Korean Romanization and Word Division

1
KoreanRomanization and Word Division

• Young Ki Lee
• Senior Cataloging Specialist
• Korean/Chinese Team
• RCCD
• Library of Congress

2

• Session Summary
• Romanization and Word Division is designed to
  provide trainees with basic understanding of the
  Romanization and Word Division Rules for Korean
  language and the related rule interpretations.
  The session provides introduction of
  McCune-Reischauer system and 1997 edition of
  ALA-LC Romanization Korean Table. The trainees
  are prepared through basic study of guidelines
  and interpretations to create Romanized data on
  bibliographical records.
• Learning Objectives
• At the end of this session trainees will be able
  to
• Define the structure of Korean Script
• Consult and use McCune-Reischauer system and
  ALA-LC Romanization Korean Table
• Apply the guidelines in the creation of new
  bibliographic records
• Recognize situations in Romanization and Word
  Division in which librarian must exercise
  judgment in the application of the guidelines.

3
Hangul

• The Korean alphabet was invented in 1444 and
  promulgated it in 1446 during the reign of King
  Sejong, the fourth king of the Choson Dynasty.
• The alphabet was originally called Hunmin chongum
• Korean linguist Chu Si-gyong brought the modern
  name for the alphabet, Hangul, in use in 19th
  century

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Notable features of Hangul

• There are 51 letters (jamo) in the Korean
  alphabet
• 14 simple consonants
• 5 double consonants
• 11 consonants clusters
• 10 simple vowels
• 11 diphthongs

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14 Simple Consonants

• Normal
• ? k/g
• ? n
• ? t/d
• ? l/r
• ? m
• ? p/b
• ? s
• ? /ng
• ? ch/j
• ? h

• Aspirated
• ? k
• ? t
• ? p
• ? ch

6
Double Consonants

• ? kk
• ? tt
• ? pp
• ? ss
• ? tch

• ? ?
• ? ?
• ? ?
• ? ?
• ? ?
• ?

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Simple Vowels and Diphthongs

• ? a
• ? ya
• ? o
• ? yo
• ? o
• ? yo
• ? u
• ? yu
• ? ui
• ? i

• ? ae
• ? yae
• ? e
• ? ye
• ? oe
• ? wi
• ? ui
• ? wa
• ? wo
• ? wae
• ? we

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Three Categories of jamo

• Initial (??, ??) The consonants before the
  vowels. All five doubled jamo can be placed here.
  
• Position top, left, or upper-left corner of the
  syllabic block.
• Medial (??, ??) The vowels comprising the
  syllable nucleus.
• Position middle of the syllable block if there's
  a final, otherwise at the right or bottom.
• Final (??, ??) The consonants after the vowels.
  All basic jamo can occur as finals, and the
  silent initial ? is pronounced ng in final
  position.
• Position bottom, right or lower-right corner of
  the block.

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Combined Syllables
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Syllable Stacking Rules

• A syllable that consists of a consonant and a
  "vertical vowel" is written with the consonant on
  the left and the vowel on the right
• ? ? ?
• A syllable that consists of a consonant and a
  "horizontal vowel" is written with the consonant
  on top and the vowel underneath
• ? ? ?
• If a syllable has a consonant, vowel, and
  consonant, the final consonant, called patch'im
  (meaning "supporting floor" in Korean) goes to
  the bottom -- or floor -- of that syllable.
• ? ? ? ?
• ? ? ? ?