[KS] NAKL Questionnaire (1)

Wed Oct 13 10:06:11 EDT 1999

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The NAKL Romanization Questionnaire=20
1. The Breve Accent Mark=20

Too much concern is evidenced, both in this questionnaire and in =
discussion of Romanization elsewhere, about the oddity and =
impracticality of the breve accent mark (pandalp=92yo) used in the =
current system.=20

This diacritic is not entirely unfamiliar to educated native speakers of =
English because of its use in many dictionaries and textbooks to =
represent the so-called "short" phonetic values of the English vowel =
letters (as in 'bad,' 'bed,' 'bid,' 'bod,' and 'bud'). I suspect that =
McCune and Reischauer chose it at least partly because the English =
vowels represented by "short o" and "short u" were vaguely suggestive of =
the Korean vowels. (All are unrounded and non-front, at least.)=20

The breve is, admittedly, unfamiliar to non-native speakers of English, =
but a great many of these are quite familiar with other accent marks in =
such languages as German, French, and Spanish.=20

But the biggest complaint is that the breve is "not on the keyboard." =
(By the way, it doesn=92t appear in these emailed comments, even though =
lower and upper case o and u breve are now supplied with Windows in =
Arial Special, Arial Narrow Special, and Times New Roman Special =
TrueType fonts, for fear that it would not print in your browser or word =
processor.)=20

The current system only needs one accent mark, for lower and upper case =
o and u. So any accent mark will do. We are not wedded to the breve. It =
might be best to avoid diacritics that have specific phonetic =
associations, such as the fronting umlaut in German (=F6, =FC, if your =
browser or word processor handles high-ASCII accented letters)=97the =
AFKN program "Talk Tips" fell into this trap=97although it is on the =
keyboard, so to speak, as the double quotation mark ("). The acute =
accent (=F3, =FA) is not on the keyboard. The grave accent (=F2, =F9) =
is, as the backwards apostrophe (`), but is too much like the apostrophe =
('), used for aspiration. So my candidate to replace the breve is the =
circumflex (=F4, =FB), which appears on the keyboard as the caret (^) =
and has the mnemonic advantage of looking like an upside-down, =
straightened-out breve.=20

Of course, to use the ^ key on the keyboard you have to put the caret =
not on the vowel but after it: Inch=92o^n, Ku^mgang. (You wouldn=92t =
want to put the caret before the vowel: Inch=92^on!) This is the best =
you can do with a typewriter, but who uses typewriters any more? With a =
computer you can do much better.=20

Using MS Word 98 or 2000 (and perhaps 95, I forget), which I believe =
have about a 90% market share worldwide nowadays, it=92s very simple to =
put the circumflex accent on the vowel: press CTRL and ^ (that is, press =
CTRL, SHIFT, and the key with 6 and ^) at the same time, then release =
them and press the vowel, o or u (or, with SHIFT, O or U), to get =
Inch=92=F4n, K=FBmgang. Setting them up as menu items makes them even =
easier to use. Similar techniques are available on Apple machines, and =
surely any other word processors will have to compete soon if they =
don=92t already.=20

In the long run it is worth taking the trouble to set up special fonts =
for Romanizing Korean. I have made Arial, Times New Roman, and other =
fonts with o and u breve replacing < and > while O and U breve replace { =
and }. (You have to switch back to the original fonts when you want the =
replaced symbols, but that is not too often.) Mine don=92t go over the =
wire, unfortunately, unless I attach the TTF files, but it would be no =
trick for NAKL to get a few Korean Romanization versions of TrueType =
fonts designed and made available to all interested parties.=20

Would this solution do anything to persuade newspapers and magazines to =
print diacritics? I=92m afraid not. They don=92t bother with apostrophes =
for aspiration, which certainly don=92t present any technical problems. =
French and German accents are not treated with all that much respect, =
either, in most of the world. And will Korean individuals and =
corporations use apostrophes and breves in their names? Never! Nor, I =
suspect, will they ever stay within the confines of any Romanization =
scheme, whether old or new, transliteration or phonetic transcription, =
the way Pinyin seems to be adhered to in China.=20

John H. T. Harvey

jharvey at nuri.net

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<DIV>The NAKL Romanization =
Questionnaire=20
1. The Breve Accent Mark=20
Too much concern is evidenced, both in this =
questionnaire and=20
in discussion of Romanization elsewhere, about the oddity and =
impracticality of=20
the breve accent mark (pandalp=92yo) used in the current=20
system.=20
This diacritic is not entirely unfamiliar to educated =
native=20
speakers of English because of its use in many dictionaries and =
textbooks to=20
represent the so-called "short" phonetic values of the English vowel =
letters (as=20
in 'bad,' 'bed,' 'bid,' 'bod,' and 'bud'). I suspect that McCune and =
Reischauer=20
chose it at least partly because the English vowels represented by =
"short=20
o" and "short u" were vaguely suggestive of the Korean =
vowels.=20
(All are unrounded and non-front, at least.)=20
The breve is, admittedly, unfamiliar to non-native =
speakers of=20
English, but a great many of these are quite familiar with other accent =
marks in=20
such languages as German, French, and Spanish.=20
But the biggest complaint is that the breve is "not =
on the=20
keyboard." (By the way, it doesn=92t appear in these emailed comments, =
even though=20
lower and upper case o and u breve are now supplied with =
Windows=20
in Arial Special, Arial Narrow Special, and Times New Roman Special =
TrueType=20
fonts, for fear that it would not print in your browser or word=20
processor.)=20
The current system only needs one accent mark, for =
lower and=20
upper case o and u. So any accent mark will do. We =
are not=20
wedded to the breve. It might be best to avoid diacritics that have =
specific=20
phonetic associations, such as the fronting umlaut in German =
(=F6,=20
=FC, if your browser or word processor handles high-ASCII =
accented=20
letters)=97the AFKN program "Talk Tips" fell into this trap=97although =
it is on the=20
keyboard, so to speak, as the double quotation mark ("). The acute =
accent=20
(=F3, =FA) is not on the keyboard. The grave accent =
(=F2,=20
=F9) is, as the backwards apostrophe (`), but is too much like =
the=20
apostrophe ('), used for aspiration. So my candidate to replace the =
breve is the=20
circumflex (=F4, =FB), which appears on the keyboard as =
the caret (^)=20
and has the mnemonic advantage of looking like an upside-down, =
straightened-out=20
breve.=20
Of course, to use the ^ key on the keyboard =
you have to=20
put the caret not on the vowel but after it: Inch=92o^n, =
Ku^mgang. (You=20
wouldn=92t want to put the caret before the vowel: Inch=92^on!) =
This is the=20
best you can do with a typewriter, but who uses typewriters any more? =
With a=20
computer you can do much better.=20
Using MS Word 98 or 2000 (and perhaps 95, I forget), =
which I=20
believe have about a 90% market share worldwide nowadays, it=92s very =
simple to=20
put the circumflex accent on the vowel: press CTRL and ^ (that =
is, press=20
CTRL, SHIFT, and the key with 6 and ^) at the same time, =
then=20
release them and press the vowel, o or u (or, with SHIFT, =
O=20
or U), to get Inch=92=F4n, K=FBmgang. Setting them =
up as menu=20
items makes them even easier to use. Similar techniques are available on =
Apple=20
machines, and surely any other word processors will have to compete soon =
if they=20
don=92t already.=20
In the long run it is worth taking the trouble to set =
up=20
special fonts for Romanizing Korean. I have made Arial, Times New Roman, =
and=20
other fonts with o and u breve replacing < and=20
> while O and U breve replace { and =
}.=20
(You have to switch back to the original fonts when you want the =
replaced=20
symbols, but that is not too often.) Mine don=92t go over the wire, =
unfortunately,=20
unless I attach the TTF files, but it would be no trick for NAKL to get =
a few=20
Korean Romanization versions of TrueType fonts designed and made =
available to=20
all interested parties.=20
Would this solution do anything to persuade =
newspapers and=20
magazines to print diacritics? I=92m afraid not. They don=92t bother =
with=20
apostrophes for aspiration, which certainly don=92t present any =
technical=20
problems. French and German accents are not treated with all that much =
respect,=20
either, in most of the world. And will Korean individuals and =
corporations use=20
apostrophes and breves in their names? Never! Nor, I suspect, will they =
ever=20
stay within the confines of any Romanization scheme, whether old or new, =

transliteration or phonetic transcription, the way Pinyin seems to be =
adhered to=20
in China.=20
John H. T. Harvey
<A=20
href=3D"mailto:jharvey at nuri.net">jharvey at nuri.net</A></DIV></B=
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