Grammar
The Gyeongsang dialect maintains a trace of Middle Korean: the grammar of the dialect distinguishes between a yes-no question and a wh-question, while Standard Modern Korean does not. With an informal speech level, for example, yes-no questions end with "-a (아)" and wh-questions end with "-o (오)" in the Gyeongsang dialect, whereas in standard speech both types of questions end in either "-i (이)" or "-eo (어)" without a difference between the types of questions. For example:
- "밥 묵읏나?" (Bap mugeutna?) as opposed to "밥 먹었니?" (Bap meogeotni?) or "밥 먹었어?" (Bap meogeosseo?) — "Did you eat?"
- "머 하노?" (Meo hano?) as opposed to "뭐 하니?" (Mwo hani?) or "뭐 해?" (Mwo hae?) — "What are you doing?"
Notice that the first question can be answered with a yes or no, while the latter question is to be answered otherwise.
This phenomenon can also be observed in tag questions, which are answered with a yes or no.
- "Eopje, geujya?" (업제 그쟈?) as opposed to "Eopji, geureotchi?" (없지, 그렇지?) — "It isn't there, is it?"
Read more about this topic: Gyeongsang Dialect
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