Korean dialects (사투리)! 🗣️

In the same way that the US (or any country for that matter) has dialects depending upon the region of the country, Korea has dialects that vary based on where you’re from. They range from tougher sounding words and endings to softer, more flowy sounds.

Today, we’re going to take a look at the nuances of some aspects that would be dead giveaways that you’re from a certain place! So, next time you’re traveling through Korea and meet someone, you might be able to guess where they’re from!

Let’s dive in!

Today we’ll be looking at 5 different regions of dialects (사투리) in Korea:

1. 경상도
2. 충청도
3. 전라도
4. 강원도
5. 제주도

Here are those places on a map so you can get an idea of where they are as well as the different ways to say “어서 오세요!” (Please come in!):

Korean Dialect Map

경상도

경상도 includes cities like Busan, Daegu, and Ulsan, and is famous for its strong accent and wide range of pitches in their speech. While standard Korean is relatively flat, 경상도 dialect sounds more melodic, almost like a song (or like an argument…). People in Seoul perceive these dialects as tough, manly, or scary (it’s the go-to accent for gangsters in Korean movies 😆)

Another key feature is the shortening of sentences. For example, instead of saying "뭐라고 했니?" (What did you say?), they might just say "뭐라꼬?"

For questions, they use -나 (for Yes/No questions) and -노 (for "Wh-" questions).

• 밥 먹었어 → 밥 뭇나?
• 뭐 해? → 뭐 하노?

For the example above, “Please come in”, first is that instead of being 어서, or a derivative, it is instead “퍼뜩” which means “quickly”/”hurry up”! Similar to 빨리 in standard Korean. So, this area of Korea really emphasizes speed in their speech where the default is “Come in quickly!” The 오이소 is also a bit more forceful than the 오세요 of the Seoul dialect as well.

People from 경상도 often use 가 as a universal word. Depending on the tone, 가가 가가? can mean "Is that guy the guy (we talked about)?” But, it only works if you use the right pitch! The first "가" (high), the second "가" (low), the third "가" (high), and the last "가" (rising).

충청도

Next, we have the 충청도 dialect, which includes cities like Daejeon and Sejong. It is known for being laid-back and slow-paced. Quite the opposite from 경상도! It’s very common to replace the -요 with -유, giving a gentler sound to the words. People from Seoul perceive 충청도 dialect as kind, slow, and humorous.

• 안녕하세요 → 안녕하슈
• 밥 먹었어요? → 밥 먹었슈?
• 어서 오세요 → 어서 오세유

Tip: Imagine you are trying to finish a sentence while falling asleep. Stretch that last vowel!

It’s not just about speed, but also about indirectness. 충청도 people are known for being subtle. If they want you to leave, they might say, “Oh, your kids must be waiting for you,” rather than “It's time to go.”

There’s apparently a famous joke that a 충청도 son saw a rock falling toward his father. In standard Korean, you'd yell, “Father, a rock is falling, watch out!” But because the dialect is so slow, by the time the son finished saying, “Father~ a rooock~ is~ fall~ ing~” (돌~ 굴~ 러~ 가~ 유~), the rock had already hit him.

전라도

Moving on over to 전라도! This area includes cities like Gwangju and Jeonju, and its dialect is expressive, emotional, and uses many exclamatory endings.

Also, you can’t talk about 전라도 without “거시기”. It is a ‘filler word” used when you can't remember a name or object — similar to “whatchamacallit” or “thingamajig.”

They use softer, more affectionate sounds added to the ends of words, like  -잉, -당께, and -부렀어.

• 안녕하세요 → 안녕하쇼잉
• 했어요 → 했당께 or 해부렀어

Going back to the example above, we see it in the first word: 언능, which means “quickly” again. And the 전라 version of 오다 → 오랑께. People from Seoul perceive these dialects as warm, friendly, and honest.

강원도

In 강원도, a region divided by high mountains, the dialect feels very rustic and earthy. The most typical ending in this region is -드래요 or -나마.

• 맛있어요 → 맛있드래요
• 밥 먹었니? → 밥 먹었나마?

They also have some unique vocabulary. For example, a potato is “감자” in standard Korean, but in certain mountain dialects, you'll hear “감재.”

제주도

Finally, the 제주도 dialect, for all intents and purposes, is essentially a different language. Most people from Seoul will not understand the 제주 dialect, or perhaps very little.

When "폭삭 속았수다” came out, most of the people didn’t know what the title meant because it was in 제주도 dialect. In standard Korean, “속았다” means “to be tricked / fooled” so they guessed it would be some show about people being scammed. But no, it actually meant “you worked hard” in 제주도 dialect. What a completely different vibe!

For 제주도 dialect, look for the ending -수다 instead of -습니다.

• 반갑습니다 → 반갑수다
• 정말 수고하셨습니다 → 폭삭 속았수다

In our “Please come in” example, here “어서 오세요” becomes “혼저 옵서예”. In 제주도 dialect, “혼저” means “quickly” or “gladly” (it is NOT “혼자”, which means “alone” in standard Korean!) and “옵서예” means “please come”. So, all in all, it becomes “Please come quickly” similar to 경상도, but completely different language.

An important thing to note is that the 제주도 dialect preserves many words from the Middle Korean (15th century) that have completely disappeared from the mainland. Also, it uses the 아래아 (ㆍ), a dot-shaped vowel that disappeared from the mainland hundreds of years ago. Therefore, it is also considered, by UNESCO, to be a Critically Endangered dialect — the only Korean dialect to be classified like this.

제주도 dialect with a dot-shaped vowel

Which dialect do you think is most interesting? Let us know!