[KS] Re: How to Write Korean Names in English?

[Sam Martin]

Dear YANG Sung-jin:
	It is probably a hopeless situation. One solution is to write the
family name in capital letters. Then I think everyone will call you Mr
Yang whether you put the surname first or last. In bibliographies you can
put a hyphen after the surname (Yang, Sung-jin). By the way, are you a
Yang or a {l}Yang ("Ryang")? Yale romanization makes a distinction;
McCune-Reischauer (in its many flavors) does not.
	I prefer to omit the hyphen in given names, treating them as
opaque, even though in some instances they do reflect a generational
designation within a given family (Cang Sengen and Cang Cwuen are
brothers). There are several surnames of two syllables (Namkwung =
Nam-gung, Sen.wu = SOn-u, ...). These are usually treated as opaque, with
no hyphen. There are also one-syllable given names (the linguist He Wung
= HO Ung = "Huh Woong" comes to mind) and there the hyphen is of no help,
in any event. There is a discussion of names and titles in my Reference
Grammar of Korean pp. 132-3.
	If it is of solace to you, I have been called "Mr Samuel" by
Americans who have been misled by clerks who like to drop middle initials
("Samuel E. Martin" makes it clear which part is which) and disregard
commas (so that "Martin, Samuel" fares little better). At Yale I have a
friend named Worth David with no middle name or initial; he is used to
being called "Mr Worth", since David is more common as a given name than
as a surname, and the opposite is true of worth. I have taken to writing
my name the way I say it "Sam Martin" and that usually leaves no doubt.

 





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