And why do Japanese and Korean have similar words? All of these questions — and more — will be answered in this Japanese vs Korean language guide. This guide is split up into 4 parts.
The Japanese language has been historically influenced by Chinese and, more recently, western languages. Japanese uses three different types of writing forms: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. This can make it difficult for non-native speakers to learn the language since they need to learn three completely new writing systems.
Although there are many similarities between Korean and Japanese languages, most people believe that the similarities come more from the geographic closeness of the countries than the actual origins. like Japan, Korea also had a large influence from China in its language history. Korean uses a unique alphabet system called Hangul. Before Hangul was used, they also incorporated Chinese characters in their writing.
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Also, the use of particles in both languages is essential to describe various nuances of the verbs. Another interesting similarity is in the way that pronouns are often omitted from both languages and instead rely on context to determine the pronoun. Pronouns can be used in both languages to show different levels of closeness to the other person or how you want to be viewed by the other person.
Why? Because both languages have borrowed words from languages like Chinese or Portuguese. For example, the word for time is “jikan” in Japanese and “shikan” in Korean, which comes from Chinese influence. In addition, words like bread come from Portuguese influence. Bread is “ppang” in Korean and “pan” in Japanese.
The influence mainly comes in the form of borrowed words. Since the Japanese still uses Chinese characters, the borrowed words can be more obvious.
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However, the Korean language also borrowed many words from Chinese. This is because Korean writing also used Chinese characters before the Hangul alphabet became the dominant writing system.
This means that there is no tonal system that would drastically change the meaning of the words like in Chinese and Vietnamese.
Both languages use a straightforward combination of vowels and consonants to form words. In Japanese, when written in hiragana or katakana, the words are read the way it looks. In Korean, the hangul alphabet also shows how the words should be pronounced.
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In Korean, there is only one writing system called Hangul (Korean alphabet). Once you learn it, you can pretty much read and write in Korean.
3. Kanji is a Chinese writing system that can have multiple ways to read each character. The kanji can be difficult because it is not predictable in terms of how to read the characters. You simply have to memorize which words correspond to the characters.
Korean has ten vowels that you need to know. These vowels are not as intuitive or straightforward as Japanese. For example, they can have combined vowels like “eu” or “ya.” The increased number of vowels in Korean makes some words sound more similar to each other, and it can be hard to learn how to pronounce them in a way that differentiates the vowel sounds.
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In Japanese, there are mainly three politeness levels: plain, polite, or formal. Plain forms of the language are used among friends and family. The polite form can be with strangers and those of higher social status than you. Formal can be used in business situations or when you have customers.
On the other hand, Korean has seven different types of speech styles with varying degrees of politeness. They can range from “very formally polite” for talking to royalty, to “casually impolite” for talking with family, friends, and children.
Both languages are considered difficult to learn, especially for those coming from languages that use the Latin alphabet. The biggest hurdle can often be learning the writing style.
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Korean is probably the easiest to learn writing because there is one phonetic alphabet system. In comparison, Japanese requires you to know around 1, 000 to 2, 000 Chinese characters to be able to read and write the language for daily use.
So, why not learn anyway? Even if they’re considered hard, there are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of people learning Japanese and Korean because they want to. They know it’s hard. And they do it anyway. For anime. For k-pop. For culture. For k-dramas. And they’re succeeding too… even though it takes some time to get good in these languages. So, why can’t you?
And if you are keen on learning Japanese or Korean, check out these audio lessons again. And go check out KoreanClass101 and JapanesePod101.
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Or, if you just want to start with the alphabet basics… check out out these FREE Alphabet Workbooks from JapanesePod101 and KoreanClass101.I am born and raised in Bulgaria, but I'm currently living in Vienna, Austria. Besides content writing, I work as a translator, video editor, and caption writer. At present, I’m also finishing my master’s degree in applied linguistics at the University of Vienna. I speak four languages: Bulgarian, English, German, and Russian.
China, Korea, and Japan have a long and interconnected history. Throughout the centuries, these three countries have mutually influenced each other, shaping each other’s cultures, ways of living, and perspectives on the world, and have even influenced each other’s languages.
While Chinese, Korean, and Japanese are three distinct languages, they share quite a few similarities. However, do not underestimate their similarity because you will be shocked at how pronounced some of the differences between them are.
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In the following blog, you will find everything you need to know about the history, popularity, and evolution of these languages, which have inevitably contributed to their differences and similarities.
From a linguistic point of view, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese belong to the Altaic language family, and thus, they share a common ancestor. Nevertheless, through time, they have evolved separately.
Chinese is the oldest of these three languages and is considered the oldest spoken language in the world. Experts claim that the Chinese language originated 3, 000 years ago.
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As you might already know, hundreds of spoken dialects exist in China. That’s why, sometimes the term “Chinese language” can be unclear since there are quite a few varieties spoken in China.
The Chinese writing system, as opposed to the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, which contain letters, consists of the so-called “logograms” or “logographs”.
As we have already mentioned, there are quite a few dialects spoken in China. In the past, this diversity and the peculiarities of the Chinese writing system made it hard for the common people to become literate.
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The Standard Chinese language was created in 1913, which is only a year after China was proclaimed a republic. This standard variety of Chinese was created to improve education and allow people to learn the Chinese language more easily.
All in all, the Chinese predated both Korea and Japan and due to their long history and huge influence, have greatly contributed to their development.
Before the 4th century AD, the Japanese language did not have a writing system. So gradually Japanese people began to utilize and adapt the Chinese script.
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In this way, the Chinese script slowly evolved into the Japanese “logographs” we know today. It is often referred to as “kanji.”
Due to the close geographical proximity of China and Korea, it is no surprise that the Korean language has also adopted the Chinese writing system.
During the 15th century, Korea created their writing system in an attempt to promote literacy among the common Korean people. This new script contained only 10 main vowels and 14 main consonants.
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In the 20th century, the new Korean script finally began to be used widely due to the economic growth of the country. Today, it is still used since this new writing system is easier to learn.
According to the 2021 Duolingo Language Report, Japanese has become the fifth most preferred language in the world, surpassing Italian. What’s more, it is the fastest-growing language in the US and the UK.
Manga and anime have taken the world by storm and have in turn generated massive interest in Japanese culture and language. Indeed, many Japanese language learners claim that their desire to know more about the Japanese lifestyle, food, and aesthetics keeps them motivated.
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In 2020, Chinese was the tenth most popular language on the platform. In 2021, it reached the eighth position while also becoming among the five fastest-growing languages in Brazil and Mexico.
China has experienced tremendous economic growth in the past 20 years. Moreover, Chinese politics and tech development receive a lot of media coverage. People’s interest in the Chinese culture and possible work opportunities are considered the main reason behind the recent upsurge in the popularity of the Chinese language.
Korean is also enjoying a lot of attention among language learners, and the demand is expected to intensify in the upcoming years.
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This statement is more relevant for the Japanese and Chinese since their scripts are related. Some people claim that if you know one script, you will be able to read the others.
Keep in mind, however, that their identical writing does not mean they are pronounced the same. In Japanese, this phrase is pronounced ‘nihonjin’ while in Chinese it is ‘rìběn rén’.
However, this wasn’t always the case for Chinese,
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