[KS] Re: Se habla Han'gul?

[HKHogarth at aol.com]

I applaud Ken Kaliher's 'quixotic' quest to keep the integrity of the Korean 
language. I have noticed that when a Korean word or phrase is directly used 
among a foreign community, it often becomes a misnomer. 'HangUl' seems to be 
a good example. As far as I know, amongst Koreans (educated or otherwise) in 
mainstream Korean society, it is never used to mean the Korean language, 
which is  referred to as 'urimal,' as Horace Underwood rightly said. The most 
comprehensive  (and the best for non-specialists) Korean dictionary that I 
know is called 'Sae urimal k'Un sajOn', published by Samseong Ch'ulp'ansa in 
1989.

When a new foreign word is introduced to a language, a distortion of meaning 
and pronunciation  often occrurs through misunderstanding, and the mistake is 
assimilated and accepted as 'correct' over time.  That phenomenon was 
particularly the case in the old days, when the communication between 
different cultures was poor or non-existent.  But in this day and age when 
that is not the case,  I wonder whether such a mistake cannot be more 
assiduously and consciously avoided through proper education, or even 
individual campaigns such as the one Ken Kaliher seems to be launching. 

I get Young-Key's point that hangUl is already used to refer to the Korean 
language among the Korean community in Washington (and perhaps in other 
Korean communities in America), and that it may be accepted as such in time. 
On the other hand, however, might its clearly wrong usage not be easily put 
right through the efforts of  experts such as herself?

To give a small example,  in the British TV commercial for Hyundai cars, the 
pronunciation of Hyundai (by a British person) has recently been corrected to 
resemble the original Korean more closely. So instead of the previous awful 
'Ha-i-un-da-i' we now hear (M-R) 'HyOndae.'  Here, clearly some 
correct-thinking person has wiedled influence (and triumphed).

I believe avoiding such mistakes is possible, and the correct usage and 
pronunciation of a new foreign word in a language can easily be popularized. 
It is up to the people who should know (such as ourselves, I suppose). 



Dr. Hyun-key Kim Hogarth
17 St. Thomas Hill
Canterbury
Kent   CT2 8HW
England



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