The Jeolla dialect of Korean, or Southwestern Korean, is spoken in the Honam region of South Korea, including the city ofGwangju. This area was known as Jeolla Province during the Joseon era. However, it is believed that the dialect dates to the Baekje kingdom. Like the Chungcheong dialect, the Jeolla dialect is considered non-standard. Pansori texts are written in the Jeolla dialect.
Grammar
Verb Endings
In place of the usual -seumnida or -seyo endings, a southern Jeolla person will use -rau or -jirau appended to the verb. For a causal verb ending, expressed in standard language with a -nikka ending, Jeolla people use -ngkkei, so the past tense of the verb "did", haesseunikka, becomes haesseungkke. A similar sound is used for the quotative ending, "somebody said...". The usual verb endings are -dago and -rago. Jeolla dialect prefers -dangkke. Jeolla dialect speakers have a tendency to end their sentences with -ing, especially when asking a favor. This can be compared to the word "eh," as used by some Canadians.
Tone
Pitch and Intonations
There are two major accentual patterns in the Southern Jeolla dialect: low-high-low and high-high-low. The use between the two is determined by a phrase's initial segment. If it has a spread or constricted laryngeal feature, the high-high-low pattern would be used while the low-high-low pattern characterizes all other phrases. These laryngeal features produce aspirated consonants and its use in determining accent patterns can be seen in onomatopoeia. For example, panchak meaning “twinkle” can be accented as so: L-H-L: panc' akpanc'ak “twinkle twinkle” H-H-L: p'anc'akp'anc'ak “much more twinkling than usual” In Gwangju, studies have concluded that there are three major accentual patterns:
The first is when the high accent appears only in the initial syllable. This accentual pattern is generally characterized by an initial long vowel syllable. For example, ha:n.kuk “Korea” follows this H-L pattern.
The second pattern consists of two initial high syllables and it pertains to words with a tense, aspirated initial consonant. Words that follow this H-H pattern include tho.k'i “rabbit” and t'ak.t'a.ku.ri “woodpecker.”
The third pattern, L-H, occurs when only the second syllable has a high accent and it applies to all other words such as ka.ɯr “autumn” and min.tɯr.re “dandelion”
Pronunciation
Vowel Transformations
Regarding pronunciation differences, there is often a tendency to pronounce only the second vowel in a diphthong. For example, the verb ending that indicates "since," -neundae, becomes -neundi. The name of the large city of Gwangju becomes Gangju, and the verb 'to not have, to be absent', eopda 없다, becomes very close to upda. Other instances of vowel transformation called umlauting occurs in the Jeolla dialect. The word “caught” is “japhida” in standard Korean, yet in the Jeolla dialect it is pronounced “jaephida”. Because of the “i” vowel following it, the “a” vowel turns into an “ae”. This transformation occurs in several other words:
RABBIT: toekki rather than tokki
MEAT: goegi rather than gogi
The standard “o” sound changes into “oe” due to the following “i” vowel.
The Southern Jeolla dialect, unlike several other Korean dialects, has distinctions between long and short vowel sounds. There is a "vowel shortening rule" where a word-initial syllable becomes short when the word occurs non-initially in a compound such as saaram “a man” of nuuns' aram “a snowman” or when the word is placed in certain non-initial positions such as:
Short vowel sounds can also be replaced by long vowels causing a greater ‘dragging’ emphasis on vowels in the Jeolla dialect than standard Korean. The tendency is for “i” sounds to be pronounced as “eu”, as in the word “lie,” or geojitmal, which is pronounced as geu~jitmal. In addition, “e” is pronounced as “i” instead as it is in the word “pillow” or baege, which is pronounced as bi~ge.
Geographical Subdivisions
In addition to the north and south division, the Jeolla dialect varies between the eastern and western parts as well. Eastern dialects characterize localities such as Muju, Jinan, Jangsu, Imsil, Namwon, and Sunchang while western dialects pertain to Okgu, Iksan, Wanju, Gimje, Buan, Jeongeup, and Gochang.
Distinct Phrases
There are some words that are unique to the dialect as well: utjeseo for "why", sibang for "now", and dwitgan for "outhouse." Another notable word is geosigi, which is used as a placeholder name or a euphemism for embarrassing words, similar to the English “whatcha-ma-call-it.” Other specific phrases include exclamations used to express surprise or shock, such as Wamma! and Omae!.
Perceptions of the Jeolla Dialect
The general impression surrounding the Jeolla dialect include strong accents and fast speech. In a 2015 survey taken by 488 Gyeongsang dialect speakers, 69% associated the Jeolla dialect with negative personality labels such as “unpleasant,” “rough,” “scary,” and “sarcastic” whereas 31% associated positive personality labels such as “humorous,” “cute,” and “macho.” A 2013 research suggests that Seoul residents also perceive the Jeolla speech negatively, however the Gyeongsang speakers responded positively to the Jeolla dialect. Jeolla speakers demonstrated a “high degree of linguistic security” in response to their own dialect.
