Yeon and Brown have written an excellent grammar for those who are learning Korean, but this book will also be of use as a reference grammar for those involved in general Korean studies. A book such as this will be welcomed by both students and researchers who are learning Korean or engaged in the study of the Korean language. Potential readers will need to be familiar with Korean script, but other than that no background in the Korean language (or linguistics) is required to follow the text. Most of all, Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar is based on colloquial rather than written Korean and provides a comprehensive overview of Korean grammar with ample examples.
Throughout the chapters, this book helps the learner of Korean to practise different grammatical constructions. In Korean the roles of nominal particles and verb endings are crucial in structural realizations, unlike languages like English, and learners of Korean often have difficulty understanding how each particle/ending yields a different meaning. However, very few Korean grammar books provide an account of how various particles and endings are used in Korean, nor give detailed accounts as Yeon and Brown have done here.
Chapter 1 in particular provides a reader-friendly, yet comprehensive, introduction to the Korean language without resorting to complicated linguistic terminology, covering most core themes and characteristics of the Korean language ranging from word order, script and sound system to honorification (terms of address). Chapter 2 discusses nouns, nominal forms, pronouns and numbers. The authors explain how different bound nouns are used in different situations, and give examples. Chapter 3 will be very useful to those learning the meaning and usage of various particles. Chapter 4 provides brief characteristics of Korean verbs and helps readers familiarize themselves with different speech styles and honorification expressed through verbal endings. Different forms of verbs and derived verbs are also attested with various examples – which could help readers to understand different grammatical constructions in Korean. Chapter 5 discusses auxiliary (support) verbs and chapter 6 verbal connectives. I find these two chapters extremely useful in teaching Korean grammar courses. Understanding both auxiliaries and connectives is crucial when reading Korean, yet readers often have to rely on fragmentary knowledge gleaned from the dictionary, without proper explanation. These two chapters show how different auxiliary verbs and connectives are used in context, with relevant examples explaining different nuances. Chapter 7 shows how various modifying phrases are realized and different meanings are conveyed through each type of modifying phrase. Chapter 8 is on sentence endings: in Korean, word order does not distinguish declarative sentences from interrogative, but different particles and prosody play this role. This chapter shows the different meanings and nuances that each sentence-final ending brings. Chapter 9 is on quotations (reported speech) and allows the reader to become used to different kinds of quotations in Korean sentences. Chapter 10 discusses adnouns and adverbs in Korean, again with the frequent use of ample examples.
In my opinion this book will be indispensable in Korean language education, and I recommend it without reservation to learners of Korean.
