MultiTree:

Name: Koguryo Type: Language Alternate Names: Old Koguryo; Koguryoan Code: zkg Code Standard: ISO 639-3 Documentation: LINGUIST List Families: Unclassified Languages Parent Subgroup: Asian Unclassified (asun) Brief Description: A possible language once spoken in NE China (Liaoning), Manchuria, and Korea, 1st century to mid-8th century A.D. The earliest solid historical reference to the Koguryo people (1st century A.D.) has them in the Liao-hsi area (now part of Liaoning province, northeast of Tientsin) of China. The evidence for this language lies almost solely in toponyms rather than texts, and is thus unreliable. The Archaic Koguryo corpus dates to the third and fourth century A.D. and consists of about a dozen identifiable lexemes recorded in Chinese historical and geographical accounts of the Koguryo kingdom. The Old Koguryo corpus, largely dating to the seventh and eighth centuries, consists of over a hundred lexemes found in the form of glossed toponyms, plus a small number of words recorded in Chinese historical and geographical accounts. The language, if real, may be related to Japanese. After the conquest of the Koguryo kingdom in 668 A.D., its inhabitants were partly dispersed deep within the territory of T'ang China and partly gradually absorbed by Silla Korean speakers. The most extensive body of data on the language was recorded in the mid-eighth century when the former Koguryo place names were changed to Chinese names.(Information provided by Christopher Beckwith and Sasha Vovin)

Endangerment Status

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Linguist List Status: Extinct