This research project examines perceptions that Gyeongsang dialect speakers have about the Korean spoken in Korea and their language attitudes toward Gyeongsang dialect and Seoul dialect. Informants were asked to draw a boundary around each part of Korea where they believe people speak differently and label those areas for that way of speaking on a blank map of Korea. After completing the map-labeling task, each of the informants responded to a questionnaire concerning language attitudes specifically toward Gyeongsang dialect and Seoul dialect. A total of 488 informants participated in this study. The age range was from 20 to 58 years and the number of informants in each age group was quite even. All of the informants were considered as authentic speakers of Gyeongsang dialect who lived in Gyeongsang province at least 20 years. The combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis reveals that in comparison to Seoul dialect, there is an interplay of dialect inferiority complex and regional pride assigned to Gyeongsang dialect. Findings from this study provide insight on language attitudes and perceptions of language variation in Korea.
