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Dialects and Varieties

Jeolla Dialect

Other Dialects and Varieties

The Jeolla dialect, also called Southwestern Korean, is spoken in the Jeolla, or Honam, region of South Korea, including the city of Gwangju, and divides into northern and southern subvarieties with further eastern and western variation. It is marked by distinctive verb endings such as rau and jirau in place of the standard forms, a characteristic sentence-final ing particle comparable to the Canadian eh, reduction of diphthongs to single vowels, and vocabulary such as the placeholder word geosigi, roughly equivalent to whatchamacallit. Southern Jeolla speech carries two main tonal patterns, and the dialect as a whole is often perceived, with mixed attitudes across Korea, as strongly accented and fast.

Facts
Region
Spoken in the Jeolla (Honam) region of South Korea, including the metropolitan city of Gwangju; the area was known as Jeolla Province during the Joseon era. 1
Speaker Community
Considered non-standard, like the related Chungcheong dialect; it is preserved in the traditional pansori oral narrative-singing tradition, whose texts are written in the Jeolla dialect. 1
Distinguishing Features
Jeolla dialect speakers have a tendency to end their sentences with -ing, especially when asking a favor, comparable to the word eh as used by some Canadians. 1
Classification
Variety Kind
Regional Dialect 1
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Jeolla Dialect
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    Like the Chungcheong dialect, the Jeolla dialect is considered non-standard. Pansori texts are written in the Jeolla dialect.
  • Grammar, Verb endings section
    Jeolla dialect speakers have a tendency to end their sentences with -ing, (잉) especially when asking a favor. This can be compared to the word "eh", as used by some Canadians.
  • Variety kind, Jeolla Dialect entity page
    The Jeolla dialect, also called Southwestern Korean, is spoken in the Jeolla, or Honam, region of South Korea, including the city of Gwangju, and divides into northern and southern subvarieties with further eastern and western variation.
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