[KS] Chosun Engl report on revisions to Romanization

[Bruce Grant]

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)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Copyright (c) 1999 Digital Chosunilbo All rights reserved.
Contact webmaster at chosun.com for more information.




%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%