Handbook of Korean Vocabulary

Vocabulary learning is the single most important component of second-language acquisition. In cases where the second language is unrelated to the learner's native tongue, this task presents special challenges because there are typically few clues in a word's form to assist in learning and remembering its meaning. This book offers a solution to this problem for students of Korean. The Handbook is the first ever "root dictionary" of Korean designed for second-language learners. Useful for students at all levels, it contains more than 1,500 vocabulary lists consisting of words built from a shared root. These lists offer a unique and efficient way for students to acquire new words. Upon encountering a word, students can consult the lists for its component roots and discover many other semantically related words built from the same elements. An introduction provides an overview of Korean vocabulary and detailed instructions on how to use the word lists. A pronunciation guide outlines the major principles determining the pronunciation of compounds and other multipart words in Korean.

William O'Grady is professor of linguistics and a member of the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawai'i.