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The threshold
What this language does
Korean grammaticalises relationship: the same fact is said differently depending on who speaks to whom, through the verb ending. It also separates topic from subject (은/는 against 이/가) — what you are talking about and what acts are not the same thing. And its script is unique: the consonants of hangul draw the position of the organs that pronounce them, then group into syllabic blocks.
The untranslatable
The attachment laid down by shared time, regardless of affection: you can feel jeong for a neighbour you dislike. A bond as sediment, not as sentiment.
Hello
안녕하세요 · annyeonghaseyo
literally “are you at peace?” — peace, not health, not the day
Work in progress
The only writing system in the world whose inventor, date and intention are known — the king even wrote that intention down. And the book's test case: an isolate has no cousins, so nothing to compare, while comparison is my only method. What is left when it becomes impossible?
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