Eliminated Dialects and Redundant Words

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"If uncultured language such as dialects or redundant words is spoken or written in everyday language, it will hinder the sound development of our advantageous language."

When we speak and write, dialects and redundant words are often regarded as uncultured. It is therefore an important issue to thoroughly eliminate them to raise the excellence of a national language and establish a sound and civilized way of language culture throughout the society.

Chairman Kim Jong Il taught in his early years that we should raise the level of politeness in language use, pointing out some inappropriate linguistic elements that were found in some people and corrected them.

On October 25, 1963, during his revolutionary activities at Kim Il Sung University, Chairman, in his talk "Let us improve the cultured standard in our everyday language" instructed to the students of Kim Il Sung University that they should be models of other people in their everyday language.

That day, he said that even during the course discussion, some students used dialects and redundant words too often, which makes people funny, and they should kick the habit of using them too much. He continued that some of the students often used the redundant words such as "…malipnida"(question tags) and "mwonkahamyon…"(whatchamacallit) when they were talking, which was regarded as non-standard. He emphasized that these kinds of uncultured expression in everyday language, especially in speaking and writing manifested the attitude towards the collective and their comrades, which led to the loss of respect from the people and misunderstanding.

Then he said that as we are university students in higher education, we should show a high cultured standard in everyday language and that we should know and write our beautiful and excellent words well in order to enhance cultural standard in our everyday language.

He continued that we should become a model in everyday language, well aware that speaking in a politic way is not merely a matter of using words but a matter of viewpoint and attitude towards everyday language.

Looking up to Chairman who grasped at once the problem caused by dialects and redundant words that could not be overlooked, and pointed out the cause and the way to take measures, the students made their new determination.

Thus, from that time on, dialects and redundant words such as "…malipnida" (question tags) and "mwonkahamyon…" (whatchamacallit)were completely eliminated from the students' everyday language.

Indeed, Chairman Kim Jong Il was the great leader of the Korean people who paid deep attention to the issue of everyday language and wisely led it to perform immortal exploits for the Juche-oriented and cultural development of the Korean language from his early years.