The Northern Region of Korea: History, Identity, and Culture

5. P’yŏngan Dialect and Regional Identity in Chosŏn Korea

INTRoDuCTIoN The most characteristic aspect and distinguishing feature of the P’yŏngan dialect (P’yŏngan pangŏn) during the Chosŏn Dynasty and into the modern era is the fact that it failed to undergo the t (ㄷ)-palatalization (tigŭt kugaeŭmhwa) process experienced by almost all other Korean dialects. Thus, commonly cited examples are the Sino-Korean word for “train station,” Modern Standard chŏnggŏjang (ʧ əŋgəjaŋ), pronounced tŏnggŏdang (təŋgədaŋ) (from earlier tyŏnggŏdyang), and the Chinese character for “heaven,” “天,” pronounced ch’ŏn (ʧhən) in Modern Standard, and t’ŏn (thən) (from earlier t’yŏn) in P’yŏngan dialect. This non-realization of the transformation from ㄷ (t), ㅌ (th) sounds to ㅈ (ʧ), ㅊ (ʧh) remains the single most characteristic and stereotypical feature of P’yŏngan dialect. The phonological change that produced ㅈ(ʧ) and ㅊ(ʧh) from ㄷ (t) andㅌ (th) before i and y is called t-palatalization . This process took place in almost all other dialects of the Korean peninsula , including the remote southern island of Cheju, as well as areas contiguous to P’yŏngan, namely Hwanghae and Hamgyŏng provinces. The only regions to escape this t-palatalization were the dialects of P’yŏngan and the yukchin area, situated in the northern extremity of Hamgyŏng Province.1 Why did this not occur in the P’yŏngan dialect? The purpose of this chapter is to examine just what the reasons are and to discuss how this exception relates to the formation of identity in the P’yŏngan region. Scholars have offered phonological explanations as to why t-palatalization did not take place in P’yŏngan Province.2 While incorporating these scholars’ ideas, the present work indicates some shortcomings in the purely phono5 p’yŏngan Dialect and Regional Identity in Chosŏn Korea paek doo-hyeon p’yŏngan Dialect and Regional Identity 117 logical interpretations and suggests that we also need to take into account the historical, political, and geographical environments in which speakers of the P’yŏngan dialect were living. This revised approach will deepen our understanding of the peculiar link between language and identity that developed in the P’yŏngan region. ANAlySIS oF SouRCES oN THE p’yŏNgAN DIAlECT What do documentary records from the late Chosŏn period that were either published in P’yŏngan Province or reflect P’yŏngan dialect tell us about the status of t-palatalization in the region? Let us now analyze the appearance of t-palatalization in Chosŏn-era Korean documents that show evidence of P’yŏngan dialect influence. illustrated Conduct of the Two bonds (iryun haengsilto 二倫行實圖, 1727), P’yŏngan Provincial Governor’s Office Edition Woodblock-printed editions of the Iryun haengsilto can be found in six different extant editions as listed in Table 5.1. Table 5.1 Editions of the Iryun haengsilto Edition Publication date Publication information Oksan sŏwŏn edition (玉山書院本) circa 1520 Presumed to be the first edition Hakpong edition (鶴峰本) circa 1570 Royal gift edition bestowed upon Hakpong Kim Sŏngil Kiyŏng edition (箕營版) 1727 Published by P’yŏngan Provincial Governor’s Office Wŏnyŏng edition (原營版) 1730 Published by Kangwŏn Provincial Governor’s Office Yŏngyŏng edition (嶺營版) 1730 Published by Kyŏngsang Provincial Governor’s Office Haeyŏng edition (海營版) 1730 Published by Hwanghae Provincial Governor’s Office paek Doo-hyeon 118 Subsequent to the publication of this work by the P’yŏngan provincial governor’s office in 1727, the last three editions were published in the same year by different provincial governors’ offices. The Wŏnyŏng edition is an exact copy of the Kiyŏng edition and thus there are no differences in the linguistic data. However, the Yŏngyŏng and Haeyŏng editions were each carved out from their own original manuscript versions, and therefore there are a number of differences in the linguistic data among the different editions. The most salient source of differences concerns how each edition reflected certain aspects of t-palatalization. In the Kyŏngsang dialect, the t-palatalization process had more or less already run its course by the early eighteenth century, and, thus, examples of t-palatalization appear rather frequently in the Yŏngyŏng edition. On the other hand, t-palatalization had not yet made any inroads into the dialects of P’yŏngan and Hwanghae, and...