首先因為朝鮮的語言屬於阿爾泰語系，與中國的漢藏語系不太一樣，但是古代朝鮮文化落後，一直沒有發明自己的文字，所以只能沿用中國漢字。但是，漢字還是無法充分地表現韓語的發音和朝鮮民眾的思想感情，普通朝鮮平民根本不識漢字，只有朝鮮貴族、官員會使用漢字，稱為「吏讀文字」，而普通朝鮮平民只能以口頭方式進行文化交流，他們的生活知識和年積月累的農業耕種經驗和農耕方法也都無法長久的流傳下去。
在美版知乎上有網友的提問：韓國人在1446年發明韓文之前(1446年以前，例如公元800年)說韓語嗎?(我問的是說而不是寫的)? 我們來看看國外網友是如何看待這個問題的吧。
論壇話題：韓國人在1446年發明韓文之前(1446年以前，例如公元800年)說韓語嗎?(我問的是說而不是寫)?
韓國網友的觀點
Koreans have always spoke Korean, I understand that many people think that this language was created but it has been around since….. no one knows. King Sejong merely wanted to create a writing method that could be learned by anyone.
韓國人一直說韓語，我知道很多人認為這種語言是被創造出來的，但它從.....開始就存在了沒有人知道。世宗只是想創造一種任何人都能學會的書寫方法。
Koreans used Chinese Characters for many years and to be honest it was not the same, Kind of how many English speakers try to Romanize the language, It simply does not work and I try hard to make it work but it will never be possible without a few more characters.
韓國人使用漢字很多年了，說實話，這是不一樣的，有點像很多說英語的人試圖把語言羅馬化，這根本行不通，我努力讓它發揮作用，但沒有幾個字元永遠不可能。
To answer your question, Koreans have always had the same language maybe over 10,000 years but no one knows.
回答你的問題，韓國人一直使用同一種語言，可能超過10000年，但沒有人知道。
韓國網友的觀點
Of course, he spoke in Korean, but when he wrote or wrote documents, he used Chinese characters similar in pronunciation to the meaning of such Chinese characters because there was no Korean.
當然，他說的是韓語，但他在寫文件時，因為沒有韓語，所以使用了與漢字發音相近的漢字。
When King Sejong created Hangul, many aristocrats opposed it.
世宗開創韓文時，很多貴族都反對。
The Chinese characters came to Korea around 108 B.C. At that time, the national name was Joseon, and Koreans call it Gojoseon to distinguish it from the Joseon kingdom of the same name later.
漢字在公元前108年左右傳入韓國，當時的國名是朝鮮，為了與後來的朝鮮王國區分，韓國人稱其為古朝鮮。
The method of using Chinese characters was called Idu, which uses Chinese characters' yin and Hun to express Korean.
這種使用漢字的方法被稱為Idu，即用漢字的陰和渾來表示韓語。
In other words, it is a word that goes along with the yin and meaning of the Chinese characters.These Chinese characters were used by the aristocracy in Korean history, and most ordinary people did not know them. Since Chinese characters are hieroglyphics rather than phonetic ones, the number of characters is too large, with 36,000 such characters.
換句話說，它是一個與漢字的音和意義相輔相成的詞。在韓國歷史上，這些漢字是貴族使用的，大多數普通人都不知道。由於漢字是象形文字而不是音標，所以漢字的數量太大了，有36000個。
Therefore, because it was difficult to learn Chinese characters, most of the classes that knew the defects were aristocrats, including bureaucrats, and even generals were ignorant of Chinese characters because they were uncivilized.
因此，因為漢字的學習困難，知道漢字缺陷的階級大多是貴族，包括官僚，甚至將軍也不懂漢字，因為他們是未開化的。
The selection of government officials in Korean history was made by the aristocracy and the commoner class with such Chinese characters, most of which were selected by aristocrats or by commoners with aristocrats as teachers.
在韓國歷史上，政府官員的選拔是由具有這種漢字的貴族和平民階層進行的，其中大部分是由貴族或由貴族擔任教師的平民選出。
The reason for this is not that they know all the letters in Chinese characters, but that they put the books of famous philosophers and intellectuals in Chinese characters as a test question.
之所以這樣做，不是因為他們知道漢字里所有的字母，而是因為他們把著名哲學家和知識分子的書用漢字寫成，作為考題。
Therefore, they usually had to study for 20 to 30 years if it was short or 10 years long.
因此，他們通常要學習20到30年，如果是短的或10年長的。
Therefore, in the old days when it was difficult to make ends meet, it was difficult to get ahead in the world by learning Chinese characters, taking tests, and being selected as a government official. So naturally, the aristocracy took up many government posts, and the common people became part of it. History glorifies the creation of Hangeul by King Sejong, but my personal thoughts differ slightly.
因此，在入不敷出地過去，學漢字、考試、選官，都很難在世界上出人頭地。很自然地，貴族佔據了許多政府職位，而平民也成為其中的一部分。歷史頌揚世宗創造韓文，但我個人的想法略有不同。
Historically, it is difficult to create an easy-to-learn article for the people. Therefore, we should consider the historical background of King Sejong's creation of Hangeul. The political system of the Joseon Dynasty was different from the previous political system.
從歷史上看，要給老百姓寫一篇易學的文章是很困難的。因此，我們應該考慮世宗創造韓文的歷史背景。朝鮮的政治體制與以前的政治體制不同。
During the Joseon Dynasty, there was a system called Uijeongbu. Uijeongbu is the same as the current parliamentary system. There were three officials from each department at the top of the list. When the king made a decision, the king could give orders only when he and the government were in agreement. Thus the king's authority was weakened and the authority of management was strengthened.
在朝鮮時代，有一種叫做議政府的制度。議政府與現行的議會制相同。每個部門有3名官員名列前茅。當國王做出決定時，只有在他和政府同意的情況下，國王才能下達命令。這樣一來，國王的權威被削弱了，而管理的權威被加強了。
No matter what order the king was going to make, when the opposition from Uijeongbu became impossible, King Sejong, the smart king, thought of strengthening his royal authority.
無論下達什麼樣的命令，當議政府的反對變得不可能時，聰明的世宗國王想到了加強王權。
It is the people's support that is the power of any country. For example, the king ordered the land to be distributed for the people. King was making a public announcement to inform the Guards of these orders. If all the people are aware of the writing, the king's will is conveyed to the people, but if the people are not aware, serious problems arise.
人民的支持是任何國家的力量。例如，國王下令將土地分配給人民。金正在向近衛軍發布公告，通知他們這些命令。如果所有的人民都知道這個文字，國王的旨意就會傳達給人民，但如果人民不知道，就會出現嚴重的問題。
When the king asked the nobles who knew the writing what it was about, even if it was a good meaning to give the land to the people who didn't know the writing...If the order is against the nobles, the aristocrats would say, "The king does unnecessary things again," and all the people would find the king doing unnecessary things.
當國王問懂文字的貴族這是什麼意思，即使把土地給不懂文字的人是好的意思。如果命令是針對貴族的，貴族就會說:「王又做了不必要的事。」所有的人民就會發現王做了不必要的事。
However, if anyone has easy reading and writing, the people read the contents of the notice without asking the nobles and find out that the king works for them. So many aristocrats opposed making Hangeul, and even after making Hangeul, they faced a lot of opposition.
然而，如果有人能輕鬆地閱讀和書寫，人民沒有問貴族就看了通知的內容，發現國王為他們工作。因此，很多貴族反對製作韓文，即使在製作韓文之後，他們也面臨著很多反對。
King Sejong made many books in Korean, but Hangeul was not used in the national affairs, and it spread throughout the years through novels, and all Koreans used Hangul like Hanjae.
世宗用韓文寫了很多書，但韓文並沒有在國政中使用，而是通過小說流傳了多年，韓國人都像韓載一樣使用韓文。
韓國網友的觀點
By the dynasty of Koryo (918–1932), definitely yes. Before that, the evidences are too scant to discuss.
到了高麗王朝(918-1932)，肯定是這樣。在此之前，證據太少，無法討論。
Written evidence of Korean language before the invention of Hangeul in 1443 (this year is the suggested year of actual invention, and 1446 is the year of its official publication) are, honestly, very scant, and often very hard to decipher because Koreans employed a tactic somewhat similar to modern Japanese to write their own language with Chinese logosyllabary. During the dynasty of Koryo, there are some written records of the contemporary language spoken in Korean peninsula. The wordlist clearly shows that the language is Koreanic.
在1443年韓文發明之前(這一年被認為是韓文真正發明的年份，1446年是韓文正式出版的年份)，老實說，朝鮮語的書面證據非常少，而且往往很難破譯，因為韓國人使用了一種與現代日語類似的策略，用漢語字音來書寫他們自己的語言。在高麗王朝時期，朝鮮半島的現代語言有一些書面記錄。單詞表清楚地表明這種語言是韓語。
There are no surviving books made before the 『Samguk Sagi』 (11th century) in Korea, and almost all of the engraved texts are written in Classical Chinese, so studying about Korean language before the dynasty of Koryo is very tough.
在《三國史記》(11世紀)之前的韓國沒有現存的書籍，而且幾乎所有的銘文都是文言文，因此研究高麗王朝以前的韓國語非常困難。
Before the unification of Korea in 660s, it is not sure if the languages of rival polities (namely, Goguryeo, Baekje, Silla, and Gaya) were close to each other or not. 『Samguk Sagi』 and other books made during Koryo dynasty contains some Korean texts mainly coming from Silla (the victor), and those seems Koreanic, but information about the other lost polities are very scant.
在60年代統一之前，高句麗、百濟、新羅、伽耶等敵對勢力的語言是否相近，目前尚不清楚。高麗時期的《三國史記》和其他書籍中包含了一些主要來自新羅(戰勝國)的韓語文本，這些文本似乎是朝鮮語，但關於其他失落政體的信息非常少。
Most scholars don』t give a question about those records about Silla, because multiple sources are all showing that some Koreanic language which is related to the language of Koryo was spoken in the kingdom of Silla. And simply, considering the continuity of Silla - Koryo - Joseon dynasties ruling the same region, there is no reason to suspect a harsh language switch there. The existence of so called 『Old Korean』 (the language spoken in Silla) seems safe to claim.
大多數學者不會對這些關於新羅的記錄提出疑問，因為多種來源都表明，新羅王國曾說過一些與高麗語有關的朝鮮語。簡單地說，考慮到新羅-高麗-朝鮮統治同一地區的連續性，沒有理由懷疑那裡發生了嚴厲的語言轉換。所謂的「古朝鮮語」(新羅使用的語言)的存在似乎是有把握的。
Before the unification by Silla in 660s, for the most of the time being, Silla could control only a small corner of the peninsula, being the weakest polity before the 6th century. Before that period, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Gaya were rampant, but their languages are little known. Some records claim that they all spoke closely enough to Silla so that there were no need of serious interpretation, but there are strong political motives (unification of Korea) to falsely claim that. Some scholars, based on some word evidence, claim otherwise.
在660年代新羅統一之前的大部分時間裡，新羅只能控制半島的一個小角落，是6世紀以前最弱的政體。在此之前，高句麗、百濟、伽耶等民族雖然非常猖獗，但語言卻鮮為人知。雖然有記載說，他們都與新羅進行了非常密切的對話，因此沒有必要進行嚴肅的解釋，但有強烈的政治動機(統一朝鮮)。一些學者根據一些文字證據，提出了相反的觀點。
『Buyeo-Japonic hypothesis』 (I forgot the exact name of the hypothesis, sorry), claims that Goguryeo, Baekje and Japan belong to same language family, contrary to 『Three Han tribes』 (its identity is dubious, but it always includes Silla), which are the ancestors of Koreanic-speaking people.
「富餘-日本假說」(我忘了這個假說的確切名稱，抱歉)認為高句麗、百濟和日本屬於同一語系，與「三漢」(身份不明，但總包括新羅)相反，「三漢」是說朝鮮語的人的祖先。
In the kingdom of Baekje, the legend claims that the ruling class came from ancient Buyeo tribal kingdom (which is also an ancestor group of Goguryeo), while the peasants were among those 『Three Han』 tribes. And there is a record that the ruling class and the peasants of Baekje called their king with different name, which may be a clue that those two classes spoke different languages. But again, these claims are based on only scant and dubious evidence.
在百濟，統治階層的傳說是古代扶余族(也是高句麗的祖先)的後裔，而農民則是「三漢」的後裔。此外，百濟的統治階層和農民對國王的稱呼也有不同的記錄，這可能是兩個階層使用不同的語言的線索。但是，這些說法都是基於有限且可疑的證據。
Speaking of Gaya, it』s more problematic because the matter is now a politically sensitive matter between Korea and Japan. People of Gaya are supposed to be one of those 『Three Han tribes』 which also includes the people of Silla. But the problem is, the ancient tribal confederation of Gaya seems to be somehow related to ancient Japan.
說到伽倻，這是韓日之間的政治敏感問題，因此問題更大。蓋亞人被認為是「三個漢部落」之一，其中還包括新羅人。但問題是，古伽耶的部落聯盟似乎與古日本有某種聯繫。
It must be 『under heavy cultural influence from Japan』 at least (based on archaeological excavations), if not Japonic at all. Written history of early Silla (as in 『Samguk Sagi』) is full of 『resistance against Japanese hegemony』, which is quite doubtful considering the distance between Yamato government of Japan and Korea, so it makes us suspect some Japonic powers around the southwest of Silla or at least in Kyushu in Japan. But again, the situation like 『Koreanic people in Gaya under suzerain of Japan』 is not an impossible scenario. Language situation of Gaya maybe not so related to its Japan-like culture or political structure. Again, there are too scant evidence.
至少(根據考古發掘)，它肯定「受到了來自日本的沉重文化影響」，如果根本不是日本的。新羅早期(如《三國史記》)的文字記載中充滿了「抵抗日本霸權」的內容，考慮到日本的大日本政府與朝鮮的距離，這是相當令人懷疑的，因此我們懷疑在新羅西南部或至少在日本九州附近有一些日本勢力。但是，像「日本宗主國統治下的蓋耶朝鮮族」這樣的情況並不是不可能發生的。伽耶的語言情況可能與它的日語沒有太大的關係
韓國網友的觀點
Spoken language cannot just pop up at any specific time in a culture. Koreans were speaking Korean spoken language 한국말 for all those long years in our history. 5,000 years of record.
在一種文化中，口語不可能在任何特定的時間突然出現。韓國人說韓語口語한국말在我們漫長的歷史中已有5000年的記錄。
If you can read Classical Chinese, this will help you understand. Check the first sentence - Since our spoken language is different from that of China, writing and speaking doesn match…
如果你能讀懂文言文，這將有助於你理解。檢查第一句——因為我們的口語和中國的不一樣，寫和說不匹配…
The fact that Koreans speaking our language means it was spoken in this land for thousands of years like other languages in the world.
事實上，韓國人說我們的語言意味著它在這片土地上像世界上其他語言一樣說了數千年。
