July, 2000 Ministry of Culture & Tourism | |
July 2000 Ministry of Culture & Tourism | Why the change?It was wrong for the information age. The old system wasn't appropriate for the information age. The breve (as in " " and " ") and the apostrophe (as in k', t', p', ch') were always difficult to use with consistency on computers and on the Internet. It didn't maintain important phonetic differences. When it came to daily usage, the old system was far too often used without the apostrophe. This made it impossible to differentiate between ¤¡, ¤§, ¤², ¤¸ and ¤», ¤¼, ¤½, ¤º. Without revising the system used to Romanize Korean, these consonants would continue to be written the same in most cases. The breve was left out even more frequently than the apostrophe. Once omitted, however, it becomes impossible to differentiate between the vowels ¾î and ¿À, and À¸ and ¿ì. All of these vowels appear frequently, and often
they determine the difference between the meaning of one word and another.
Leaving the Romanization system unchanged would only guarantee that these
critical differences were ignored forever. The frequency of highly abbreviated
usage of the old system made revision unavoidable.
|
July 2000
Ministry of Culture & Tourism
|
What has been changed?
- e been changed from ""
and ""
to "eo" and "eu."
- "¤¡, ¤§, ¤², ¤¸" have been changed from "k, t, p, and
ch" to "g, d, b, and j."
- "¤», ¤¼, ¤½, ¤º" have been changed from "k', t', p',
and ch'" to "k, t, p, and ch."
- "¤µ" used to be written as "sh" and "s,"
depending on context. Now it will be written as "s" in all
cases.
- "¤¡, ¤§, ¤², and ¤¸" have been changed from "k, t,
p, and ch" to "g, d, b, and j."
- ±¤ÁÖ Kwangju >> Gwangju
- ´ë±¸ Taegu >> Daegu
- ºÎ»ê Pusan >> Busan
- Á¦ÁÖ Cheju >> Jeju
- "¾î" and "À¸" have been changed from ""
and ""
to "eo" and "eu."
- ¼ºÁÖ Sngju >>
Seongju
- ±Ý°î Kmgok >>
Geumgok
- "¤», ¤¼, ¤½, and ¤º" have been changed from "k',
t', p', and ch'" to "k, t, p, and ch."
- ÅÂ¾È T'aean >> Taean
- ÃæÁÖ Ch'ungju >> Chungju
- "¤µ" will always be written as "s" instead
of both "sh" and "s" depending on the vowel it
preceded.
- ½Å¶ó Shilla >> Silla
- ½Ç»ó»ç Shilsangsa >> Silsangsa
- Other changes
Principles of transcriptions are the same as in the old system, in
that words are Romanized according to sound, as opposed to a transliteration
system, in which Romanization would be done according to Korean spelling
regardless of pronunciation.
- ÇѶó[ÇÒ¶ó] Halla
- ½Å¹®·Î[½Å¹®³ë] Sinmunno
- Á¾·Î[Á¾³ë] Jongno
- µ¶¸³¹®[µ¿´Ô¹®] Dongnimmun
- ±¹¹Î[±Ã¹Î] Gungmin
- ¹ý¹®[¹ü¹®] Beommun
When at the end of a word or when followed by a consonant, "¤¡,
¤§, and ¤²" are written as "k, t, and p."
- °î¼º Gokseong
- ¹«±Ø Mugeuk
|
July 2000
Ministry of Culture & Tourism
|
Frequently asked questions
The old system is widely used throughout the world, why change it now?
While it is true that the old system has been widely used around the
world to record the pronunciation of Korean, from a general linguistic
point of view it had various shortcomings. The difference between some
voiced and non-voiced sounds are in Korean little more than allophones,
but old system transcribed these as entirely different phonemes. This
is a problem that should have been remedied long ago, but unfortunately
has had to wait until now for attention. Because the old system
did not reflect the phonetic characteristics of the Korean language,
it was never compatible for easy and consistent use of native speakers
of Korean, even if it was used outside of Korea without particular difficulty.
This difficulty contributed to confusion and inconsistency in the Romanizing
of Korean. The old system differentiated between voiced and non-voiced
consonants, making it very difficult for Koreans to understand and contributing
to spellings such as "Kumkang" and "Hankuk" for
"±Ý°" and "Çѱ¹" instead of "Kumgang" and
"Han'guk," as would have been correct according to the old
system. There were contradictions as well. "´ë±¸" was written
"Taegu," but µ¿´ë±¸, the name of Daegu's largest passenger train
terminal, was Romanized "Tongdaegu." And because "¤§,
¤², and ¤¸" have to be written in a way that a distinction is maintained
between "¤¼, ¤½, and ¤º," people rarely wrote "¤§, ¤², and
¤¸" as "t, p, and ch," even when they were conscious of
the fact that this was not correct according to the old system, since
they would not want to have words confused with the "t', p', and
ch'" that often had the apostrophe omitted. The result was that
"¤§, ¤², and ¤¸" were written "t, p, and ch" on road
signs but as "d, b, and j" almost everywhere else, such as
personal names and the names of companies and schools. This revision
of the Romanization of Korean was undertaken with the belief that if
not corrected, this confusion and inconsistency would only continue
to worsen with time. Priority was given to pronunciation instead of
Korean orthography out of consideration of the needs of foreigners,
and in this sense the government's Romanization policy remains unchanged.
The difference is that phonological opposition is made clear in the
new system.
- Special symbols
The old Romanization system was based on the one developed privately
in 1939, and was unfit for the information age. The old system used
the breve (v), which is not to be found on a computer keyboard.
The apostrophe is on all keyboards but was still omitted more often
than not in common usage. , , k', t', p', and ch' are all lacking
in existing ASCII code, making them difficult for everyday usage with
computers and the Internet. It is only a matter of course that, rarely
used properly anyway, these be left out of the new system.
- Distinctions of consonants
Why does a Romanization system have to differentiate between "¤¡,
¤§, ¤², and ¤¸" and "¤», ¤¼, ¤½, and ¤º"? Massive confusion
occurs if a distinction is not made between "¤¡, ¤§, ¤², and ¤¸"
and "¤», ¤¼, ¤½, and ¤º." The difference between many personal
names cannot be made without respect for this distinction, for example
in the case of "´ë¼ö" and "żö" names that can easily
that of two brothers. Without guaranteeing this distinction, one ends
up with a situation like would be in English by writing both "Tale"
and "Dale" as "Tale." While perhaps not a particularly
dire problem in some languages, in Korean the distinction is critical,
particularly for personal names.
- Distinctions of vowels
Why is the difference between "¾î", and "¿À" and
"À¸" and "¿ì" so important? "¾î" and
"¿À" are completely different phonemes in Korean. A distinction
not only must be made but is also possible. The same goes for the
two vowels "À¸" and "¿ì." Korean family names are
an easy example, as the names "¼±" and "¼Õ" both
become "Son" when the breve is omitted, just as "¼º"
and "¼Û" both become "Song." The native speaker
of Korean clearly feels a difference between the vowels, and so many
have little choice but to improvise. Again in the case of names, someone
with the name "¼º" does not want to become "Song,"
so, having no guarantee that their name will be written consistently
as "Sng,"
often felt the need to write "¼º" as "Sung" to
make this distinction, leaving it to guesswork to determine how that
person may have Romanized their name.
- The characteristics of the Korean language
Does a Romanization system have to reflect the characteristics of
the Korean language? Romanization systems exist for the purpose
of reflecting the phonetic characteristics of a given language that
does not ordinarily use Roman letters. Any Romanization system that
does not respect the phonological opposition of Korean is not maintaining
the principle purpose of a system in the first place. Phonological
opposition with consistency is entirely possible when Romanizing Korean,
and so it is only a matter of course that this be assured with a new
system.
- Usage overseas
Most of the maps and encyclopedias of the world use the McCune-Reischauer
System of Romanization of Korean Language for Korean place names,
won't the change cause confusion? Much confusion can be expected
for some time. The old system, based on the McCune-Reischauer system
of Romanization for the Korean Language, is widely used overseas,
particularly in Western countries. Many other documents besides maps
and encyclopedias use the old system as well. It is indeed believed
that it will take considerable time before the new system is recognized
around the world. Confusion between the old and new systems can be
expected. But if we delay making this needed change out of fear of
this initial confusion, problems of inconsistency will only worsen,
making the situation only more difficult to rectify for the next generation.
The Korean government is prepared to do its part so that the new system
is widely recognized and understood in Korea and around the world.
The new system will not be accepted overnight, but the government
is prepared to apply patience and effort to making this new system
work.
- The benefits of revision
What's so good about the new system?
While at first there may seem to be little advantage to following
the new system, the benefits will be great over the long run. Since
in the old system both "¤¡, ¤§, ¤², and ¤¸" and "¤», ¤¼,
¤½, and ¤º" end up written as "k, t, p, and ch," even
simple tasks such as Internet searches suddenly become highly inefficient.
Since ´ë¼º and żº, for example, but become Taesong when the apostrophe
is omitted, a search for either would turn up both. A system that
is easy to follow and always maintains critical and frequent phonetic
differences will make finding people, places, and everything else
immensely easier because phonetic distinctions will be maintained
consistently and there will be little cause for arbitrary improvision.
- Consonants
Westerners tend to hear "¤¡, ¤§, ¤², and ¤¸" as "k, t,
p, and ch." Why do these consonants have to be written "g,
d, b, and j"? It is true that most Westerners hear "¤¡,
¤§, ¤², and ¤¸" as "k, t, p, and ch" when these consonants
appear as the first letter in a word. But the problem is that "¤»,
¤¼, ¤½, and ¤º" also seem like "k, t, p, and ch" to the
average Western ear as well, and the differences between each of these
vowels are important in Korean. The Korean phonological opposition
must be given first priority in a Romanization system designed for
Korean, even if to foreign ears these differences are not easily recognized.
In addition, when the differences between "¤¡, ¤§, ¤², and ¤¸"
and "¤», ¤¼, ¤½, and ¤º" are written with consistency, it makes
non-native pronunciation of Korean more distinguishable to native
speakers.
- Vowels
Aren't "eo" and "eu" rather distant from "¾î"
and "À¸"? When it comes to views about the new system,
many have expressed opposition to transcribing "¾î" as "eo"
and "À¸" as "eu." Some may think it ideal to write
"¾î" as "o" and "À¸" as "u,"
but then there becomes no way to distinguishing "¾î" from
"¿À" and "À¸" from "¿ì." This leaves one
with little choice but to develop a way to make this distinction.
As long as ""
and ""
are no longer going to be used, the only option available is to Romanize
"¾î" and "À¸" using two Roman letters. "¾î"
is a front vowel, while "À¸" is a back vowel. Both lie between
"o." "À¸" comes from closer to the front of the
mouth than "u," and so it was decided to place add "e" in
front of "o" and "u". Given the phonetic characteristics of Korean,
a language of many written vowels all of which experience no variation,
we are left with little option but to explain to non-native speakers
that "eo" is "¾î" and "eu" is "À¸."
Roman letters will have their own sound value in every language, whether
that languages uses Roman letters as its main script or only when
Romanized. Using "eo" and "eu" to Romanize "¾î"
and "À¸" is unavoidable.
- Family names
Will family names be written according to the new system?
In principle family names should follow the new system, but there
are names that will have difficulty doing this. The family name "ÀÌ"
should be written as "I," but no one with this family name
currently writes their name this way. Ninety five percent of all persons
with the family name "ÀÌ" write their name "Lee,"
though one can also find "Rhee," "Yi," "Ri,"
"Li," "Rhie," and "Lie." The Ministry
of Culture and Tourism will continue to work towards determining methods
of Romanization for family names that might have difficulty following
the new system and announce these separately. Some family names may
require the setting of a separate standard for the sake of consistency
within that name. This will be determined as the soonest date possible.
- Business names
Will business and schools have to change the spelling of their
names? Just as in the case of Romanizations of personal names
that have already been established, businesses that so desire may
continue to use previously established Romanizations. Business names
such as Samsung and Hyundai, both known the world over, will not be
required to change to "Samseong" and "Hyeondae."
New companies, however, will be encouraged to follow this system.
Also, the government will gladly welcome decisions by companies using
inconsistent names to follow the new system.
|
July
2000
Ministry of Culture & Tourism |
The Romanization of Korean
1. Basic Principles of Romanization
(1) Romanization is based on standard Korean pronunciation.
(2) Symbols other than Roman letters are avoided to the greatest extent
possible.
2. Summary of the Romanization System
(1) Vowels are transcribed as follows:
- simple vowels
¤¿ |
¤Ã |
¤Ç |
¤Ì |
¤Ñ |
¤Ó |
a |
eo |
o |
u |
eu |
i |
- diphthongs
¤Á |
¤Å |
¤Ë |
¤Ð |
¤Â |
¤Æ |
¤È |
¤É |
¤Í |
¤Î |
¤Ò |
ya |
yeo |
yo |
yu |
yae |
ye |
wa |
wae |
wo |
we |
ui |
Note 1: ¢´O is transcribed as ui, even
when pronounced as ¤Ó.
Note 2: Long vowels are not reflected in Romanization.
(2) Consonants are transcribed as follows:
- plosives (stops)
¤¡ |
¤¢ |
¤» |
¤§ |
¤¨ |
¤¼ |
¤² |
¤³ |
¤½ |
g, k |
kk |
k |
d,t |
tt |
t |
b,p |
pp |
p |
- affricates
- fricatives
- nasals
- liquids
Note 1 : The sounds ¢´¢®, ¢´¡×, and ¢´©÷
are transcribed respectively as g, d, and b
when they appear before a vowel; they are transcribed as k,
t, and p when followed by another consonant or form the
final sound of a word. (They are Romanized as pronunciation in [ ].)
e.g. |
±¸¹Ì Gumi |
¿µµ¿ Yeongdong |
¹é¾Ï Baegam |
¿Áõ Okcheon |
ÇÕ´ö Hapdeok |
È£¹ý Hobeop |
¿ù°ù[¿ù°ð] Wolgot |
º¢²É[¹ù„Œ] beotkkot |
|
Çѹç[ÇѹÞ] Hanbat |
|
|
Note 2: ¢´¨Ï is transcribed as r when followed
by a vowel, and as l when followed by a consonant or when appearing
at the end of a word. ¤©¤© is transcribed as ll.
e.g. |
±¸¸® Guri
|
¼³¾Ç Seorak |
Ä¥°î Chilgok |
ÀÓ½Ç Imsil |
¿ï¸ª Ulleung |
È£¹ý Hobeop |
(1) When Korean sound values change as in the following cases, the results
of those changes are Romanized as follows:
1. The case of assimilation of adjacent consonants
e.g. |
¹é¸¶[¹ð¸¶] Baengma |
½Å¹®·Î[½Å¹®³ë] Sinmunno |
Á¾·Î[Á¾³ë] Jongno |
¿Õ½Ê¸®[¿Õ½É´Ï] Wangsimni |
º°³»[º°·¡] Byeollae |
½Å¶ó[½Ç¶ó] Silla |
2. The case of the epenthetic ¤¤ and ¤©
e.g. |
Çп©¿ï[Ç׳à¿ï] Hangnyeoul |
¾Ë¾à[¾Ë·«] allyak |
3. Cases of palatalization
e.g. |
Çص¸ÀÌ haedoji |
¾Ë°°ÀÌ[°¡Ä¡] gachi |
¸ÂÈ÷´Ù[¸¶Ä¡´Ù] machida |
|
4. Cases where ¤¡, ¤§, ¤², and ¤¸ are adjacent to ¤¾
e.g. |
ÁÁ°í[Á¶ÄÚ] joko |
³õ´Ù[³ëŸ] nota |
ÀâÇô[ÀÚÆì] japyeo |
³ºÁö[³ªÄ¡] nachi |
However, aspirated sounds are not reflected in case of nouns where ¤¾ follows¤¡,
¤§, and ¤², as in the examples below.
e.g. |
¹¬È£ Mukho |
ÁýÇöÀü Jiphyeonjeon |
Note: Tense (or glottalized) sounds are not reflected in cases
where morphemes are compounded, as in the examples below.
e.g. |
¾Ð±¸Á¤ Apgujeong |
³«µ¿° Nakdonggang |
Á׺¯ Jukbyeon |
³«¼º´ë Nakseongdae |
ÇÕÁ¤ Hapjeong |
ÆÈ´ç Paldang |
»ûº° saetbyeol |
¿ï»ê Ulsan |
(2) When there is the possibility of confusion in pronunciation, a hyphen
'-' may be used.
e.g. |
Áß¾Ó Jung-ang |
¹Ý±¸´ë Ban-gudae |
¼¼¿î Se-un |
ÇØ¿î´ë Hae-undae |
(3) The first letter is capitalized in proper names.
e.g. |
ºÎ»ê Busan |
¼¼Á¾ Sejong |
(4) Personal names are written by family name first, followed by a space
and the given name. In principle, syllables in given names are not separated
by hyphen, but the use of a hyphen between syllables is permitted.
e.g. |
¹Î¿ëÇÏ Min Yongha (Min Yong-ha) |
¼Û³ª¸® Song Nari (Song Na-ri) |
¨ç Assimilated sound changes between syllables in given names are not transcribed.
e.g. |
ÇѺ¹³² Han Boknam (Han Bok-nam) |
È«ºû³ª Hong Bitna (Hong Bit-na) |
¨è Romanization of family names will be determined separately.
(5) Administrative units such as µµ, ½Ã, ±º, ±¸, À¾, ¸é, ¸®, µ¿, and °¡ are transcribed
respectively as do, si, gun, gu, eup,
myeon, ri, dong, and ga, and are preceded
by a hyphen. Assimilated sound changes before and after the hyphen are
not reflected in Romanization.
e.g. |
ÃæûºÏµµ Chungcheongbuk-do |
Á¦ÁÖµµ Jeju-do |
ÀÇÁ¤ºÎ½Ã Uijeongbu-si |
¾çÁÖ±º Yangju-gun |
µµºÀ±¸ Dobong-gu |
½ÅâÀ¾ Sinchang-eup |
»ïÁ׸é Samjuk-myeon |
Àοո® Inwang-ri |
´ç»êµ¿ Dangsan-dong |
ºÀõ1µ¿ Bongcheon 1(il)-dong |
Á¾·Î 2°¡ Jongno 2 (i)-ga |
Åð°è·Î 3°¡ Toegyero 3 (sam)-ga |
Note: Terms for administrative units such as ½Ã, ±º, À¾ may be omitted.
e.g. |
ûÁֽà Cheongju |
ÇÔÆò±º Hampyeong
|
¼øâÀ¾ Sunchang |
(6) Names of geographic features, cultural properties, and man-made structures
may be written without hyphens.
e.g. |
³²»ê Namsan |
¼Ó¸®»ê Songnisan |
±Ý° Geumgang |
µ¶µµ Dokdo |
°æº¹±Ã Gyeongbokgung |
¹«·®¼öÀü Muryangsujeon |
¿¬È±³ Yeonhwagyo |
±Ø¶ôÀü Geungnakjeon |
¾È¾ÐÁö Anapji |
³²Çѻ꼺 Namhansanseong |
ȶû´ë Hwarangdae |
ºÒ±¹»ç Bulguksa |
ÇöÃæ»ç Hyeonchungsa |
µ¶¸³¹® Dongnimmun |
¿ÀÁ×Çå Ojukheon |
Ã˼®·ç Chokseongnu |
Á¾¹¦ Jongmyo |
´Ùº¸Å¾ Dabotap |
(7) Proper names such as personal names and those of companies
may continue to be written as they have been previously. (8) When
it is necessary to convert Romanized Korean back to Hangeul in special
cases such as in academic articles, Romanization is done according to
Hangeul spelling and not pronunciation. Each Hangeul letter is Romanized
as explained in section 2 except that ¤¡, ¤§, ¤², ¤© are always written as
g, d, b, l. When ¤· has no sound value, it is replaced by a hyphen may
also be used when it is necessary to distinguish between syllables.
e.g. |
Áý jib |
¤ jip |
¹Û bakk |
°ª gabs |
º×²É buskkoch |
¸Ô´Â meogneun |
µ¶¸³ doglib |
¹®¸® munli |
¹°¿³ mul-yeos |
±»ÀÌ gud-i |
ÁÁ´Ù johda |
°¡°î gagog |
Á¶¶û¸» jolangmal |
¾ø¾ú½À´Ï´Ù eobs-eoss-seubnida |
Additional Provisions
- This system of Romanization becomes effective on the date it is
formally proclaimed.
- Signs using the previous system of Romanization (road signs, official
large-scale notices, information posted at cultural sites, etc.),
when this system of Romanization becomes effective, must follow this
system by December 31, 2005.
- Publication such as textbooks using the previous system of Romanization
must follow this system by February 28, 2002.
New Romanization System (Simplified Table)
¤¿ |
¤Ã |
¤Ç |
¤Ì |
¤Ñ |
¤Ó |
¤À |
¤Ä |
¤Ê |
¤Ï |
¤Á |
¤Å |
¤Ë |
¤Ð |
¤Â |
¤Æ |
¤È |
¤É |
¤Í |
¤Î |
¤Ò |
a |
eo |
o |
u |
eu |
i |
ae |
e |
oe |
wi |
ya |
yeo |
yo |
yu |
yae |
ye |
wa |
wae |
wo |
we |
ui |
initial
final |
¤· |
¤¡ |
¤¤ |
¤§ |
¤© |
¤± |
¤² |
¤µ |
¤¸ |
¤º |
¤» |
¤¼ |
¤½ |
¤¾ |
|
g |
n |
d |
r |
m |
b |
s |
j |
ch |
k |
t |
p |
h |
¤¡ |
k |
g |
kg |
ngn |
kd |
ngn |
ngm |
kb |
ks |
kj |
kch |
kk |
kt |
kp |
kh(k) |
¤¤ |
n |
n |
ng |
nn |
nd |
II(nn) |
nm |
nb |
ns |
nj |
nch |
nk |
nt |
np |
nh |
¤© |
l |
r |
lg |
ll |
ld |
ll |
lm |
lb |
ls |
lj |
lch |
lk |
lt |
lp |
lh |
¤± |
m |
m |
mg |
mn |
md |
mn |
mm |
mb |
ms |
mj |
mch |
mk |
mt |
mp |
mh |
¤² |
p |
b |
pg |
mn |
pd |
mn |
mm |
pb |
ps |
pj |
pch |
pk |
pt |
pp |
ph(p) |
¤· |
ng |
ng |
ngg |
ngn |
ngd |
ngn |
ngm |
ngb |
ngs |
ngj |
ngch |
ngk |
ngt |
ngp |
ngh |
* "Final" refers to the final position character in a Korean
syllable.
"Initial" refers to the first position character in a Korean syllable.
When the final position character of one syllable is followed by the first
position character of the next, the phonetic value of either or both characters
changes in a limited number of cases as demonstrated here. |
July
2000
Ministry of Culture & Tourism
|
Examples
|
old |
new |
|
|
old |
new |
ºÎ»ê |
Pusan |
Busan |
|
´ë±¸ |
Taegu |
Daegu |
±¤ÁÖ |
Kwangju |
Gwangju |
|
´ëÀü |
Taejn |
Daejeon |
ÀÎõ |
Inch'on |
Incheon |
|
ÀüÁÖ |
Chonju |
Jeonju |
Á¦ÁÖ |
Cheju |
Jeju |
|
ûÁÖ |
Ch'ngju |
Cheongju |
°æÁÖ |
Kyngju |
Gyeongju |
|
±èÆ÷ |
Kimp'o |
Gimpo |
°í±¸·Á |
Kogury |
Goguryeo |
|
µ¿´ë±¸ |
Tongdaegu |
Dongdaegu |
ºÎ°î |
Pugok |
Bugok |
|
Á¤À¾ |
Chngp
|
Jeongeup |
¿ï»ê |
Ulsan |
Ulsan |
|
¹¬È£ |
Muk'o |
Mukho |
|
July
2000
By Kim Myong-sik |
In Defense of the New Hangeul Romanization System
Both English language newspapers published in Seoul, The Korea Times and The Korea Herald, are commended for their sincere efforts to convey the positions of the foreign community in Korea and some members of Korea's intellectual society that are generally against the new "Hangeul" Romanization system announced by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism earlier this month. In reviewing the opinions expressed by various knowledgeable individuals
to justify their objections to the new system, however, I have noticed
with surprise that quite a few of them lacked a genuine understanding
of the new MOCT method. One commentator, for example, in apparent attempt
to ridicule the government authorities who were responsible for what they
believed unnecessary change, said MOCT Minister Park Jie-won will now
have to change his business card to print his name as Bag Ji-weon.
Under the new system, the Korean consonant ¢´¢® will be transcribed as k
when it forms the final sound, hence Bak in the case of the minister's
name, rather than Bag as the commentator guessed. And the complex vowel I will be written as wo instead of weo. Meanwhile, the ministry announcement
made it plainly clear that Koreans may continue to use their current Romanized
names as they are as long as they live. (Because Koreans' ways of Romanizing
their names were so diverse even under the hitherto dominant McCune-Reischauer
system, the ministry will in the near future recommend samples for the
transliteration of family names to minimize diversity. A recent survey
showed while none of the AI clans uses "I" as their Romanized name,
95 percent transcribe it to Lee with the rest choosing Rhee, Rhi, Ri,
Yi, Li or even Lie. So Mr. Lee Hyon-soo can rest assured, as can his Yonsei
alumni who would still be free to call their alma mater as they do now.
In fact, not only Yonsei but Ewha Womans, Korea, Dankook, Dongguk, Kookmin,
Kyung Hee and Sung Kyun Kwan Universities have failed to follow the M-R
system in Romanizing their names, to name a few.)
Another major misunderstanding among the opponents of the new system seems
to be the notion that the MOCT formula generally ignores the phonetic
quality of Korean words in favor of almost automatic letter for letter
transliteration. The fact is that the new system is quite similar to the
M-R system in that it tries to maintain the Korean sound to the fullest
extent possible as ¢¯E is to be spelt "ot" instead of "os" as Professor
Kim Jong-gil unnecessarily worried. There are of course some legitimate
and plausible points of arguments in defiance of the new system. They
can be summarized as follows:
- Why initial sounds ¤¡, ¤§, ¤² and ¤¸ should be transcribed as g,
d, b and j instead of k, t, p and ch?
- Why vowels ¤Ã and ¤Ñ should be written as eo and eu, respectively?
- Why the National Academy of the Korean Language was commissioned
to do the task of devising a new Romanization system rather than
a more multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary body that could ensure
broader participation of various other groups interested in this
matter?
- Why in the first place try to change a system (the Ministry of
Education system promulgated in 1984 based largely on the M-R system)
that has been fairly established domestically and widely accepted
internationally, despite the huge cost involved in switching to
the new formula?
- Why not wait until the time when the currently improving inter-Korean
relations have further developed so that a unified Romanization
system could be devised by experts of South and North Korea?
Of all the pro and con (mostly con) discussants about the issue, linguistics
Professor Steve Garrigues of Kyongbuk National University made a particularly
valuable contribution (The Korea Times, July 18 edition, page 6) to a
constructive debate, but I regret that not many real experts have come
up with authentic academic treatises, leaving the matter largely to amateurs
from either the local or foreign communities.
It seems the designers of the new system and its supporters find the key
drawback in the M-R system comes in the use of two different sets of Roman
consonants for the same Korean consonants ¤¡, ¤§, ¤² and ¤¸ depending on their
location in a syllable, and the attaching of diacritical marks to denote
unique Korean vowels ¤Ã and ¤Ñ. There have been endless debates among linguists
and the interested public over the true quality of Korean consonants ¤¡,
¤§, ¤² and ¤¸ ever since Shannon McCune and Edwin O. Reischauer produced
their Han-gul Romanization system back in the 1930s, and the argument
seems to be at its height again in these days of the new millennium in
the face of the official change of the transliteration system.
I, as an interested observer, made a little experiment with some of my
Western (native English-speaking) friends to determine how these Korean
consonants are perceived and pronounced by them. (For a long time while
I was working for English-language newspapers in Seoul, I was one of the
strong advocates of the M-R system, faithfully following the system in
Romanizing my own name. I genuinely accepted the theory that Koreans make
different sounds when they pronounce consonants ¤¡, ¤§, ¤² and ¤¸ when they
are spoken as the initial or final sound of a syllable and when between
two vowels, voiced in the former case and non-voiced in the latter.) But
comparing my own pronunciation of such Korean words as °í±¸¸¶, µµ´Ù¸®, ¹Ùº¸ and
ÀÚÀü°Å, with that of my Western friends in the experiment, I came to an important
realization. In my speech, the difference between voiced and non-voiced
sounds was almost indiscernible despite my conscientious efforts to find
any, it was distinct and clear when it came to my friends' utterances.
Thus I formulated a theory of my own (or an assumption) from the experiment.
The two young Asian studies scholars, McCune and Reischauer, when they
were grappling with Romanization of Korean words were so conscious of
the differences in initial and interim sounds that they used two different
sets of Roman consonants to transcribe the same Korean consonants ¤¡, ¤§,
¤² and ¤¸. My theory went on that the two co-workers might have been influenced
by the Japanese linguistic pattern which exhibits very distinct phonemic
differences between initial and interim sounds. In the Japanese language
with only 50 sounds and characters, the use of different Roman consonants
for the same ¡°kana¡± character in different positions is justified. Yet,
as is well known, Korean is far richer in sound, and our inventers of
¡°ÇÑ±Û (ÈƹÎÁ¤À½),¡± having included such non-voiced consonants ¤», ¤¼, ¤½ and ¤º
in their original 28 basic characters, must have used them as initial
sounds instead of ¤¡, ¤§, ¤² and ¤¸ for ÄÚ±¸·Á, ŵ¿°, Ǫº®·ç and ÃÑ·Î if they really
sounded so.
The M-R system, as observed above, failed to Romanize the phonetic value
of the Korean language as it is spoken by Koreans and it reflected the
Westernized sound of the Korean language, in other words the Korean language
spoken by early Christian missionaries serving in this country.
Roman letters were invented for Western languages and Hangeul for Korean.
It simply is impossible to find perfectly matching pairs of letters between
the two writing systems. The ¤¤ sound happens to be very close to n in
Korea's Hangeul, and so does ¤± to m, ¤µ to s, ¤·¡¤(ÀÌÀÀ) to ng and ¤¾ to h,
but the rest of Korean consonants such as ¤¡, ¤§, ¤©, ¤², ¤¸, ¤º, ¤», ¤¼ and ¤½,
it is relatively less easier to find their Roman counterparts. The ¤¡-k/g,
¤§-t/d, ¤²-p/b and ¤¸-ch/j combinations are made up to provide maximum convenience
for communications between races speaking different languages. We should
all admit that even with life-long training we cannot perfectly emulate
the sound of words that do not belong to our mother tongue.
I worked for Arirang TV, a Seoul-based English cable channel, for more
than two years and there I had a chance to observe languages spoken by
a number of young reporters and newscasters with a variety of ethnic and
educational backgrounds. Through this experience, I concluded that perfect
bilingual ability is hard to attain for any individual, whether a second
or a so-called 1.5 generation Korean-American or Korean-Canadian. And
I realized some ethnic Korean staffers who were born and educated in the
United States and therefore spoke (nearly) perfect English had much less
difficulties in pronouncing such names as ±è´ëÁß, ±è¿µ»ï and ±èÁ¾ÇÊ compared to
their Caucasian colleagues in the Arirang newsroom.
Such linguistic affinity can also be found from the speeches of some exceptionally
talented foreign residents here with Asian backgrounds. Laxmi Nakarmi
of Asiaweek and Pedro Bernaldez at the Graduate School of Peace Studies,
Kyung Hee University, among my foreign acquaintances, belong to this group.
But Prof. Edward Poitras, who formerly taught at the Methodist Seminary
in Seoul, and Gary Rector, who was naturalized in Korea a few years ago
after nearly three decades of living in Korea, still had their weakness
in the sounds of ¤¡, ¤§, ¤² and ¤¸ like many other foreign residents here.
So it is no wonder that even long-time foreign residents like Mr. Horace
G. Underwood (The Korea Herald, July 18 edition, page 6) resent so strongly
the new Romanization system using g, d, b and j for Korean ¤¡, ¤§, ¤² and
¤¸ sounds because for them (for their ears and tongues) k, t, p and ch
are much closer to what they pronounce or emulate as the Korean sounds
of ¤¡, ¤§, ¤² and ¤¸.
The new Romanization system is basically aimed at producing sounds closest
to what is spoken by Koreans, goguma for °í±¸¸¶ and babo for ¹Ùº¸. Insisting
on the continued spelling of koguma and pabo may be demanding that Koreans
give up efforts to help foreigners pronounce Korean words just as they
are spoken by the native people, as much as possible. It could be compared
to Korean residents in the U.S. continuing to spell such geographical
names as ·Î½º¾ÈÁ©½º, ¾Æ¸®Á¶³ª, ¿ä¼¼¹ÌÅ× and »êÈ£¼¼ in their local Korean language newspapers
although there are better ways of transcribing these names to make them
sound closer to the original English pronunciations. I am afraid continued
use of the M-R system will help keep foreign residents here from being
able to speak more like their host people. Let's think for a moment about
the word ¡°bus¡± which has become a Korean word with the Korean spelling
of ¹ö½º. Does it sound more like ÆÛ½º when Koreans speak it, conspicuously
different from native English-speakers' pronunciation?
The new MOCT system solves the problem of unfamiliar signs used in the
M-R system to denote Korean sounds which have no ready counterparts in
the Roman letters. It uses k, t, p, and ch for ¤», ¤¼, ¤½ and ¤º without putting
an apostrophe. And while the halfmoon signs fixed on o and u to indicate
¤Ã and ¤Ñ were discarded, eo and eu were chosen to represent these vowels,
respectively. I say ¡°represent¡± because, as the opponents of the new system
argue, these digraphs do not readily convey Korean sounds ¤Ã and ¤Ñ. Although
there are English words like surgeon, bludgeon and dungeon, few Western
speakers will be able to produce anything close to the sound ¾î¸Ó´Ï when
it is spelt eomeoni. But let me ask the objectors if it was any better
when ¾î¸Ó´Ï was written as omoni with the halfmoon signs were put on o under
the M-R system. ÇÏȸ¸¶À» in Andong was spelt Hahoe Village by the M-R system,
but I have confronted with many foreign friends who called it Ha-ho-w
(assuming hoe must be pronounced as in hoe meaning the small digging instrument).
We should accept that any transliteration system is a contract or a convention
between its designer(s) and users. The diacritical signs that were used
for the M-R system were a kind of code established between the inventors
McCune and Reischauer and those Westerners and Koreans who learned the
method and began using it. Faced with the inevitable limitations in finding
corresponding vowels in the Roman writing system, the devisers of the
new Romanization system produced these codes eo and eu to indicate the
Korean vowels ¤Ã and ¤Ñ. No non-Korean will be able to pronounce sounds
close to the two uniquely Korean vowels when they read a text using these
codes eo and eu. It will be embarrassing to hear a native English-speaker
pronounce Admiral Yi Sun-sin's turtle ship °ÅºÏ¼± as Áö¿ÀºÏ½Ã¾ð as it will henceforth
be spelt geobukseon under the new system. (Many critics seem to have misunderstood
that °ÅºÏ¼± is to be spelt geobugseon as under the old Ministry of Education
system and µ¶¸³¹® as Dogribmun but the new system established the principle
of respecting the original sound instead of automatic interchange of letters,
thus µ¶¸³¹® will be Dongnimmun and ¹é·Éµµ will be Baengnyeong-do.) With the
lapse of time, more people will understand the merits of the new system.
Officials at the Ministry of Education and later the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism and the members of the National Academy of the Korean Language,
ever since they started working on a new Hangeul Romanization system five
years ago to meet the needs of the computer age, had the greatest hardships
in finding an adequate way of transcribing vowels ¤Ã and ¤Ñ. Many in and
outside the institute suggested different ways of solving the problem,
such as Chungbuk National University Prof. Kim Bok-mun's proposal to transcribe
¤Ã as ur to make ö¼ö Churlsu, but few came up with an acceptable formula.
The native speakers of English, which admittedly is one of the most illogical
languages in the world in terms of pronunciation, so strongly wanted to
maintain the M-R system that they shunned taking part in official discussion
sessions arranged by the ministry, let alone providing any viable alternatives.
Many foreigners I met, for their part, criticize government authorities
concerned with the task for their failure or lack of sincere efforts to
hear foreign community opinions on a broader basis. Some foreign diplomats
and journalists were informed of the schedule for public hearings but
academics were not invited, they argued. The foreign critics say it was
wrong from the start that the National Academy of the Korean Language
was given the important mission while it basically is an organization
dedicated to research on the Korean national language. They even cite
a nationalistic bias in what they perceived as a government attempt to
replace a foreign-devised system with one created by Korean experts. MOCT
officials explain that they did look for proper organizations and individuals,
both foreign and local, to assign the task but finally chose the NAKL
because it comprises a number of linguists of high stature well versed
in comparative study of languages.
Clear to anyone, Romanization is for foreigners. Geographical names are
Romanized to help foreigners find the place they intend to go to and help
them remember cities, villages and mountains they visited and climbed.
But it is Koreans who make up the Roman transcription of their proper
names to print on their business cards and draw up maps for international
tourists. Sometimes, they write the lyrics of a Korean song in Roman letters
to help foreigners join in a singing session or write part of a public
address (in Korean) in Roman letters for a visiting foreign VIP. In this
sense, it is for both foreigners and the local public. The Romanization
system must not be a code only for the native English-speaking community
here but an important tool for international communication between Korean
society, foreign residents in the country and the entire external world.
If any method causes much confusion because it is unable to properly reflect
the original sound to the extent that different words are transcribed
into the same Roman characters too frequently, it definitely is not a
good system.
Mr. Nakarmi expressed concern about the huge cost involved in changing
the system, such as the expenses for replacing the numerous road signs
and reproducing books about Korea. These jobs, though inevitable, will
not have to be done overnight. Road signs, for example, will be changed
over the next five years, the standard period for their replacement even
without the changing of the Romanization system. The writer is director of the Korean Overseas Information Service of the Government Information Agency. _ ED | |