Critical Pedagogy/Case Studies/What's Wrong With Wiki Ways/Romanization of Korean

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Executive Summary

for 
wiki policy making and remaking

The so-called "Revised Romanization of Korean" (RR) since 2000 consists of dualist (RR) or Janus-faced (ЯR) modes in fact, however practically disguised in effect, so as to:

  • begin with the transcription of spoken Korean in phonetic hangul, hence 1:1? complex confusing epidemic orthoepy, and
  • end with the transliteration of written Korean in canonic hangul, hence 1:1! simplex clear-cut academic orthography.

Meanwhile, it is quite anomalous, exceptional, and self-contradictory that

  • the academic orthographic transliteration-oriented wikis

adopted

  • the epidemic orthoepic transcription-oriented mode of RR,

likely doing harm to the wiki's self-consistency as well as doing injustice to the Korean language.

Therefore, the wikis of justice may well take it seriously whether the wiki mode out of the dualist RR is to be:

  • reaffirmed in spite of such anomaly, or
  • readjusted in stead of that reasonably.

Revised Romanization of Korean[edit | edit source]

In addition to the Romanization of Korean, the following is a Wikiversity translation of the 2000 로마자 표기법 also known as " Revised Romanization of Korean."

Chapter 1. Basic Principles[edit | edit source]

Section 1.1
The Romanization of Korean shall in principle be based on the orthoepic transcription of canonic Korean pronunciation.
Section 1.2
Symbols other than Roman letters shall be avoided as far as possible.

Chapter 2. General Provisions[edit | edit source]

Section 2.1 Vowels

2.1.1 Simple vowels
 
a eo o u eu i ae e oe wi  
2.1.2 Diphthongs
ya yeo yo yu yae ye wa wae wo we ui

2.1 Note 1 The vowel 'ㅢ' is rendered as /ui/ even if pronounced as 'ㅣ'.

e.g., 광희문 Gwanghuimun

2.1 Note 2 The length of long vowels is ignored in romanizing.

Section 2.2 Consonants

2.2.1 Explosives k

g,k kk k
 

Explosives t

d,t tt t
 

Explosives p

b,p pp p

2.2.2 Affricates

j jj ch
 

2.2.3 Fricatives

s ss h
 

2.2.4 Nasals

n m ng

2.2.5 Liquids

r,l

2.2 Note 1 The sounds 'ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ' are respectively rendered as /g, d, b/ before a vowel, and as /k, t, p/ before a consonant or at the end of a syllable. (In the following examples, the bracketed pronunciation, if any, shall be renered instead.)

구미 Gumi 영동 Yeongdong 백암 Baegam
옥천 Okcheon 합덕 Hapdeok 호법 Hobeop
월곶[월곧] Wolgot 벚꽃[벋꼳] Beotkkot 한밭[한받] Hanbat

2.2 Note 2 The sound 'ㄹ' is rendered as /r/ before a vowel, and as /l/ before a consonant or at the end of a syllable. Yet, 'ㄹㄹ' is rendered as /ll/.

구미 Gumi 설악 Seorak 칠곡 Chilgok
임실 Imsil 울릉 Ulleung 대관령[대괄령] Daegwallyeong

Chapter 3. Special Provisions[edit | edit source]

Section 3.1 Such phonemic shifts, as may be shown in phonetic hangul, and as to be reflected in romanization are illustrated case by case in the following.

3.1.1 The case of phonetic assimilation between consonants nearby

백마 [뱅마] Baengma 신문로 [신문노] Sinmunno 종로 [종노] Jongno
왕십리 [왕심니] Wangsimni 별내 [별래] Byeollae 신라 [실라] Silla

3.1.2 The case of epenthetic 'ㄴ, ㄹ'

학여울 [항녀울] Hangnyeoul 알약 [알략] allyak

3.1.3 The case of palatalization

해돋이 [해도지] haedoji   같이 [가치]    gachi  맞히다 [마치다] machida

3.1.4 The case of 'ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅈ' being merged with 'ㅎ' nearby and aspirated into 'ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ', respectively

좋고 [조코] joko 놓다 [노타] nota
잡혀 [자펴] japyeo 낳지 [나치] nachi

Yet, this does not apply to substantives.

묵호 Mukho 집현전 Jiphyeonjeon

3.1.4 Note Glottalization may be ignored.

압구정 Apgujeong 낙동강 Nakdonggang 죽변 Jukbyeon 낙성대 Nakseongdae
합정 Hapjeong 팔당 Paldang  샛별   Saetbyeol  울산 Ulsan

Section 3.2 A hyphen /-/ may be used wherever a syllabic confusion may exist.

중앙 Jung-ang 반구대 Ban-gudae
세운 Se-un 해운대 Hae-undae

Section 3.3 The initial of a proper noun is capitalized.

부산 Busan 세종 Sejong

Section 3.4 The family name is followed by a space and the given name.

민용하 Min Yongha (Min Yong-ha) 송나리 Song Nari (Song Na-ri)

3.4.1 The romanization of personal names ignores phonetic shifts that may occur in them.

한복남 Han Boknam (Han Bok-nam) 홍빛나 Hong Bitna (Hong Bit-na)

3.4.2 The romanization of family names may be decided elsewhere.

Section 3.5 Administrative units '도, 시, 군, 구, 읍, 면, 리, 동, 가' are romanized respectively as /do, si, gun, gu, eup, myeon, ri, dong, ga/ with a hyphen in front. The assimilation, if any, around the hyphen is ignored.

충청북도 Chungcheongbuk-do 제주도 Jeju-do 의정부시 Uijeongbu-si
양주군 Yangju-gun 도봉구 Dobong-gu 신창읍 Sinchang-eup
삼죽면 Samjuk-myeon 인왕리 Inwang-ri 당산동 Dangsan-dong
봉천1동 Bongcheon 1(il)-dong 종로 2가 Jongno 2(i)-ga 퇴계로 3가 Toegyero 3(sam)-ga

3.5 Note Such administrative units as '시, 군, 읍' may be omitted.

청주시 Cheongju 함평군 Hampyeong 순창읍 Sunchang

Section 3.6 Names of geographical designations, cultural assets, and constructed artifacts may be romanized without any hyphen /-/.

남산 Namsan  속리산  Songnisan 금강 Geumgang
독도 Dokdo 경복궁 Gyeongbokgung 무량수전 Muryangsujeon
연화교 Yeonhwagyo 극락전 Geungnakjeon 안압지 Ananpji
남한산성 Namhansanseong 화랑대 Hwarangdae 불국사 Bulguksa
현충사 Hyeonchungsa 독립문 Dongnimmun 오죽헌 Ojukheon
촉석루 Chokseongnu 종묘 Jongmyo 다보탑 Dabotap

Section 3.7 Tthe name of natural and legal persons may remain the same as romanized previously.

Section 3.8 Where the recovery of the canonic hangul is required in special areas such as academic articles, that hangul shall be transliterated into Roman letters. In this case, the transliteration shall accord to Chapter 2 except that 'ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㄹ' shall be constantly rendered as /g, d, b, l/. The voiceless 'ㅇ' shall be rendered as a hyphen /-/ which may be omitted when it is the initial of a word. The hyphen may also be used where syllables should be made distinct.

jib jip bakk
gabs 붓꽃 buskkoch 먹는 meogneun
독립 doglib 문리 munli 물엿 mul-yeos
굳이 gud-i 좋다 johda  가곡  gagog
조랑말 jolangmal 없었습니다 eobs-eoss-seubnida  

Relevant excerpts from wiki documents[edit | edit source]

wikt: Wiktionary:About Korean #Scripts[edit | edit source]

Korean is written in hangeul and hanja (CJKV) script. Romanizations (transliterations into the Latin alphabet) are included in Korean entries to help readers whose native script is the Latin script [...].

wikt: Wiktionary:About Korean #Han-geul, Romanization, and English translation[edit | edit source]

To accommodate the diverse needs and fluency levels of readers, each Korean phrase or term should be expressed in at least three forms: a han-geul version, a Revised Korean Romanization version, and an English language translation. [...]. The 2000 South Korean Revised Romanization is currently the Wiktionary standard. Others in use at Wiktionary include McCune-Reischauer romanization and Yale romanization.

wikt: Wiktionary:About Korean/Romanization[edit | edit source]

In Article 3 Paragraph 8 of the 2000 edict establishing the Revised Romanization, provision is made for a system for academic use which represents the original hangul more precisely than standard RR. This system uses the standard jamo equivalents, without exception: for example, ㄱ is represented as "g" regardless of position and pronunciation. Thus for example 백 is baeg, and 막히다 is maghida (cf. baek, makhida in the standard system). In addition, syllable-initial ㅇ is represented by a hyphen. Thus "백이" is romanized "baeg-i" while "배기" is romanized "baegi."

RR transliteration is almost entirely unambiguous in its representation of written Korean. However, it does not represent pronunciation clearly.

wikt: Wiktionary:Transliteration and romanization #Transliteration policy[edit | edit source]

Foreign scripts
A foreign term written in a language with a non-Roman phonetic alphabet should be accompanied by a transliteration in most places it appears [...].

wikt: Wiktionary:Transliteration and romanization #Wiki-romanization[edit | edit source]

Because most languages have multiple systems for romanization, any language that sees frequent romanization in Wiktionary should have a language considerations page defining the romanization standard to be used in Wiktionary.

Pages documenting romanization systems should be placed in the appropriate categories.

wikt: Wiktionary:Transliteration and romanization #Key terms[edit | edit source]

Romanization
Rendering of written text from a foreign writing system into the Latin (Roman) alphabet, possibly supplemented by diacritical marks or additional characters.
Wiki-romanization
A romanization system chosen for Wiktionary. It is usually a common standard of romanization, or based on one and modified for Wiktionary's specific needs.
Transliteration
Literally "lettering across". Rendering of written text from one alphabet or syllabary into another, letter by letter. In Wiktionary we are mainly concerned with transliteration from a foreign system into the Latin alphabet (a subset of romanization).
Transcription
Literally "writing across". Transcription has several meanings, including transliteration and phonetic transcription, the written representation of spoken language. [...]

Transliteration and romanization are not pronunciation. They relate to the written languages, not to the spoken languages. Although these systems will often approximate the pronunciation of a language, that remains a secondary consideration to their development. Thus, the very common Russian genitive singular ending -ого would normally be transliterated as -ogo but pronounced /-ovo/

w: Transliteration[edit | edit source]

  • Transliteration is not concerned with representing the phonemics of the original: it only strives to represent the characters accurately.
  • From an information-theoretical point of view, systematic transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another, word by word, or ideally letter by letter. Transliteration attempts to use a one-to-one correspondence and be exact, so that an informed reader should be able to reconstruct the original spelling of unknown transliterated words. Ideally, reverse transliteration is possible.
  • Transliteration is opposed to transcription, which specifically maps the sounds of one language to the best matching script of another language. Still, most systems of transliteration map the letters of the source script to letters pronounced similarly in the goal script, for some specific pair of source and goal language. If the relations between letters and sounds are similar in both languages, a transliteration may be (almost) the same as a transcription. In practice, there are also some mixed transliteration/transcription systems that transliterate a part of the original script and transcribe the rest.
  • In Modern Greek usage (and since the Roman Imperial period), the letters <η> <ι> <υ> and the letter combinations <ει> <oι> <υι> may be pronounced [i]. When so pronounced, a modern transcription renders them all as <i>, but a transliteration still distinguishes them, for example by transliterating to <?> <i> <y> and <ei> <oi> <yi>.

w: Transcription (linguistics)[edit | edit source]

  • Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances (speech) or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists consider only the former to be transcription.
  • Transcription should not be confused with translation, [...] , or with transliteration which means representing a text from one script in another (e.g. transliterating a Cyrillic text into the Latin script).
  • Which type of transcription is chosen depends mostly on the research interests pursued. Since phonetic transcription strictly foregrounds the phonetic nature of language, it is most useful for phonetic or phonological analyses. Orthographic transcription, on the other hand, has a morphological and a lexical component alongside the phonetic component (which aspect is represented to which degree depends on the language and orthography in question). [...] Phonetic transcription is doubtlessly more systematic in a scientific sense, but it is also harder to learn, more time-consuming to carry out and less widely applicable than orthographic transcription.

w: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Korea-related articles[edit | edit source]

  • Korean words transliterated into English should use the Revised Romanization, unless they are used in specifically North Korean context [...]. The exception to this rule are English words borrowed from Korean and frequently used in a non-Korean context, whose irregular spellings have crystallized in English. Examples of such words include Hangul, kimchi, and taekwondo [which should be spelled as "Hangeul (or Han-geul)", "gimchi", and "taegwondo" respectively in Revised Romanization, or [...].
  • While Hangul and mixed script (Hangul and Hanja together) use spaces between words, text written only in Hanja is usually written without spaces. Thus, gosokhwa doro ("freeway" or "motorway") is written as 고속화 도로 (with a space) in Hangul, but as 高速化道路 (without a space) in Hanja.

Critical question and discussion[edit | edit source]

See: wikt: Wiktionary:Beer parlour/What is the WT way of RR?
Is Korean a linguistic island?


It is clear from the above excerpts from the wiki documents that the wiki romanization basically has to do with the transliteration of written, rather than transcription of spoken, languages from non-roman to roman script.

Anomalously, exceptionally, and self-contradictorily, however, such is not the case with the wiki romanization of Korean, though based on the so-called Revised Romanization (RR) since 2000, which in fact is dualist (RR) or Janus-faced (ЯR), however practically disguised in effect, as follows:

  1. epidemic, complex, confusing, 1:1 matching(?) "transcription" of Korean spoken in phonetic hangul orthoepy.
  2. academic, simplex, clear-cut, 1:1 matching(!) transliteration of Korean written in canonic hangul orthography.

Then, such anomalous, exceptional, self-contradictory injustice currently being done to the Korean language may well be readjusted just by the wikis of justice.

General arguments[edit | edit source]

  • The wikis ought to be a global, collaborative, non-profit panopticon, rather than ivory tower for power, of inference from reference to experience and intelligence.

Special arguments[edit | edit source]

  • MR has to do with the orthoepy of spoken Korean.
  • The transcription, or transfer from speech to script, lets the focus of:
    • orthoepy be on spoken Korean in phonetic hangul, or primordially,
    • orthography on written Korean in canonic hangul.
  • The transliteration, or transfer from script to script, has nothing to do with speech and orthoepy, but script at hand and orthography at last.

Underlying motivation[edit | edit source]

Introduction to Critical Pedagogy #Famous quotes

Critical pedagogy is a teaching approach inspired by critical theory and other radical philosophies, which attempts to help students question and challenge posited "domination," and to undermine the beliefs and practices that are alleged to dominate. In other words, it is a theory and practice of helping students achieve "critical consciousness."

Critical pedagogic educator Ira Shor defines critical pedagogy as:

Habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning, first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional cliches, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning, root causes, social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action, event, object, process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse. (Empowering Education, 129)[1]

In this tradition the teacher works to lead students to question ideologies and practices considered oppressive (including those at school), and encourage "liberatory" collective and individual responses to the actual conditions of their own lives.

The student often begins as a member of the group or process he or she is critically studying (e.g., religion, national identity, cultural norms, or expected roles). After the student begins to view present society as deeply problematic, the next behavior encouraged is sharing this knowledge, paired with an attempt to change the perceived oppression of the society. A good picture of this development from social member to dissident to radical teacher/learner is offered in both Paulo Freire's book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and bell hooks' book Teaching to Transgress. An earlier propenent of a more active classroom, where students direct the epistemological method as well as the actual object(s) of inquiry is the late Neil Postman. In his Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Postman suggests creating a class where students themselves are entirely in control of the syllabus, class activities, and grading.

Topics Introduced[edit | edit source]

To help encourage students to change their view from accepting the social norms (viewed by critics as being gullible) into being independently critical (viewed by mainstream society as being cynical) the instructors often introduce challenges to heroic icons and self-edifying history using contradictory reports or external points of view of the same subjects.

Generalized Examples[edit | edit source]

To encourage students to become critical the instructor might use these tasks to challenge the generally accepted paradigm of the student's society:

  • Prompt the student to investigate a war that his or her society has waged and considered just and critically evaluate if it meets the criteria of a just war.
  • Encourage students to explore issues of power in their own families.
  • To lead students to examine the underlying messages of popular culture and mass media.
  • Require the evaluation of existing controversies in contemporary society, such as the relative merits of U.S. government spending on atomic weapons versus international health programs.
  • Ask whether the metaphoric emperor is, in fact, clothed.

Real-world examples of concepts often introduced to generate critical thinking:

  • A challenge to the reverential mythology around Christopher Columbus and leading students to investigate primary sources by and about the historical figure. One might possibly suggest sources such as the Black Legend, or other sources that cast more disconcerting views on the legacy of his efforts.

Results[edit | edit source]

A prevalent result of critical pedagogy is that students view certain aspects of their lifestyles, nation, or culture critically for the first time.

As an example, someone who follows this means of learning about the United States culture may develop a view that most people in Western society are sleepwalking through a banal existence of consumption, obedience, and propaganda, and that they need to be awakened.

Call to Action[edit | edit source]

Most instructors of critical pedagogy encourage students who have reached the cognitive state perceived as "enlightened" to share their knowledge in an attempt to reveal perceived failings of society with the goal of fostering what critical pedagogy regards as positive change. Other critical pedagogues, however, are suspicious of the claims encountered in certain modernist emancipatory discourses. Rather than seeking to 'enlighten' the 'gullible,' these instructors explore concepts of identity, history, desire, etc. with learners, and any subsequent calls to action are made by learners.

Examples[edit | edit source]

History[edit | edit source]

During South African apartheid, legal racialization implemented by the regime drove members of the radical leftist Teachers' League of South Africa to employ critical pedagogy with a focus on nonracialism in Cape Town schools and prisons. Teachers collaborated loosely to subvert the racist curriculum and encourage critical examination of political and social circumstances in terms of humanist and democratic ideologies. The efforts of such teachers are credited with having bolstered student resistance and activism.[2]

Literature[edit | edit source]

"Famous" authors of critical pedagogy texts include Paulo Freire, Rich Gibson, Michael Apple, Henry Giroux, Peter McLaren, Joe L. Kincheloe, Howard Zinn, Antonia Darder and others. Famous educationalists including Jonathan Kozol and Parker Palmer are sometimes included in this category. Other critical pedagogues more famous for their anti-schooling, unschooling, or deschooling perspectives include Ivan Illich, John Holt, Ira Shor, John Taylor Gatto, and Matt Hern. Much of the work draws on feminism, marxism, Lukacs, Wilhelm Reich, post-colonialism, and the discourse theories of Edward Said, Antonio Gramsci and Michel Foucault. Radical Teacher is a magazine dedicated to critical pedagogy and issues of interest to critical educators. The Rouge Forum is an online organization led by people involved with critical pedagogy.

Movies[edit | edit source]

A number of motion pictures have been used as case studies or object lessons in critical pedagogy, but this does not necessarily imply that the writers and directors of these films endorse radical left-wing politics, or that the films are necessarily allegorical.

  • In the movie The Matrix, the setting is an artificial construction of oppression that instills complacency in its captives through a form of virtual reality, much like the World Wide Web you are currently immersed in. The movie's initial conflict sees the protagonist Neo coming to grips with this truth by suspending belief of the reality he has accepted as unquestionable.
  • In John Carpenter's "They Live" special sunglasses help the protagonist see the hidden messages that lull the population to sleep and seduce them to obedience. These special sunglasses are regarded by someTemplate:Who? as a visual metaphor for critical consciousness. But this sort of consciousness is disturbing, and the protagonist has to fight to get someone else to put the glasses on.
  • In the biographical film Stand and Deliver Jaime Escalante challenges urban students to excel at math.
  • Dead Poets Society, a Peter Weir film, is set in a 1950's American prep school. Teacher John Keating encourages students to think freely, challenge social norms and "seize the day."
  • In the movie "Accepted", when faced with cultural and parental pressures to attend college, a group of non-admitted recent high school graduates creates a fictitious college. Obstensibly a teen comedy, accepted is said by someTemplate:Who? to exemplify Freire's notion of critical pedagogy by showcasing the learning that takes place when students are confronted with the question "What do you want to learn?" while they are exhorted by an iconoclast academic to question various societal assumptions.

Music[edit | edit source]

When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all.
Paul Simon, Kodachrome
We don't need no education, We don't need no thought-control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom - Teacher, leave those kids alone! All in all, you're just another brick in the wall.
Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall part 2

Interestingly though, all the surviving pupils who took part in the Pink Floyd recording collectively agree they would not now support as radical a position as the sentiments expressed by the composers in this song. [1]

The teacher stands in front of the class, but the lesson plan he can't recall. The student's eyes don't perceive the lies bouncing off every fucking wall. His composure is well kept, I guess he fears playing the fool. The complacent students sit and listen to some of that bullshit that he learned in school.
— Zack de la Rocha, Rage Against the Machine, Take the Power Back

These are a few examples of musical artists who have explored the world of critical pedagogy. Artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Public Enemy, System of a Down, Propagandhi, The Beatles,dead prez, the coup and Eminem have been viewed as raising critical consciousness and challenging authority through some of their works.

Other media[edit | edit source]

Critical pedagogy is used throughout Grant Morrison's comic book The Invisibles. It is a major theme and plot device through out the series, particularly in the first few issues and the final series.

Also, the book intended for adolescents, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, depicts an apparently utopian society that is gradually revealed as dystopic. Jonas, the story's protagonist, becomes the "Receiver of Memory" and undergoes a process that someTemplate:Who? argue is comparable to the development of critical consciousness. Despite the criticisms of various conservative groups who cite that the ideas in the book are inappropriate for children, the book is still included on the middle school reading lists of many school districts.

Critiques of Critical Pedagogy[edit | edit source]

Critical pedagogy has its critics. They attack the methodology, the goal, and appearances. Below are some contrary views.

  • Teachers that use this method will often bias the class towards an anti-status quo position instead of allowing students to decide if they agree or disagree with the situation at hand [ref?].
  • This approach to understanding the nature of society is often presented in a very intellectual fashion. When an individual attains the interest to find out the validity of the statements they inherently must consider themselves separate from the rest of society. Critics will describe such a self-image as being elitist in a way which excludes the bulk of society thus preventing progress [ref?].
  • The goal exceeds the desire to instill creativity and exploration by encouraging detrimental disdain for tradition, hierarchy (such as parental control over children), and self-isolation [ref?].
  • Such a high degree of distrust in generally accepted truths will create or perpetuate conspiracy theories [ref?].
  • Critical pedagogists selectively pick icons to interrogate and subvert: for example, Thomas Jefferson but not Martin Luther King [ref?].
  • Many people involved in critical pedagogy have never been involved in serious struggles and have used the field to build themselves and a small publishing cabal rather than a social movement. Paulo Freire, for example, can be criticized for being for revolution wherever he was not, and for reform wherever he was [ref?].
  • Critical pedagogy is, in many instances, a movement in opposition to revolutionary or marxist movements as easily seen in its roots in Catholic base communities of Latin America, created to stave off the potential of class war. Much of critical pedagogy focuses on culture, language, and abstractions about domination rather than criticizing the centrality of class, alienation, and exploitation [ref?].
  • Rather than "liberating" student thought, teachers replace a cultural bias with their own bias [ref?].

See also[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Shor, I. (1992). Empowering education: critical teaching for social change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  2. Wieder, Alan (2003). Voices from Cape Town Classrooms: Oral Histories of Teachers Who Fought Apartheid. History of Schools and Schooling Series, vol. 39. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 0-8204-6768-5.

A great deal of this content is currently an adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Critical pedagogy.

See also
He who knows does not speak, he who speaks does not know.
Lao Tzu
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
— English proverb

References[edit | edit source]

Quotes
  1. The heart of the problem is ownership of language. Koreans naturally believe that they ``own" the Korean language and frequently refer to it as ``our language" (uri mal).
  2. The problem ... is that non-Koreans ... that use Roman letters, believe that they have ownership over them and ... over the Romanization of Korean. Non-Koreans thus believe they should have the larger voice in deciding how to Romanize Korean.
Comments
  1. The heart of the problem is the innate complexity of McCune and Reischauer's phonetic, phonocentric, orthoepic, epidemic, and muddled approach (1939) to transcription of spoken Korean, instead of transliteration of written Korean. They ill fastened the first button, while Reischauer ironically regarded hangul as "perhaps the most scientific system of writing in general use in any language." The orthographic transliteration mode of RR is an attempt to get out of that orthoepic transcription muddle, which is yet to make a success.
Footnotes