[KS] Korean romanizations perplexities (again)

Charles Muller cmuller-lst at jj.em-net.ne.jp
Fri Oct 28 23:20:39 EDT 2005


Apropros of our never-ending discussions on Korean romanization, I
have an unfortunate but telling story to tell.

As some of you know, I am one of the few oddballs who wholeheartedly
embraced the New Romanization System, using it in most of my work
since shortly after its promulgation.

I was recently asked to contribute an article (on Gihwa and the _Ogahae
seorui_) to an Oxford volume entitled _Zen Classics_, in which I used
the new romanization system as usual, including an explanatory note.

Unfortunately, unknown to me (I never saw the proofs before
publication) some editor along the way apparently decided to change
all the Korean words that he/she recognized (Sŏn, Wŏnhyo, etc) to
McCune-Reischauer. The end result, of course, is an inexplicable
admixture between the two systems. So, just in case any listmembers or
their colleagues happens to read that piece, please know that I am not
getting prematurely addled in the brain. It does tell us something, I
think, about the continued low level awareness of things Korean in
western academia!

Regards,

Chuck

---------------------------
Charles Muller  

Toyo Gakuen University
Faculty of Humanities  
1660 Hiregasaki, Nagareyama-shi
Chiba 270-0161 JAPAN
Mobile Phone: 090-9310-1787

Web Site: Resources for East Asian Language and Thought
http://www.acmuller.net

<acmuller[at]jj.em-net.ne.jp>   



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