Handbook of Korean Vocabulary:  A Resource for Word Recognition and Comprehension, by Miho Choo and William O'Grady.  Honolulu:  University of Hawai'i Press, 1996.  387 +xxvii pp.  (ISBN 0-8248-1738-9 cloth; ISBN 0-8248-1815-6 paper).

Reviewed by Nevitt Reagan
Kansai Gaidai University

[This review first appeared in
Acta Koreana 2 (1999), pp.179-81]

Students and teachers in Korean language programs have always had a less than extensive choice of teaching/learning materials, certainly so when compared to those in more commonly-taught Asian language courses, such as Japanese and Chinese.  The Handbook of Korean Vocabulary, which according to the authors is the first "root" dictionary of Korean for learners, is a truly welcome addition to the field. The Handbook contains over 1,500 lists of Korean word compounds, each organized around a word-root.  It presents only those roots which are productive (i.e., those which form compounds).  Thus, as the authors warn us, it is not a comprehensive dictionary, and many basic Korean words which do not form compounds are omitted.  The introduction provides explanations of various types of word compounds, as well as informative descriptions of Korean word formation.  Here, however, the authors' backgrounds in linguistics rather than language pedagogy is apparent, as they freely employ terms such as "bound roots" and "opaque compounds," which may prove daunting for beginning students without prior knowledge of linguistic concepts.  There is also a pronunciation guide which includes valuable (though also slightly technical) descriptions of assimilation and tensification, two important phonological processes which affect the phonetic realization of adjacent phonemes, with ample illustrations of how they function in Korean.

The Handbook is divided into two major sections, each in Korean alphabetical order:  1) Sino-Korean roots (those of Chinese origin), and 2) native Korean roots.  Each root is written in han'gûl and given a colloquial English translation.  This information is printed in a boldfaced font, slightly larger than that of the list of compounds which follows.  The inclusion of hanja for Sino-Korean roots is helpful not only for students who have previously studied Japanese or Chinese but also those who are learning to read authentic materials in Korean.  Unfortunately, however, hanja are printed in a font so small and unclear as to make the more complex ones virtually unreadable by students who have had little or no experience with Chinese characters; this is an inexcusable defect in a language teaching text, especially one from a publisher which has had extensive experience in working with Asian scripts.

The structure of the individual entries in the Handbook aids students in acquiring a range of semantically connected words by demonstrating relationships between lexical items which derive from the same root.  For example, the root kwa (fruit; result) is followed by kwa'il (fruit), kwasuwôn (orchard), sa'gwa (apple), sônggwa (result), hyo'gwa (effect), and kwayôn (as expected).  Thus, students are encouraged to recognize the way in which a word root can be extended from literal "fruit" to the concept of "fruition."  Valuable extra information is also supplied in many cases, e.g., whether a root can function as an independent word, or can form a verb with ~hada, or is used as an honorific or derogatory term.

A slight problem with the format of the book is its division into two sections (Sino-Korean and native Korean).  A student who is unsure of a root's historical origin will frequently need to search in both sections.  (Imagine a list of English compounds divided by Latinate or Germanic origin!).  This style of organization simply adds to the time and effort required to locate a new root or compound.

Further, the selection of roots was based on the authors' judgments of frequency and usefulness (p. xviii).  Ideally, this task would be better accomplished through the use of computerized word corpora (e.g., the COBUILD Bank of English), which are now commonly used in producing English as a Second Language learners' dictionaries, thus allowing for lexical selections based on actual frequency of use.  Perhaps by the time a second edition of the Handbook is warranted such corpora will be more readily available to the authors.

Another shortcoming of the book as a learner resource is the lack of example sentences.  Although space limitations may have prevented it, the inclusion of illustrative examples would provide a valuable context for learning just how and in what situations the roots and compounds are used.

Finally, the price is a bit steep for what must certainly be considered a supplementary text.  Consequently, the Handbook may end up on linguists' bookshelves or in the reference sections of academic libraries, but probably not on many students' desks.  Despite these problems, the Handbook is still an excellent resource for those desiring a systematic way to increase vocabulary knowledge in Korean.  It will serve well as self-study material for students of Korean (or even for native Koreans studying English) or as a teacher reference for lesson planning.