Researchers adapt Korean alphabet for use in Native language


An Aymara ceremony in Copacabana, a town on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Photo by Kilobug via Wikipedia

Researchers have adapted the Korean alphabet for possible use by speakers of Aymara, a Native language in South America.

The National Research Foundation of Korea funded the three-year long effort, The Korea Times reported. It follows informal lessons that were once offered in Bolivia by Korea's ambassador to that nation.

Aymara is spoken by more than three million Aymara people in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. It is typically written using the Spanish alphabet but Korean researchers believe their system better corresponds to the everyday use of the Native language.

The Korean alphabet is known as Hangul. It was previously adapted for speakers of a language in Indonesia but it has not received widespread usage there, The Korea Times reported in 2012.

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Hangeul set to become writing system for South American tribe (The Korea Times 10/8)

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