Jeju dialect (
Korean: 제주 방언,
Hanja: 濟州方言) or
Jeju language (제주어; 濟州語) is the dialect used on the island of
Jeju in
Korea, with the exception of Chuja (Chuja dialect is similar to the
Jeolla dialect) in the former
Bukjeju County area of
Jeju City. It differs greatly from the dialects of the mainland, and preserves many archaic words which have since been lost in other
Korean dialects. It has also directly borrowed (not to be confused with a
Sprachbund-like assimilation of) some words from foreign languages, including about 240 words from
Mongolian, 53 words from
Chinese, 50 words from
Japanese, and 22 words from
Manchu. There are also many words which appear to be original formations (possibly from the language of the ancient kingdom of
Tamna).
Another difference is the slightly different intonation of words. The Jeju dialect tends to use more stress on certain syllables.
One large difference between the Jeju dialect and those of mainland Korea is the lack of formality and deference to elders. For example, while a speaker of the
Seoul dialect might say 안녕하세요
annyeonghaseyo ("Hello") to an older person, a speaker of the Jeju dialect would say 반갑수다
ban-gapsuda (lit., "Nice chatting" or "Nice talking"; roughly equivalent to "Howdy"). To many mainlanders, a child saying this to an adult would be appalling, but on the islands, a more "egalitarian" form of speech is used, perhaps a...
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