[KS] Re: Chosun Engl report on revisions to Romanization

[Horace H. Underwood]

Dear List

Bruce Grant kindly sent two messages, one purporting to be the official
Digital Chosun English translation of the Korean Chosun Ilbo (sorry: Josun
Ilbo) article.  But if I am reading the Korean right, there is a key and
revealing sentence near the beginning of the Korean version that did not
quite make it into the English version, to wit:

'the basic idea of the change announced on the 17th is to change the
romanization system from a system "for foreigners" to a system "for
Koreans."'

I had suspected this, but it somehow clears the air to see it printed so
bluntly.

Horace H. Underwood, Executive Director
Korean-American Educational Commission (Fulbright)
Seoul, Korea
hhu at fulbright.or.kr

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Grant <korealet at xmission.com>
To: List Korean-studies <korean-studies at mailbase.ac.uk>
Date: Thursday, November 18, 1999 5:34 PM
Subject: Chosun Engl report on revisions to Romanization


>FYI, List,
>
>Here's the Chosun's English version of its vernacular report on the same
>subject.
>
>Bruce Grant
>
>11/17(수) 19:00
>
> Pusan To Become Busan
>
>The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT) announced a tentative plan
>Wednesday to revise the romanization of the Korean language. The last time
>that Korean romanization was revised was 15 years ago in 1984 and had
mainly
>followed the McCune-Reischauer method. The Korean Language Research
>Institute (KLRI) announced three main principles the new romanization will
>follow; to be written as pronounced in Korean; not to use any other symbol
>other than the roman alphabet; and to write one sound with one letter.
>
>One of the major differences will be the removal of special punctuation
>markers that are to express aspirated sounds, such as "ching," " king," and
>"ting," and the abolition of the half-moon sign shows the different
>grammatical positions of Korean consonants. The fundamental reason for the
>revision is because many Koreans find it difficult to understand the
meaning
>of the symbols and because they are unavailable on computer keyboards.
>
>Major city names are to change to the Korean pronunciation; Pusan is to
>change to "Busan," Kwangju will become "Gwangju," Taedok will be written as
>"Daedeok," and Cheju as "Jeju." Until now, the Korean symbols for "Ki-og,"
>"Ti-geud," "Pi-eub,"and "Chi-euj" had been written as "k," "t," "p," and
>"ch" when they were at the beginning of a word, and as "g," "d," "b," and
>"j" if the letters were at the end of a word.
>
>In addition, "K'i-og," "T'i-geud," "P'i-eub,"and "Ch'i-euj" had been
written
>with an apostrophe next to the Roman letters to differentiate the stronger
>pronunciation as "k'," "t'," "p'," and "ch'," however, the newly revised
>romanization will omit the extra apostrophes. Furthermore, "Shi-ot," the
>Korean sound that is similar to the roman phonetic sound "s," will unify
its
>currently divided Romanization of "S" and "SH." Therefore, "Shilla" will
>become "Silla." For Korean surnames, company names, and names of
>associations, the current romanization will remain acceptable.
>
>The MoCT plans to pass a revised act within this year, after discussions
>with the Korean Language Review Committee and after holding a public
hearing
>at the National Folk Museum at 2:00pm Friday.
>
>
>(Kim Tae-ik, tikim at chosun.com)
>
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