Editing Goguryeo language (section)

== Placename glosses in the ''Samguk sagi'' ==
{{main|Placename glosses in the Samguk sagi}}
[[File:History of Korea-476.PNG|thumb|right|The Korean peninsula in the late 5th century]]
The most widely cited evidence for Goguryeo is chapter 37 of the {{tlit|ko|[[Samguk sagi]]}}, a history of the Three Kingdoms period written in [[Classical Chinese]] and compiled in 1145 from earlier records that are no longer extant.{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=37}}
This chapter surveys the part of Goguryeo annexed by Silla, with entries like
{{blockquote|{{lang|zh|七重縣一云難隱別}}}}
The phrase {{lang|zh|一云}} 'one calls' separates two alternative names for a place.
The first part, {{lang|zh|七重縣}}, can be read in Chinese as 'seven-fold county', while {{lang|und-Hani|難隱別}} is meaningless, and hence seems to use Chinese characters to represent the sound of the name.
From other examples, scholars infer that {{lang|und-Hani|難隱}} means 'seven' and {{lang|und-Hani|別}} means '-fold, layer', while the 'county' part of the gloss is not represented.{{sfnp|Unger|2009|p=73}}
In this way, a vocabulary of 80 to 100 words has been extracted from these place names.{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=39}}
Although the pronunciations recorded using [[Chinese characters]] are difficult to interpret, some of these words appear to resemble [[Korean language|Koreanic]], [[Japonic language|Japonic]] and [[Tungusic languages|Tungusic]] words.{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|pp=37–44}}
It is generally agreed that these glosses demonstrate that Japonic languages were once spoken in part of the Korean peninsula, but there is no consensus on the identity of the speakers.{{sfnp|Whitman|2011|p=154}}

Scholars who take these words as representing the language of Goguryeo have come to a range of conclusions about the language.{{sfnp|Whitman|2011|p=154}}
Most Korean scholars view it as a form of [[Old Korean]] and focus on Korean interpretations of the data.{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=43}}{{sfnp|Nam|2012|pp=51, 53–54}}{{sfnp|Kim|1987|p=883}}
In the early 20th century, Japanese scholars such as [[Naitō Konan]] and [[Shinmura Izuru]] pointed out similarities to Japanese, particularly in the only attested numerals, 3, 5, 7 and 10:{{sfnp|Toh|2005|p=12}}{{sfnp|Beckwith|2004|p=9}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Numerals in the ''Samguk sagi'' glosses
! colspan="3" | Native word
! rowspan="2" | Gloss
! rowspan="2" | [[Old Japanese]] numeral
|-
! Script
! Middle Chinese{{efn|Middle Chinese forms are given using [[Baxter's transcription for Middle Chinese]]. The letters ''H'' and ''X'' denote Middle Chinese tone categories.}}
! Sino-Korean{{efn|Korean forms are cited using the [[Yale romanization of Korean]].}}
|-
| {{lang|zkg-Hani|密}} || {{tlit|ltc|mit}} || {{tlit|ko|yaleko|mil}}
| {{linktext|lang=zh|三}} 'three' || {{tlit|ojp|mi<sub>1</sub>}}{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=43}}{{sfnp|Itabashi|2003|p=147}}
|-
| {{lang|zkg-Hani|于次}} || {{tlit|ltc|hju-tshij<sup>H</sup>}} || {{tlit|ko|yaleko|wucha}}
| {{linktext|lang=zh|五}} 'five' || {{tlit|ojp|itu}}{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=43}}{{sfnp|Itabashi|2003|p=154}}
|-
| {{lang|zkg-Hani|難隱}} || {{tlit|ltc|nan-ʔɨn<sup>X</sup>}} || {{tlit|ko|yaleko|nanun}}
| {{linktext|lang=zh|七}} 'seven' || {{tlit|ojp|nana}}{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=43}}{{sfnp|Itabashi|2003|p=148}}
|-
| {{lang|zkg-Hani|德}} || {{tlit|ltc|tok}} || {{tlit|ko|yaleko|tek}}
| {{linktext|lang=zh|十}} 'ten' || {{tlit|ojp|to<sub>2</sub>wo}}{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=43}}{{sfnp|Itabashi|2003|pp=152–153}}
|}

Beckwith proposed Japonic etymologies for most of the words, and argued that Koguryoan was Japonic.{{sfnp|Beckwith|2004|pp=27–28}}
Beckwith's linguistic analysis has been criticized for the ''ad hoc'' nature of his Chinese reconstructions, for his handling of Japonic material and for hasty rejection of possible cognates in other languages.{{sfnp|Pellard|2005|pp=168–169}}{{sfnp|Unger|2009|pp=74–80}}
Lee and Ramsey argue that Koguryoan was somehow intermediate between Koreanic and Japonic.{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|pp=43–44}}

Other authors point out that most of the place names come from central Korea, an area captured by Goguryeo from Baekje and other states in the 5th century, and none from the historical homeland of Goguryeo north of the [[Taedong River]].{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|pp=40–41}}
By the 5th century, Goguryeo ruled a huge area encompassing many ethnic groups and languages.{{sfnp|Janhunen|2005|pp=67–68}}{{sfnp|Unger|2009|p=28}}
These authors suggest that the place names reflect the languages of those states rather than that of Goguryeo.{{sfnp|Lee|Ramsey|2011|p=40}}{{sfnp|Toh|2005|pp=23–26}}
This would explain why they seem to reflect multiple language groups.{{sfnp|Whitman|2013|pp=251–252}}