Appendix: Romanization

The Korean language has a rather complex sound system that has posed challenges to romanization. This book follows the McCune-Reischauer system that is used by the Library of Congress and with minor variations in most scholarly texts. Below is a basic guide to the pronunciation of the McCune-Reischauer system used in this book. Note: the Korean sound system is very different than in English so the equivalents below are only rough approximations.

CONSONANTS

ch is as in English but unaspirated, sounding a bit more like a j
ch’ is pronounced as in English but more aspirated
k as in English but unaspirated, sounding a bit like a hard g
k’ as in English but more aspirated
kk a very tense unaspirated k sound
p as in English but unaspirated and sounding a bit likeab
p’ as in English but more aspirated
pp a very tense unaspirated p sound
s softer than an English s, but if followed by i pronounced as sh
ss more tense than an English s
t as in English but unaspirated, sounding a bit likead
t’ more aspirated then in English
tt a tense unaspirated t
tch a tense unaspirated ch sound

Other consonants are pronounced more or less as they are in English.

VOWELS

a as the a in father
ae a bit like the a in cat
e roughly as in English
i between the i of tin and the ee of teen
o as in hope
ŏ between the sound of u in fun and the aw in fawn
oe roughly as “way”
u as the u in tune
ŭ similar to the oo in book
ŭi sometimes as in eh

 

In 2000 the South Korean government adopted a new official Revised Romanization that is also coming into use. Below are some of the differences.

McCune-Reischauer Revised Romanization
ch j as initial sound
ch ’ch
k g as initial sound
k’ k
p b as initial sound
p’ P
t d as initial sound
t’ t
ŏ eo
ŭ eu

In Revised Romanization hyphens between syllables in names are optional.

Below are some names and terms written in First McCune–Reischauer, then in Revised Romanization and in the Korean alphabet.

1. ch’ŏnmin cheonmin e9780742574717_i0011.jpg
2. Chosŏn Joseon e9780742574717_i0012.jpg
3. Han’gŭl Hangeul e9780742574717_i0013.jpg
4. kisaeng gisaeng e9780742574717_i0014.jpg
5. Kim Pu–sik Gim Bushik e9780742574717_i0015.jpg
6. Koryŏ Goryeo e9780742574717_i0016.jpg
7. kwagŏ gwageo e9780742574717_i0017.jpg
8. Paekche Baekje e9780742574717_i0018.jpg
9. p’ansori pansori e9780742574717_i0019.jpg
10. Silla Silla* e9780742574717_i0020.jpg
11. Tan’gun Dangun e9780742574717_i0021.jpg
12. T’oegye Toegye e9780742574717_i0022.jpg
13. yangban yangban* e9780742574717_i0023.jpg
14. Yi Sŏng–gye Yi Seonggye e9780742574717_i0024.jpg
* Note some Korean names and terms are spelled the same in both McCune–Reischauer and Revised Romanization.