Lexical variation in the Korean language of early Korean immigrants to the United States: Focusing on oral history interviews collected by Sonia Shinn Sunoo around 1975

Eunjin Jung^*

Korea University

Abstract

This study examines linguistic variation in Korean spoken by the first generation of Korean immigrants to the United States (1903–1924), a group that marked the beginning of Korean-American history. While some studies have explored the language of contemporary Korean Americans, limited prior research has addressed the Korean language of these early immigrants. Around 1975, second-generation Korean American Sonia Shinn Sunoo conducted a large-scale oral history project, interviewing early Korean immigrants. Among the collected recordings, more than 40 participants used Korean for their interviews. Despite their historical and linguistic value, these recordings do not appear to have been used for linguistic research. Analysis reveals that early immigrants’ Korean reflects the regional dialects of early twentieth-century Korea and extensive English lexical borrowing. Rather than showing large-scale lexical changes influenced by Japanese in Korea during the same period, their speech demonstrates a strong English influence. This study highlights the sociolinguistic and historical significance of the early Korean immigrants' language use and calls for further scholarly attention to this valuable linguistic heritage.

미국 ‘초기 이민’ 한인 1세 한국어의 어휘적 변이
: 1975년경 소니아 신 선우가 수집한 구술사 인터뷰를 중심으로

초록

Vol. 40 No. 4 (2022.12)

Journal Abbreviation j. Korea Saf. Manag. Sci.
Frequency Published four times annually in March, June, September, and December
Doi Prefix 10.14353/sjk.
Year of Launching 1993
Publisher The Sociolinguistic Society of Korea

Indexed/Tracked/Covered By