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ljwritesRomanization and Pronunciation Key
When presenting Korean words on this journal I follow the Revised Romanization of Korean Names for the most part. I also give other spellings if those are customary, however.
Here is a quick-and-dirty pronunciation guide which makes absolutely no pretense to strict phonetic accuracy:
a: a as in car
ae: First part of a in at. Akin to the German ä
e: e in pet
eo: u as in gut
eu: e as in French de
i: i as in sit
o: o as in gold. Closer to the French o, as in oh là-là!
u: u as in put
g is always hard.
I occasionally add a silent h at the end of a word (e.g. "Yeh" to remind readers it's not pronounced "yee"). H is never silent unless it shows up at the end of a word.
Notes on Ancient Names
I give alternate pronunciations for a number of ancient Korean names (e.g. "Jumong" and "Chumo"). This happens because Korean had no written language until the year 1443 A.D. when Hangeul (or Hangul) was promulgated. Up to that point, and even long after, Koreans borrow Chinese characters which were often used inconsistently in transcribing Korean names. Sometimes Chinese characters were used for their meaning and sometimes for their sounds; even when they were used for the way they sounded, transcription was frequently inconsistent. For these and other reasons the way we pronounce these names today is unlikely to be the way the ancients pronounced them.
When presenting Korean words on this journal I follow the Revised Romanization of Korean Names for the most part. I also give other spellings if those are customary, however.
Here is a quick-and-dirty pronunciation guide which makes absolutely no pretense to strict phonetic accuracy:
a: a as in car
ae: First part of a in at. Akin to the German ä
e: e in pet
eo: u as in gut
eu: e as in French de
i: i as in sit
o: o as in gold. Closer to the French o, as in oh là-là!
u: u as in put
g is always hard.
I occasionally add a silent h at the end of a word (e.g. "Yeh" to remind readers it's not pronounced "yee"). H is never silent unless it shows up at the end of a word.
Notes on Ancient Names
I give alternate pronunciations for a number of ancient Korean names (e.g. "Jumong" and "Chumo"). This happens because Korean had no written language until the year 1443 A.D. when Hangeul (or Hangul) was promulgated. Up to that point, and even long after, Koreans borrow Chinese characters which were often used inconsistently in transcribing Korean names. Sometimes Chinese characters were used for their meaning and sometimes for their sounds; even when they were used for the way they sounded, transcription was frequently inconsistent. For these and other reasons the way we pronounce these names today is unlikely to be the way the ancients pronounced them.
