The Pyongan dialect, also called Northwestern Korean, is a regional variety of the Korean language spoken in the northwestern part of the Korean peninsula, native to North Korea's Pyongan and Chagang provinces and to parts of China's Liaoning province. North Korea officially treats it as a regional dialect distinct from Munhwao, the country's Cultured Language standard, which the government presents as based on the speech of Pyongyang rather than the wider regional dialect. It is marked by an eight vowel sound system and by resistance to the palatalization found in many other Korean dialects, so that, for example, the consonant written as d does not soften the way it does elsewhere; Sino-Korean words that begin with n in other dialects are pronounced with an r-like sound in Pyongan speech. Its vocabulary includes distinctive terms along with words borrowed from Manchu, although North Korean language policy has worked to remove such foreign borrowings in favor of a purified vocabulary.
Facts
RegionThe Korean dialect of the northwestern Korean Peninsula and neighboring parts of China; recognized in North Korea as a regional dialect distinct from the country's standard Munhwaoe, which is based on Pyongyang speech. 1 Speaker CommunityOfficially distinguished in North Korea from the standard language: Kim Il Sung stated in a 1964 address that Pyongyang speech is 'neither the indigenous speech of the city nor the Pyongan dialect mixed with regionalisms.' 1 Distinguishing FeaturesThe d consonant, along with the first syllable of g and h, are not palatalized in the Pyongan dialect, unlike in southern Korean dialects. 1 Classification
Variety Kind Sources
1. Wikipedia: Pyongan Dialect
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Pyongyang speech (평양말, P'yŏngyangmal) is neither the indigenous speech [of the city] nor the Pyongan dialect mixed with regionalisms.
Palatalization section
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).
Variety kind, Pyongan Dialect entity page
The Pyongan dialect, also called Northwestern Korean, is a regional variety of the Korean language spoken in the northwestern part of the Korean peninsula, native to North Korea's Pyongan and Chagang provinces and to parts of China's Liaoning province.
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