The noble spirits of Wind, Rain and Clouds were his ministers. A government was established with 360 departments (interesting number!!!!) to rule with laws and moral codes about agriculture, grain-storage, hunting, fishing, sickness and medicine, education, the arts, family-life, etc.

A bear and a tiger both came to Hwan-Ung and prayed (begged) to become human beings. The Heavenly Prince decided to give them a chance, and gave them a bundle of mugwort (wormwood) and twenty bulbs of garlic and told them that if they ate only these sacred food and stayed in the cave (out of the sunlight) for one hundred days then they would become human.

The tiger shortly gave up in impatient hunger and left the cave. The bear remained and after 21 days was transformed into a woman.

The bear-woman, Ung-Nyeo, (웅녀; 熊女) was very grateful and made offerings to Hwan-Ung at the stone altar by the sacred sandalwood tree on the peak. She had no husband, however, and prayed for a son. Hwan-Ung was moved by her prayers to transform himself as a human man, and mated with her.

Nine months later she gave birth to a son, who was named Dan-Gun Wang-Geom.

ALL OF THE CHARACTERS:

Korean	Chinese	English	Viet
환인 Hwan-In	桓因 Huan-Yin	Eternal Causer	Lac Long Quan
환웅 Hwan-Ung	桓雄 Huan-Xiong	Eternal Power	雄王 Hung Vuong (Power King)
웅녀 Ung-Nyeo	熊女 Xiong-Nü	Bear Woman	X
단군 Dan-gun	檀君 Tan-Jun	Sandalwood Monarch	X
왕검 Wang-geom	王儉 Wang-jian	King-husbandly or King of moderation	X

My source for the translations: Google translate.

My source for the legend of Dan Gun: SanShin.org

Dan-Gun founded the first Korean kingdom, with its capital nearby what is now Pyeong-Yang and then moved to Asadal, probably at Mt. Guwol-San in Hwang-Hae Province, and named it Joseon, in the 50th year of the reign of the Emperor Yao (China’s mythical sage-emperor ). Dan-gun reigned over Joseon (Now called "Go-Jo-Seon") for 1,500 years. [Leon's note: There are some scholars who suggest that Dan-Gun was merely a title and that there were many Dan-Guns during that 1500-year period of time].

1122 BCE

At the end of the Dan-gun Dynasty, in the year 1122 BCE, we had the founding of King Wu San-Shin [a Mountain-spirit] at the age of 1,908.

Side Note-1:

I lived on an Island, called Kang-Hwa-Do, near the DMZ, which has a mountain, the top of which bears an ancient monument and it is told by the islanders that Dan Gun actually hid out there long ago. To this day, every October 3rd (Open-Heaven Day), the islanders climb to the top of the mountain, which takes shortly over an hour, and perform ancient rituals to commemorate the legendary founder of the JoSeon Kingdom. ALSO, it must be noted that some scholars suggest that "Dan-Gun" may have actually been a title, and that their were more than one 'Dan-Gun' during the 1,908-year reign.]

Side Note-2:

Koreans were originally called "Jo-Seon Jeok" in the Korean language and "Chao Xian Jo" in the Chinese language. The ethnic Koreans that live in China are still called "Chao Xian Jo" by the Chinese. The word "Korea" comes from the "Goryeo" Dynasty which came later. Incidentally, the English pronunciation of "Korea" is remarkably similar to the Korean pronunciation of "Goryeo".

1122 BC Alleged arrival of Kija from Shang China (contested by historians)

c. 1000 BC Start of bronze working in Liaodong peninsula

311 BC Invasion of Qinkai of Yen, loss of 2000-li territory

194 BC Wiman usurps the throne of Joseon's King Jun

108 BC Invasion by Emperor Wudi of the [Chinese] Han Dynasty and establishment of the Four Commandaries

82 BC Commandaries Zhenfan and Lindun eliminated

75 BC Xuantu commandary removed from peninsula

(Source)

There were more than three kindgoms to begin with, like the ones mentioned above, but there was a lot of fighting, and war-mongering, and there were three kingdoms that dominated during this period: Shilla, Gogeuryeo, and Baekje. In the end (676 AD), Shilla dominates and unifies all.

or "Goryeo" [new Romanized spelling] Period, (which is where we get the name "Korea").

One day, I typed "Origin of Korean Language" in a search engine (Google), and this is what I found:

TWO THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE KOREAN LANGUAGE

SOURCE: <article> by Nam-kil Kim.

Intro:

For a long time scholars have tried to associate the Korean language to one of the major language families but have not been successful in this venture." There have been many theories about the origin of the Korean language, but two have been most popular: The Southern and Northern Theories.

Southern Theory PART 1 in a nutshell:

"...it was strongly advocated by the British scholar Homer B. Hulbert at the end of nineteenth century. Hulbert's argument was based on the syntactic similarities of Korean and the Dravidian languages. For instance, both languages have the same syntactic characteristics: the word order subject-object-verb, postpositions instead of prepositions, no relative pronouns, modifiers in front of the head noun, copula (BE VERB) and existential (EXIST VERB) as two distinct grammatical parts of speech etc."

Southern Theory PART 2 in a nutshell:

"The other version of the Southern theory is the view that Korean may be related to the Austronesian languages (which includes South-east Asia, like Vietnam). There are some linguistic as well as anthropological and archeological findings which may support this view. The linguistic features of Korean which are shared some Polynesian languages include the phonological structure of open syllables, the honorific system, numerals and the names of various body parts. The anthropological and archeological elements shared by Koreans and the people in other regions of the South Pacific are rice cultivation, tattooing, a matrilineal family system, the myth of an egg as the birth place of royalty and other recent discoveries in Paleolithic or pre-ceramic cultures."

Northern Theory in a nutshell:

"The Northern theory is the view that Korean is related to the Altaic family. The Northern theory stipulates that the Tungusic branch of Altaic tribesmen migrated towards the south and reached the Korean peninsula. The Tungusic languages would include two mayor languages: Korean and Manchu. Korean is similar to the Altaic languages with respect to the absence of grammatical elements such as numbers, genders, articles, fusional morphology, voice, relative pronouns and conjunctions. Vowel harmony and agglutination are also found in Korean as well as in the Altaic languages."

Kim, Nam-kil

NOTE: Vietnam history supports the Southern Theory (but keep in mind that BOTH are probably correct)....

Vietnamese legend tells of a dragon lord named Lạc Long Quân and a mountain fairy named Âu Cơ who had 100 sons. As the parents belonged to different realms, they parted ways, each taking 50 of the 100 sons to their respective homes.
The eldest son came to power in 2879 BC and became known as Hùng Vương, ruling an area covering what is now North Vietnam and part of southern China. He founded the Hồng Bàng Dynasty, which lasted until 258 BC.
Each successor of the original Hung Vuong took the title of Hung Vuong. There were 18 Hung Vuongs in all. (Source: Wikipedia)

Personally, I find this VERY interesting, because Korean history teaches something very similar. According to "apocryphal" Korean history, from 3898 BC - 2333 BC There were eighteen Han-ungs, each ruling in succession of the other. (Han-ung was a title, not a name). The last Han-ung gave birth to the first Dan-gun.

I'm a thinker. I ponder things that interest me a lot. I try to figure things out. And what makes sense to me after all the research that I've done, is that the Paleo-siberians (DongYi/Tungusic Tribes) never left the Korean peninsula (at least not all of them). I can see why they think that some left, but not necessarily all of them. If you look below, you will see that there is a very close genetic tie between the Tibetans, Siberians, Mongolians, Koreans and Japanese. I agree with the idea that DongYi {i.e., Tungusic: (Siberian, Manchurian, Mongol)} tribes migrated down into the Korean peninsula, and Austronesians migrated from Vietnam, and there was a mixture of races (and languages). I don't understand why it has to be one way or the other. Why can't BOTH the Northern and Southern theories be true?

Koreans are in my estimation a combination of Tungusic (Mongolians) and Austronesian (Vietnamese) ethnicities. Their language is a mixture of Mongolian grammar, Chinese and Vietnamese lexis.

Koreans claim that they are related to the Mongolians because all Koreans are born with a blue spot on their body (which goes away after a few years). In fact, they call it the "Mongoli Jeom" (Mongolian Spot). Unfortunately, the blue spot is a common thing all over Asia, so this is not enough evidence to claim a specific genetic link. But, then again, the Mongols (during the Mongol empire under Genghis Khaan) spread their "seed" (DNA) all over the Asian continent. It's just not enough evidence to be conclusive.

So, let's move on to the possibility of a linguistic link between to the two languages (and other languages of the region).

Please Note that the Mongolian grammar and the Korean grammar is of the same syntax (subject-object-verb). As far as lexis goes, I have done extensive research, and here is what I've found. Possible cognates will be highlighted in similar colors.
I just added Hebrew, because I'm seeing some similarities between Mongolian and Hebrew

Numbers
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Numbers	one two three four five six seven eight nine ten	hitotsu hutatsu mittsu yottsu itsutsu muttsu nanatsu yattsu kokonotsu to	hana dul set net taseot yeoseot ilgeop yeodeol ahop yeol	emu juwe ilan duin sunja ninggun nadan jakvn uyun juwan	nek hoyeur gorow deureu tau zorga dolo naim yes (yus) arau	echad shtaim shalosh arba hamesh shesh sheva shmone tesha eser Source	mot hai ba bon nam sao bai tam chin mui
Interpolation (Notes and Credits / Sources of Information): Amazingly, I see very little similarity in the numbering systems of the Far East! I mean even most European languages will have similarities in the numbering systems. Why wouldn't the numbering systems of the Far East be similar??? RE: Korean To my surprise, the Korean numbering system bears absolutely NO similarity with any other numbering systems of the region. (Please note that I am fully aware that the Korean language has another numbering system which is based upon the Chinese numbering system, as does Japanese). See my Korean language page for more details. Some people have asked me what my sources were. For English and Korean, the source is myself. I am native English speaker and I lived in Korea for ten years (see my blog), and became quite fluent in the language. RE: Vietnamese I also lived in Vietnam for a year (see my blog) and I knew the numbers, but most of the rest had to be looked up in a bilingual lexicon. RE: Mongolian I lived in Mongolia for 5 years (see my blog), and I knew a lot of the words, the rest had to be looked up in various bilingual lexicons. The best English-Mongolian online dictionary is Bolor. RE: Tibetan I used to have Tibetan on here, but there just weren't any similarities, so I have replaced the Tibetan column with a Hebrew column, because recently I have been amazed to see the similarities between Hebrew and Mongolian for many words. RE: Japanese I don't remember where I got the Japanese words, but a native speaker named Yoko helped me fix the Japanese mistakes (but what I really want is the pure, native, proto-Japanese words (before sino-Japanese words were "borrowed" from Chinese). RE: Manchurian As for the Manchurian vocabulary, I had to look very hard for the Manchu words. One Manchu site is here. Here is another online English-Manchu Dictionary. RE: Hebrew Main source: Do it in Hebrew .
Family
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Family	family	ka-zoku	ga-jeok	?	ger bul	bayt	gia dinh
Family	mother	okasa	omoni	?	ej	em	?
Family	mom	haha	omma	eme	ejee	ima	me
Family	father	?	aboji	?	av	av	?
Family	dad	chichi	abba	ama	avaa	aba	cha / bo
Family	grandma	sobo	halmoni	?	emee*	sava	ba~
Family	grandpa	sohu	haraboji	yeye	oboo (eubeu)	saba	ong~
Family	big sister	ane	eoni (f->f) nuna (m->f)	?	Egch But they usually say: "Anaa" or "Anee"	Ah'ot	chi (gai)
Family	big brother	ani	obba (f->m) heong (m->m)	agee	Akh; but Mongolians usually say: "Akhaa" or "Agaa"	Ah' Ah' is pronounced the same as Akh.	anh (trai)
Family	little sister	imouto	dong saeng	?	duu	?	em gai
Family	little brother	otouto	dong saeng	?	duu	?	em trai
Family	wife	kanai tsuma	anae sek shi	sargan	ekher, or ger gii (literally: home's light)	ra'yah ishah	vo
Family	husband	shujin otto	nam-pyeon, (literally: male side) or uri egi abaa (literally: my baby's dad)	?	neukheur, or avaa-li er (literally: fatherly man)	ba'al (literally: lord of the house)	nguoi chong
Family	daughter	musume	ddal	?	okhin	bat	con gai
Family	son	musuko	adeul	?	khuu	ben	con trai
* Interpolation: I have wondered why the Mongolians changed "emee" from meaning 'mother' to 'grandma'; and after 3 years of living in Mongolia, I have concluded that it is because grandma does most of the child-raising, while 'mom' goes out and works. I could be wrong, but it makes sense. Note: There could be other reasons, such as mothers dying during childbirth, or dying for other reason, and grandmothers taking on the role of "mother" for one reason or another.
Body Parts
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Body	body	karada	mom	beye	biye	guf	thân hình
Body Parts	head	atama	mori	dalambi	teolgeoi	r'sh	cái đầu
Body Parts	back	senaka	heori	?	horoo	gav ah'or	lưng
Body Parts	leg	ashi	dari	bethe	heul	regel	chân
Body Parts	eye	me	nun	yasa	nud	ayin	mắt
Body Parts	nose	hana	ko	oforo	hamar	af	mũi
Body Parts	mouth	kuchi	ib	angga	am	peh	miệng
Body Parts	ear	mimi	gui	san	chikh	zen	tai
Animals
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Animals	animal	ikimono	(from Chinese) dong mul	assara jaka or ergengge	mal (animal) -or- amitan (creature)	chayah	dong vat -or- thú vật
Animals	bird	tori	se	gasha	shoboo	tzipor tsipor	chim
Animals	dog	inu	gae	indahvn	nokhoi	kelev	chó
Animals	horse	uma	mal -or- sino-Korean (ma)	morin	khor / adoo	sus	con ngựa
Animals	sheep	hitsuji	(from Chinese) yang		kheoni	keves	con cừu
Animals	ox (cow)	ushi	so	ihan	unee	shor	bò
Animals	pig	buta	doeji		gakhai	h'azir	con lợn
Animals	goat	yagi	yeom so		yamaa	ez sa'ir	con dê
Animals	chicken	niwatori	talk		takhia	tar'n'glet efroah'	gà
Animals	tiger	tora	horangi or sino-Korean (ho)	tasha	bar	tigris	con hổ
Colors
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Colors	black	kuro	keomeun ggaman heuk	yacin	khar	shah'or	đen
Colors	brown	cha-iro	gal (saek)	?	bor (unuk)	chum	nâu
Colors	dark blue	ai-iro	nam (saek)	?	kheukh***	?	xanh đậm
Colors	white	shiro	hayan (saek)	khayan	tsagaan (unuk)	lavan	trắng
Colors	violet / purple	murasaki	bora (saek)	?	chirneliin yagaan	sagol	màu tím
Colors	true blue	ao	paran (saek)	?	tsenkher (unuk)	kah'ol	màu xanh da trời
Colors	sky blue	sora-iro	haneul (saek)	?	tenger (unuk)	t'khelet	trời xanh
Colors	green	midori	nog (saek)	?	nogoon (unuk)	yark yarak	màu xanh lá
Colors	yellow	ki-iro	(from Chinese) hoang	suwayan	shar (unuk)	tzahv tsahov	màu vàng
Colors	orange	oren-ji	(from Chinese) juhoang	?	ubarshar (unuk)	katm katom	trái cam
Colors	red	aka	bbalgan (saek)	?	olaan (unuk)	adam adom crimson= argaman	đỏ
Environment
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Environment	sky	ten / sora	haneul	abka	tenger	shamayim	troi
Environment	earth (land)	riku	ddang	ba, na	gazar	adamah	dat
Environment	air	ku-u-ki (from Chinese)	(from Chinese) kong gi	?	agaar	avir	(from Chinese) khong khi
Environment	ocean / sea	umi	bada	mederi	tengis	yam	bien
Environment	gold	(from Chinese) kin	(from Chinese) kim, keum	?	altai, altan	zahav	vang
Environment	silver	gin	eun	?	munk, mungun	kesef	bac
Environment	rain	ame, kouu	bi	aga	boroo	geshem	mua
Food
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Food	water	mizu	mul	muke	os	mayim	Nước
Food	food	tabemono	shik sa, eum shik	buda	khol	leh'em (bread) khel ma'akhal	món ăn
Food	meat flesh	niku	gogi	?	max (makh)	basar	thịt
Food	dumpling	manju	mandu	?	buuz (/boze/)	?	bánh bao
Food	roll	ro-o-ru	roll	?	mantu	?	bánh mì cuộn
Food	rice	gohan / raisu	sal (uncooked) bab (cooked)	?	bodaa	rez	cơm cây lúa
People
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
People	person	hito	saram	niyalma	khun	ish	người
People	male	dansei	sut	~a~	er~	zakhar	?
People	female	josei	am	~e~	em~	neqeva	?
People	king	ou / kingu	kun han	han	khan	melekh	nhà vua
People	man	otoko	(from Chinese) namja	haha	er khun	ish (person) gever (young man) adam (mankind)	đàn ông
People	woman	on-na	(from Chinese) yeoja	hehe	em khun	ishah ra'yah	đàn bà
People	friend	tomodachi	chingu	anda	and / naiz	yadiyd h'aver	người bạn
People	teacher	(from Chinese) sen sei	(from Chinese) gyo sa & seon saeng	sefu	baksh	mora (f) more (m)	giáo viên
People	child	kodomo	ai	juse	khuukhed	yalda (f) yeled (m)	đứa trẻ
Verb
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Verb	be (copula)	dearu / iru / aru	ida	?	bol	hayah nim'tza	được
Verb	exist, have	motsu	issda	bi / bimbi	bi, baikh	hit'kayem	hiện hữu
Verb	love	aisuru	sarang-hada	hairambi	khairtai	ahav	yêu thương luyến ái thích
Verb	do or make	suru / tukuru	hada	arambi	khiikh	asa asha	làm
Verb	work	hataraku	il-hada	weilembi	ajilikh	avad asak	công việc
Verb	play	asobu	nolda	?	teokleokh	sichek	chơi
Verb	eat	taberu	meokda	jembi	idekh	akhal	ăn
Verb	believe	sinjiru	mid-da	?	itgikh	he'emin	tin
Verb	know	siru	alda	?	medekh	yada	biết
Ponouns
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Subject Pronoun (Nominative case)	I / we	watashi-wa watashitachi- wa	nae(ga) / uri(ga)	bi / muse	bi / bid	?	tôi
	You Ye Ya'all	anata-wa anatatachi-wa	tangshin / tangshideul	si / suwe	tanar	al at/aten (f) ata/atem (m)	?
	Thou Ye	sonata sonatatachi-wa	ni(ga) neohideul	?	chi	?	?
	One They	hito-wa karera-wa	keu keudeul	i / ce	ter	hen (f) hem (m)	?
Direct Object Pronoun (Accusative case)	me / us	watashi-ni watashitachi- ni(o)	ni (ga) / uri (reul)	mimbe / musebe	namaik	i	?
	you ya'll ye	anata-ni(o) anatatachi- ni(o)	tangshineul	simbe suwembe	tanig	?	?
	thee ye	sonota-ni(o) sonatatachin- ni(o)	neoreul	?	chamaig	?	?
	one them	hito-ni(o) karera-ni(o)	keureul	imbe cembe	tuuniig	?	?
Indirect Object Pronoun (Dative case)	to me / for me	watashi-e watashi- notameni	na-hante na-wi-e	minde / musede	nand	li	?
	to you for you	anata-e anata- notameni	tangshin- hante tangshin- wi-e	sinde / suwende	tand	lekh (f) lekha (m)	?
	to thee for thee	sonata-e sonata- notameni	neo-hante neo-wi-e	?	chand	?	?
	to/for one to/for them	hito-e, hito- notameni, karera-e, karera- notameni	keu-hante keu-wi-e	inde cende	tund	to her = la to him = lo to them (m) = lahem to them (f) = lahen	?
Possessive Pronouns (Genitive case)	my / our	watashi-no watashi- tachi-no	nae / uri	mini musei	minii manai	sheli shelanu	?
	your	anat-no anatatachi- no	tangshin- eui	sini suweni	tanii	shelakh (f) shelakhen shelkha (m) shelakhem	?
	thy	sonata-no	ni	?	chinii	?	?
	his her their	kare-no kanozyo-no karera-no	keu	ini ceni	tunii	shelo (m) shelah (f) shelahem (m) shelahen (f)	?



Life
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Life	life	seikatsu / kurashi	alm	?	ami	chaim chayiym	doi song
Life	name	namae	ireum	gebu	ner	shem	ten
Life	home/house	ie	jib	boo, booi	ger (yurt), buunii zakh (market)	bayit	nha
Life	good	tame	joh-eun	sain	sain	tov naiym tuv	tot
Life	bad	warui	nappeun	ehe	muu	ra garua	xau
Life	poop / manure	un-chi dai ben (from China)	ddong dae byun (from China)	?	baas	deshen	?
Life	pee / urine	oshikko shou ben (from China)	shi so byun (from China)	?	shees	sheten	?
Cosmos & Mythology
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
Cosmos	Moon	tsuki	dal	?	sar	yareach sahar	mặt trăng
Cosmos	Sun	taiyo	hae / nal (day)	xun	nara	shemesh	mặt trời
Cosmos	Star	hoshi	byeol	ushiha	od	kokhav	ngôi sao
Mythos	Dragon	?	mireu /mee-ruh/	?	loo /low/	mir'shaat i'taah d'rakon	?
Mythos	Demon- dragon of the abyss; cosmic sea of space	?	?	?	Arakho Arkhan	Arkhas Abadon	?
Mythos	The abyss	?	?	?	Gun Ganga	Tehom	?
Mythos	Hell	?	?	?	Tam	Sheol	?
Mythos	Heaven	?	?	?	Tenger	Eden	?
Interrogatives
Category	English	Japanese	Korean	Manchu	Mongolian	Hebrew	Vietnam~
?	What	nani	muo, museun	ai, aibade	yu, yum	mah bamma	?
?	When	itu	onje	fonde	khizee	matay	?
?	Where	doko	eodi	aba	khanaa	heykhan	?
?	Why	naze	we	aiman	yagad	lamma	?
?	Who	dare	nugu	we	khen	mi lemi	?
?	How	dou / don-na / donoyouni	odogge	absi, adarame	yaj	eykh kama ma	?
?	How much How many	ikua / dordake takusan ikusu / doredake o-oku	eolmana myeot gae	udu	yamar kheden	kama~	?
Other
Conjunction	When	~toki	~ddae	~sidende	~daa, dee, doo	ki bezman she ka'asher kshe~	?
Preposition	to, toward	-e	~ro	?	~ro	l~ el / al l'ever	?
Note: This comparative/contrastive glossary is a work in progress. My sources include: (1) My own knowledge of the English and Korean languages (2) Bolor English-Mongolian--Mongolian-English Dictionary (3) English-Japanese Dictionary (4) English-Manchu Glossary (5) English-Tibetan Dictionary (6) English-Vietnamese Dictionary

So, you can see, that mostly there are no similarities in the lexis, and sometimes the word has actually changed meaning although my guess is that they are etymologically related. Yes, occasionally, there are similarities, but I was shocked to find that none of the numbers and very few of the family words matched. You see what I mean? In conclusion, I'm convinced that their may have been an ancient linguistic connection, but traveling through China and mixing with other cultures has tainted the lexis. 70% of Korean is now from Chinese language. I have avoided the Sino-Korean (above) whenever possible. Little resemblance remains lexically to the mother Mongolian tongue, however the grammar is nearly identical, and the vowels are nearly identical.

From my lexical analysis of the Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian languages, it appears that the Japanese language has a much closer connection to Mongolian.

Of course all three languages have EXACTLY the same grammar (same syntax; AND, all three have the same suffix-like particles), and all three have VERY similar phonological traits, such as rules regarding vowel harmony.

Yet, when I write "much closer", I simply mean that there are more words in Japanese which bear resemblance to Mongolian, but the connection is still a weak one.

The Korean-Japanese ties go way back. It has been told me that the Koreans introduced the Chinese characters to the Japanese. Whether this is true or not, is not known to me, but it seems very plausible, given the geographical situation (i.e., Korean being between China and Japan). The Japanese language, like Korean has "borrowed" a heck of a lot of words from Chinese. But, both the Korean language and Japanese languages have retained many of their "original" lexis as well. It is of this "original" lexis that I write, when I write about the connection to the Mongolian language.

However, due to the fact that much of the "original" lexis has fallen out of use and has become lost over the centuries, it is really difficult for linguists to "classify" the two languages.

Because the syntax and phonological features are remarkably similar to Altaic languages, it is logical to include them in the Altaic language group. However, due to lexical differences, it is difficult to place them in any specific language group.

One can see where I got the above information from, however, my language map is different (and superior, in my opinion, because it shows more clearly how languages "overlap").

1. The diagram shows how the Korean language has roots in the Tungusic Language group AND NOT THE MONGOLIAN language group. Note: Manchurian is part of the Tungusic language group, and Korean may have some roots from the Manchu language.

2. The diagram shows how the Korean and Japanese languages have been heavily influenced by the Han-Chinese language.

3. The diagram shows how the Japanese language has some roots in the Mongolian language group. Hence, the lexis of "pure" Japanese is closer to Mongolian than that of the "pure" Korean.

4. The diagram shows how the Korean language has been influenced by the Austronesian language group.

5. It is not known (by me) whether the Japanese language has been influenced by the Austronesian language group or not. Therefore, I have not extended the Japanese language into that "field".

6. The funny thing is, according to genetic maps (on above SOURCE page), the Koreans and Japanese are more closely related to Tibetans than Mongolians. (see diagram below):

All right, now! There is something screwy going on here. The Ainu, Siberians, Tibetans and Eskimos are all closely related genetically, yet the Tibetan language is in a totally different language group (not on chart above; see chart below). If you examine the chart closely, you see that languages are grouped based upon their geographic location (i.e., the location of the people that speak them). And yet, logic tells us that you cannot do that, simply because people move around a lot. For example the Lapp people claim to have come from Tibet; And, I'll bet that there is not one single similarity between the "pure" Lapp language and the "pure" Finnish language. The Samoyeds, likewise are genetically different from the Finnish people. They look more like Eskimos.

Notice all the question marks in the chart above. That is to say that most linguists aren't sure of the links, but some linguists go with it out of convenience, I'm sure. I've read in a book about the Korean language (and heard as well) that the Korean language is linguistically related to the Finnish language. I now see why such is reported, but my own studies of the two languages show no similarities, neither in lexis nor in grammar.

Japanese and Korean are often linked with Mongolian, because they all share exactly the same grammatical features. They even share some phonological features. Yet, my studies have shown NO lexical similarities between the Japanese language and the Korean language, and NO lexical similarities between the Mongolian language and the Korean language. I HAVE, however, noticed similarities in lexis between the Japanese language and the Mongolian language.

Also, I have noticed some similarities between the Manchurian language, which is dying quickly, and the Korean language. It is my goal to study, learn, and document the Manchurian language before it completely dies from the face of the earth. If only somebody would finance the goal.

It should be noted that that the Tibeto-Burman language groups consists of roughly 250 languages, and the Chinese language group consists of countless dialects (if you could even call them dialects). The Sino-Caucasian Language group is expanded to look like this (according to "linguists"):

But it is a joke to group the Han-Chinese language and Tibeto-Burman language group together, because they are not linguistically related. It is also a joke to link the Basque language and Caucasian language group together, because they are not linguistically related either. AND, it is an even bigger joke to link the Sino-Tibetan group with the Basque-Caucasian group, because you probably couldn't find a single linguistic similarity.

For more information on the Sino-Tibetan group, see (and click on) the link below:

For more information on the Tungusic language group, see (and click on) the link below:

However, there is a theory that some linguists have which I fancy, because it matches my own. The following passage is from a web-article contained in the Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT):

This part below (namely, the Creation Myths Part) has moved to my Creation Myths Page.