[KS] Translation query

[Lucas Husgen]

The new romanization system hopefully will at least not become common usage within my own language, being Dutch. Mainly because the use of -eu and -eo is greatly confusing. To the uninitiated Dutch (and of course, 99,9% are) these single vowels will have all the appearance of two vowels, in one case of two separate vowels. So for instance 'Seoul' in Dutch is understood as 'Seoel', that is: pronounced as Se-oul. "Incheon' will be taken to stand for 'Inche-on', etcetera. 

-Eu will in Dutch easily be regarded as equivalent to one of our common double vowels (like -ie, -ei, -ou, -aa and so on), being in itself comparable to the German o Umlaut; it is a little close to its Korean counterpart, but still there is a unsurmountable gap between the two. Actually, Dutch -u would in many cases even be nearly equivalent to the new romanization -eu. 

But then, the Dutch sold Nieuw Amsterdam to the English, to have it become New York, thereby of course forfeiting every right of ruling the international linguistic community. 


Lucas Husgen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brother Anthony" <anthony at ccs.sogang.ac.kr>
To: "Korean Studies List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 6:56 AM
Subject: [KS] Translation query


> I have been asked if anyone is working on translations of works by Jeong Gyeong-nin. The answer
> is that I have no idea (apart from what was published in Korean Litertaure Today)and the only
> way I can try to find out is to ask my learned colleagues through this list. Replies might best
> be sent to me privately.
> 
> In only vague connection with this query, I would be very grateful for any helpful comments on
> the current and prospective future international use of the "new" romanization system, having
> recently become involved with helping prepare a book in English designed for overseas use which
> writes all the names of 20th-century Korean writers in the new way. Should I be preparing to
> publish volumes of work by Go Eun rather than Ko Un? 
> 
> Please note, I am not asking what people think of the system but whether it is being adopted
> seriously outside of Korea.
> 
> Brother Anthony
> Sogang University, Seoul
>