[KS] Romanization of Koream (In response to Frank Hoffmann)

[Frank Joseph Shulman]

Dear Colleagues,

This is in response to Frank Hoffmann's inquiry of April 9th regarding the current usage of the two Romanization systems for Korean by individuals in Korean Studies.

My forthcoming reference work, "A Century of Doctoral Dissertations on Korea, 1903-2004: An Annotated Bibliography of Studies in Western Languages", uses the McCune-Reischauer system as the default system and the "New Official Government System (2000)" as an add on within the descriptive annotations as well as in the Subject Index.  Normally a term or a proper name in MR is followed by the SK Romanization in parentheses.  For example:

Kyo^nggi-do (Gyeonggi-do)

This procedure is comparable in nature to the Romanization of Chinese that is used in my earlier bibliography, "Doctoral Dissertations on China and on Inner Asia, 1976-1990: An Annotated Bibliography of Studies in Western Languages" (compiled and edited by Frank Joseph Shulman. Westport, Conn., and London: Greenwood Press, 1998.  xxviii, 1055p.), where the Wade-Giles Romanization system served as the default and the Pinyin Romanization as the add on.  (Please note that this bibliography was published BEFORE American and Canadian libraries switched from Wade-Giles to Pinyin.)

Listserv members should take note that for the most part, the Yale Romanization system is used in the descriptive annotations for the dissertations in the area of language and linguistics.  And NO change whatsoever has been made in the Romanization of the family and personal names of the 9,000 Korean authors or in the Romanized Korean words or names that comprise part of the titles and subtitles of the 13,600 dissertations written in English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish, etc.  Following established bibliographical and library practice, the bibliography transcribes whatever appears on the title page of each thesis typescript.  The same bibliographical convention applies to matters of spacing, capitalization, and the inclusion of hyphens (e.g., Jinhee, Jin Hee, Jin-Hee, Jin-hee).  At the same time, in a limited number of cases, the Author Index will contain a cross-reference from a Korean author's name in MR to the form of his name in the bibliographical entry.

Let me please add that establishing the proper Romanization of each Korean word and name that is used in the descriptive annotations has been a challenging task.  The typescripts of the 13,600 dissertations covered in the bibliography contain a wide range of variant Romanizations that have had to be standardized in the descriptive annotations and the Subject Index.  The following is an example:

Gyeonggi, Gyongi, Gyunggi, Gyungi, Gyungki, Kunggi, Kungki, Kyengki, Kyeonggi, Kyong-gi, Kyonggi, Ky^onggi, Kyongki, Kyounggi, Kyoungki, Kyunggi, Kyungi, and Kyungki.

I am greatly indebted  to a number of scholars and librarians around the world for the considerable, ongoing assistance that they have extended to me in this regard.  However, the current draft of the bibliography is still not (and in the end, may not be) "perfect" as there are certain words and names for which the proper Romanization cannot be definitively established, given the absence of hangul and hancha.  To cite just one example: the names of several Korean villages for which the assistance of listserv members would be appreciated:

In the dissertation "Village Development from Above and from Below: Social Change and Modernization in Different Types of Rural Community in the Republic of Korea" by You Tae-Yeung (cross-referemce in MR: Yu T'ae-yong) (Ph.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, 1978):

You studied the advantages and drawbacks of the type of rural development that was initiated, nurtured and guided through governmental (or other public) policies, programs and agencies, as opposed to development carried out autonomously by the affected farming communities.  His dissertation includes an overview of the rural sector and agrarian policy in Korea as well as case studies of eight villages representing five different patterns of developmental direction: (a) Sunlinchon: development from below by the community itself; (b) Unkyoree: development from below by active local leaders; (c) Walgilree and Shinkiree: development from both above and below; (d) Mukhyeunee and Yongbanee: development from above through local mediators; and (e) Doobongnee and Oibugnee: development from above.  (NOE: Two of the villages -- Sunlinchon, Mukhyeunee -- are located in Kyo^nggi-do;  all the rest are in Cho^llabuk-do)

With my best wishes,

Frank

April 9, 2007

Frank Joseph Shulman
Bibliographer, Editor and Consultant for Reference Publications in Asian Studies
9225 Limestone Place
College Park, Maryland 20740-3943 (U.S.A.)
E-mail:  fshulman at umd.edu


---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 0 8:13:34 -0700
>From: Frank Hoffmann <hoffmann at koreaweb.ws>  
>Subject: Re: [KS] Spaces of Korean phrases in Library catalog  
>To: Korean Studies Discussion List <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
>
>Hello All:
>
>What is the present consent, years after the SK government's new 
>transcription system was introduced, about the usage of the two 
>systems, McCune-Reischauer and the SK system?... I just wonder how active scholars 
>working in any area of Korean studies are handling the situation in 
>both, their classrooms and their own publications...
>
>So, what is acceptable? Do you use both systems, depending on the 
>place of publication or the trace of money? And what do you tell your 
>students to use?

>Best,
>Frank
>
>Frank Hoffmann
>http://koreaweb.ws
>>