ROMANIZATION OF CJK LANGUAGES

Your East Asian Studies professors emphasize how much they want you to use CJK script instead of romanization. Indeed, we tend to demonize romanization! But, we must admit, there are reasons to become familiar with romanization systems. Many research resources, such as OCLC and other electronic databases still ask for romanization. Many reference works use romanization, as do many textbooks. So, it is important for students to be familiar with the various romanization systems and to be able to read and write romanization. Chinese There are many romanization systems in Chinese. We’ll try to keep it simple, but it won’t be easy. The two main systems of romanization are Wade-Giles (hereafter W-G) and Pinyin (拼音). There are variations of Pinyin, but for now let’s stick with the main form used in mainland China. In addition to these two systems, linguists like to use the Yale romanization system, which (it is thought) most intuitively represents (for speakers of English) the way standard Mandarin is pronounced today. Unfortunately, as is the case with Japanese (see below), the way something is pronounced does not always neatly fit into syllabic paradigms. W-G was initially developed in the 19th century and was later modified. It was the most common system used by American and British researchers until the 1980s. As a result, much scholarship utilizes this system. Many scholars still employ it. The pinyin system was developed and adopted in the People’s Republic of China in the 1950s. Scholarly inertia and international politics (China was on the wrong side of the Cold War from the Western perspective) delayed the spread of the system. Beginning with the normalization of Sino-American diplomatic relations in 1979, the system began to gain popularity in the United States. Now it is the most common system used in both the mass media and scholarship. The Yale system was developed specifically to help with Mandarin Chinese language instruction. The student of Chinese, then, should be comfortable with W-G and Pinyin, and have a passing familiarity with Yale. In Taiwan, they use a phonetic system called Zhuyin fuhao (注音符號),

also known as bo po mo fo). The following chart is based on: http://romanization.com/tongyong/crosschart/hanyu.html Zhuyin

注音 W-G Pinyin

拼音 YALE

ㄚ a a a ㄞ ai ai ai ㄢ an an an ㄤ ang ang ang ㄠ ao ao au ㄅㄚ pa ba ba ㄅㄞ pai bai bai ㄅㄢ pan ban ban ㄅㄤ pang bang bang ㄅㄠ pao bao bau

ㄅㄟ pei bei bei ㄅㄣ pen ben ben ㄅㄥ peng beng beng ㄅㄧ pi bi bi ㄅㄧㄢ pien bian byan ㄅㄧㄠ piao biao byau ㄅㄧㄝ pieh bie bye ㄅㄧㄣ pin bin bin ㄅㄧㄥ ping bing bing ㄅㄛ po bo bwo ㄅㄨ pu bu bu ㄘㄚ ts'a ca tsa

ㄘㄞ ts'ai cai tsai ㄘㄢ ts'an can tsan ㄘㄤ ts'ang cang tsang ㄘㄠ ts'ao cao tsau ㄘㄜ ts'e ce tse ㄘㄣ ts'en cen tsen ㄘㄥ ts'eng ceng tseng ㄔㄚ ch'a cha cha ㄔㄞ ch'ai chai chai ㄔㄢ ch'an chan chan ㄔㄤ ch'ang chang chang ㄔㄠ ch'ao chao chau ㄔㄜ ch'e che che ㄔㄣ ch'en chen chen ㄔㄥ ch'eng cheng cheng ㄔ ch'ih chi chr ㄔㄨㄥ ch'ung chong chung ㄔㄡ ch'ou chou chou ㄔㄨ ch'u chu chu ㄔㄨㄚ chua chua chwa ㄔㄨㄞ ch'uai chuai chwai ㄔㄨㄢ ch'uan chuan chwan

ㄔㄨㄤ ch'uang

chuang

chwang

ㄔㄨㄟ ch'ui chui chwei ㄔㄨㄣ ch'un chun chwun ㄔㄨㄛ ch'o chuo chwo ㄘ tz'u ci tsz ㄘㄨㄥ ts'ung cong tsung ㄘㄡ ts'ou cou tsou ㄘㄨ ts'u cu tsu ㄘㄨㄢ ts'uan cuan tswan ㄘㄨㄟ ts'ui cui tswei ㄘㄨㄣ ts'un cun tswun ㄘㄨㄛ ts'o cuo tswo ㄉㄚ ta da da ㄉㄞ tai dai dai ㄉㄢ tan dan dan ㄉㄤ tang dang dang ㄉㄠ tao dao dau ㄉㄜ te de de ㄉㄟ tei dei dei ㄉㄣ ten den den

ㄉㄥ teng deng deng ㄉㄧ ti di di ㄉㄧㄢ tien dian dyan ㄉㄧㄤ tiang diang dyang ㄉㄧㄠ tiao diao dyau ㄉㄧㄝ tieh die dye ㄉㄧㄥ ting ding ding ㄉㄧㄡ tiu diu dyou ㄉㄨㄥ tung dong dung ㄉㄡ tou dou dou ㄉㄨ tu du du ㄉㄨㄢ tuan duan dwan ㄉㄨㄟ tui dui dwei ㄉㄨㄣ tun dun dwun ㄉㄨㄛ to duo dwo ㄜ e e e ㄟ ei ei ei ㄣ en en en ㄦ erh er er ㄈㄚ fa fa fa ㄈㄢ fan fan fan ㄈㄤ fang fang fang ㄈㄟ fei fei fei ㄈㄣ fen fen fen ㄈㄥ feng feng feng ㄈㄛ fo fo fwo ㄈㄡ fou fou fou ㄈㄨ fu fu fu ㄍㄚ ka ga ga ㄍㄞ kai gai gai ㄍㄢ kan gan gan ㄍㄤ kang gang gang ㄍㄠ kao gao gau ㄍㄜ ke ge ge ㄍㄟ kei gei gei ㄍㄣ ken gen gen ㄍㄥ keng geng geng ㄍㄨㄥ kung gong gung ㄍㄡ kou gou gou ㄍㄨ ku gu gu ㄍㄨㄚ kua gua gwa ㄍㄨㄞ kuai guai gwai ㄍㄨㄢ kuan guan gwan

ㄍㄨㄤ kuang guang gwang ㄍㄨㄟ kuei gui gwei ㄍㄨㄣ kun gun gwun ㄍㄨㄛ kuo guo gwo ㄏㄚ ha ha ha ㄏㄞ hai hai hai ㄏㄢ han han han ㄏㄤ hang hang hang ㄏㄠ hao hao hau ㄏㄜ he he he ㄏㄟ hei hei hei ㄏㄣ hen hen hen ㄏㄥ heng heng heng ㄏㄨㄥ hung hong hung ㄏㄡ hou hou hou ㄏㄨ hu hu hu ㄏㄨㄚ hua hua hwa ㄏㄨㄞ huai huai hwai ㄏㄨㄢ huan huan hwan ㄏㄨㄤ huang huang hwang ㄏㄨㄟ hui hui hwei ㄏㄨㄣ hun hun hwun ㄏㄨㄛ huo huo hwo ㄐㄧ chi ji ji ㄐㄧㄚ chia jia jya ㄐㄧㄢ chien jian jyan ㄐㄧㄤ chiang jiang jyang ㄐㄧㄠ chiao jiao jyau ㄐㄧㄝ chieh jie jye ㄐㄧㄣ chin jin jin ㄐㄧㄥ ching jing jing ㄐㄩㄥ chiung jiong jyung ㄐㄧㄡ chiu jiu jyou ㄐㄩ chu: ju jyu ㄐㄩㄢ chuan: juan jywan ㄐㄩㄝ chueh: jue jywe ㄐㄩㄣ chun: jun jyun ㄎㄚ k'a ka ka ㄎㄞ k'ai kai kai ㄎㄢ k'an kan kan ㄎㄤ k'ang kang kang ㄎㄠ k'ao kao kau ㄎㄜ k'e ke ke

ㄎㄣ k'en ken ken ㄎㄥ k'eng keng keng ㄎㄨㄥ k'ung kong kung ㄎㄡ k'ou kou kou ㄎㄨ k'u ku ku ㄎㄨㄚ k'ua kua kwa ㄎㄨㄞ k'uai kuai kwai ㄎㄨㄢ k'uan kuan kwan ㄎㄨㄤ k'uang kuang kwang ㄎㄨㄟ k'uei kui kwei ㄎㄨㄣ k'un kun kwun ㄎㄨㄛ k'uo kuo kwo ㄌㄚ la la la ㄌㄞ lai lai lai ㄌㄢ lan lan lan ㄌㄤ lang lang lang ㄌㄠ lao lao lau ㄌㄜ le le le ㄌㄟ lei lei lei ㄌㄥ leng leng leng ㄌㄧ li li li ㄌㄧㄚ lia lia lya ㄌㄧㄢ lien lian lyan ㄌㄧㄤ liang liang lyang ㄌㄧㄠ liao liao lyau ㄌㄧㄝ lieh lie lye ㄌㄧㄣ lin lin lin ㄌㄧㄥ ling ling ling ㄌㄧㄡ liu liu lyou ㄌㄛ lo lo lo ㄌㄨㄥ lung long lung ㄌㄡ lou lou lou ㄌㄨ lu lu lu ㄌㄩ lu: lu lyu ㄌㄨㄢ luan luan lwan ㄌㄩㄢ luan: luan lywan ㄌㄩㄝ lueh: lue lywe ㄌㄨㄣ lun lun lwun ㄌㄩㄣ lun: lun lyun ㄌㄨㄛ luo luo lwo ㄇㄚ ma ma ma ㄇㄞ mai mai mai ㄇㄢ man man man

ㄇㄤ mang mang mang ㄇㄠ mao mao mau ㄇㄜ me me me ㄇㄟ mei mei mei ㄇㄣ men men men ㄇㄥ meng meng meng ㄇㄧ mi mi mi ㄇㄧㄢ mien mian myan ㄇㄧㄠ miao miao myau ㄇㄧㄝ mieh mie mye ㄇㄧㄣ min min min ㄇㄧㄥ ming ming ming ㄇㄧㄡ miu miu myou ㄇㄛ mo mo mwo ㄇㄡ mou mou mou ㄇㄨ mu mu mu ㄋㄚ na na na ㄋㄞ nai nai nai ㄋㄢ nan nan nan ㄋㄤ nang nang nang ㄋㄠ nao nao nau ㄋㄜ ne ne ne ㄋㄟ nei nei nei ㄋㄣ nen nen nen ㄋㄥ neng neng neng ㄋㄧ ni ni ni ㄋㄧㄚ nia nia nya ㄋㄧㄢ nien nian nyan ㄋㄧㄤ niang niang nyang ㄋㄧㄠ niao niao nyau ㄋㄧㄝ nieh nie nye ㄋㄧㄣ nin nin nin ㄋㄧㄥ ning ning ning ㄋㄧㄡ niu niu nyou ㄋㄨㄥ nung nong nung ㄋㄡ nou nou nou ㄋㄨ nu nu nu ㄋㄩ nu: nu nyu ㄋㄨㄢ nuan nuan nwan ㄋㄩㄝ nueh: nue nywe ㄋㄨㄣ nuen nun nwen ㄋㄨㄛ no nuo nwo ㄡ ou ou ou

ㄆㄚ p'a pa pa ㄆㄞ p'ai pai pai ㄆㄢ p'an pan pan ㄆㄤ p'ang pang pang ㄆㄠ p'ao pao pau ㄆㄟ p'ei pei pei ㄆㄣ p'en pen pen ㄆㄥ p'eng peng peng ㄆㄧ p'i pi pi ㄆㄧㄢ p'ien pian pyan ㄆㄧㄠ p'iao piao pyau ㄆㄧㄝ p'ieh pie pye ㄆㄧㄣ p'in pin pin ㄆㄧㄥ p'ing ping ping ㄆㄛ p'o po pwo ㄆㄡ p'ou pou pou ㄆㄨ p'u pu pu ㄑㄧ ch'i qi chi ㄑㄧㄚ ch'ia qia chya ㄑㄧㄢ ch'ien qian chyan

ㄑㄧㄤ ch'iang qiang chyang

ㄑㄧㄠ ch'iao qiao chyau ㄑㄧㄝ ch'ieh qie chye ㄑㄧㄣ ch'in qin chin ㄑㄧㄥ ch'ing qing ching

ㄑㄩㄥ ch'iung qiong chyun

g ㄑㄧㄡ ch'iu qiu chyou ㄑㄩ ch'u: qu chyu

ㄑㄩㄢ ch'uan: quan chywan

ㄑㄩㄝ ch'ueh: que chywe ㄑㄩㄣ ch'un: qun chyun ㄖㄢ jan ran ran ㄖㄤ jang rang rang ㄖㄠ jao rao rau ㄖㄜ je re re ㄖㄣ jen ren ren ㄖㄥ jeng reng reng ㄖ jih ri r ㄖㄨㄥ jung rong rung ㄖㄡ jou rou rou ㄖㄨ ju ru ru

ㄖㄨㄢ juan ruan rwan ㄖㄨㄟ jui rui rwei ㄖㄨㄣ jun run rwun ㄖㄨㄛ jo ruo rwo ㄙㄚ sa sa sa ㄙㄞ sai sai sai ㄙㄢ san san san ㄙㄤ sang sang sang ㄙㄠ sao sao sau ㄙㄜ se se se ㄙㄟ sei sei sei ㄙㄣ sen sen sen ㄙㄥ seng seng seng ㄕㄚ sha sha sha ㄕㄞ shai shai shai ㄕㄢ shan shan shan ㄕㄤ shang shang shang ㄕㄠ shao shao shau ㄕㄜ she she she ㄕㄟ shei shei shei ㄕㄣ shen shen shen ㄕㄥ sheng sheng sheng ㄕ shih shi shr ㄕㄨㄥ shung shong shung ㄕㄡ shou shou shou ㄕㄨ shu shu shu ㄕㄨㄚ shua shua shwa ㄕㄨㄞ shuai shuai shwai ㄕㄨㄢ shuan shuan shwan

ㄕㄨㄤ shuang shuang shwang

ㄕㄨㄟ shui shui shwei ㄕㄨㄣ shun shun shwun ㄕㄨㄛ shuo shuo shwo ㄙ ssu si sz ㄙㄨㄥ sung song sung ㄙㄡ sou sou sou ㄙㄨ su su su ㄙㄨㄢ suan suan swan ㄙㄨㄟ sui sui swei ㄙㄨㄣ sun sun swun ㄙㄨㄛ so suo swo ㄊㄚ t'a ta ta

ㄊㄞ t'ai tai tai ㄊㄢ t'an tan tan ㄊㄤ t'ang tang tang ㄊㄠ t'ao tao tau ㄊㄜ t'e te te ㄊㄥ t'eng teng teng ㄊㄧ t'i ti ti ㄊㄧㄢ t'ien tian tyan ㄊㄧㄠ t'iao tiao tyau ㄊㄧㄝ t'ieh tie tye ㄊㄧㄥ t'ing ting ting ㄊㄨㄥ t'ung tong tung ㄊㄡ t'ou tou tou ㄊㄨ t'u tu tu ㄊㄨㄢ t'uan tuan twan ㄊㄨㄟ t'ui tui twei ㄊㄨㄣ t'un tun twun ㄊㄨㄛ t'o tuo two ㄨㄚ wa wa wa ㄨㄞ wai wai wai ㄨㄢ wan wan wan ㄨㄤ wang wang wang ㄨㄟ wei wei wei ㄨㄣ wen wen wen ㄨㄥ weng weng weng ㄨㄛ wo wo wo ㄨ wu wu wu ㄒㄧ hsi xi syi ㄒㄧㄚ hsia xia sya ㄒㄧㄢ hsien xian syan ㄒㄧㄤ hsiang xiang syang ㄒㄧㄠ hsiao xiao syau ㄒㄧㄝ hsieh xie sye ㄒㄧㄣ hsin xin syin ㄒㄧㄥ hsing xing sying ㄒㄩㄥ hsiung xiong syung ㄒㄧㄡ hsiu xiu syou ㄒㄩ hsu: xu syu ㄒㄩㄢ hsuan: xuan sywan ㄒㄩㄝ hsueh: xue sywe ㄒㄩㄣ hsun: xun syun ㄧㄚ ya ya ya ㄧㄞ yai yai yai

ㄧㄢ yan yan yan ㄧㄤ yang yang yang ㄧㄠ yao yao yau ㄧㄝ yeh ye ye ㄧ i yi yi ㄧㄣ yin yin yin ㄧㄥ ying ying ying ㄩㄥ yung yong yung ㄧㄡ yu you you ㄩ yu: yu yu ㄩㄢ yuan: yuan ywan ㄩㄝ yueh: yue ywe ㄩㄣ yun: yun yun ㄗㄚ tsa za dza ㄗㄞ tsai zai dzai ㄗㄢ tsan zan dzan ㄗㄤ tsang zang dzang ㄗㄠ tsao zao dzau ㄗㄜ tse ze dze ㄗㄟ tsei zei dzei ㄗㄣ tsen zen dzen ㄗㄥ tseng zeng dzeng ㄓㄚ cha zha ja ㄓㄞ chai zhai jai ㄓㄢ chan zhan jan ㄓㄤ chang zhang jang ㄓㄠ chao zhao jau

ㄓㄜ che zhe je ㄓㄟ chei zhei jei ㄓㄣ chen zhen jen ㄓㄥ cheng zheng jeng ㄓ chih zhi jr ㄓㄨㄥ chung zhong jung ㄓㄡ chou zhou jou ㄓㄨ chu zhu ju ㄓㄨㄚ chua zhua jwa ㄓㄨㄞ chuai zhuai jwai ㄓㄨㄢ chuan zhuan jwan

ㄓㄨㄤ chuang

zhuang jwang

ㄓㄨㄟ chui zhui jwei ㄓㄨㄣ chun zhun jwun ㄓㄨㄛ cho zhuo jwo ㄗ tzu zi dz ㄗㄨㄥ tsung zong dzung ㄗㄡ tsou zou dzou ㄗㄨ tsu zu dzu ㄗㄨㄢ tsuan zuan dzwan ㄗㄨㄟ tsui zui dzwei ㄗㄨㄣ tsun zun dzwun ㄗㄨㄛ tso zuo dzwo

One thing that you should keep in mind, however, is that none of the commonly used systems are perfect representations of spoken Chinese, and even the ones that look completely odd do have linguistic justifications. Let’s look at two examples: the word for “east” in Chinese is written 東. The pinyin for this is dong where the W-G is tung. The Chinese word for copper is 銅 (pinyin tong, W-G t’ung). Now the difference between a d and a t in English is fairly obvious to a native speaker of English, but there are actually more linguistic complexities here than you might suspect. Some languages “voice” their consonants (i.e., the vocal cords vibrate when they are pronounced). English has voiced consonants. In fact, there are two differences between d and t in English. The t is unvoiced, and it is made by expelling a little breath of air (linguists call this aspiration). Many linguists, however, argue that Chinese does not voice its consonants. Therefore Chinese seems to have two consonants produced with the tongue resting behind the teeth. They are the same except one has the expulsion of air. One common way that linguists mark aspiration is with an apostrophe. Hence, the W-G distinction between t and t’ is linguistically defendable. Of course, the pinyin use of q (for a forward “ch”) and x (for a forward “sh”) are obviously arbitrary for speakers of most Western languages. Pinyin does, however, have the advantage of being remarkably consistent and easily typed.

It is important to realize that there are other more specialized romanization systems that you may encounter depending on the kind of topic you are studying. For example, it is customary for scholars to refer to the characters used throughout history by their modern Mandarin pronunciations. Since the Chinese writing system does not explicitly record the sound of the spoken language (being based instead on the ideas represented by the characters), it is remarkably stable. Unfortunately, by their very nature, the characters hide phonological change (changes in the sound system). This is important in a number of fields. Four of the most important subject areas that depend on reconstructing the sounds of earlier periods in the history of the Chinese language are Historical Linguistics, Poetic Studies, Buddhology, and Central Asian Studies. The first is fairly obvious since scholars in Historical Linguistics are interested in how languages change and how they relate to each other. Scholars of Chinese poetry often need to analyze rhyme patterns and other phonological characteristics of the poetry recorded in Chinese characters. Central Asianists are often dependent on records kept by Chinese historians in Chinese for information concerning various tribes and states in Central Asian history. Naturally enough, the Chinese historians tried to record names using Chinese characters phonetically. Knowing how the characters were pronounced when the records were written helps scholars figure out what the names were in the original languages. You will therefore sometimes see romanizations that scholars have created to record either Archaic or Middle Period Chinese. Sometimes they simply use the internationally recognized International Phonetic Alphabet. Another category of special romanizations concern the “Chinese dialects.” One advantage of the Chinese writing system is that it allows people with mutually unintelligible spoken languages (e.g., Cantonese, Shanghaiese, and Fujianese) to communicate in written form. When romanizing dialects, different romanizations are used (since the whole point of romanization is to record the pronunciation of the characters in the Latin alphabet). These are even less standard than the romanizations based on Mandarin described above. Most have come into contact with examples of these without realizing it. Two of the most important figures in 20th century Chinese history were Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙). Both of these are romanizations of Cantonese. The Mandarin pinyin romanizations would be Jiang Jieshi and Sun Yixian respectively. One last form of romanization, which you will certainly encounter when reading, is the old postal romanization system. This was a system that provided internationally recognized designations of Chinese place names. It was never a precise indication of pronunciation and tended to mix together different preexisting systems. Nevertheless, since it was internationally recognized by convention, many Chinese place names are well-known under this romanization. The most famous example would be the Chinese capital which many to this today spell as Peking (instead of the pinyin Beijing). Here are some other examples: Anhwei for Anhui 安徽 Hupeh for Hubei 湖北 Kiangsi for Jiangxi 江西 Kiangsu for Jiangsu 江蘇 Nanking for Nanjing 南京

Shensi for Shaanxi1 陜西 Finally, be prepared to run into idiosyncratic romanizations. Occasionally scholars will decide that the standard systems are insufficient for various reasons and will develop their own. Very few of these ever really catch on, but you may have to take a little time when you look at their work to familiarize yourself with the system that they use so you can understand what they are arguing. There are also longstanding romanizations whose origins lie in early historical misconceptions that have stuck. For example, Canton is the most widely recognized spelling for the important southern Chinese city known as 廣州 (pinyin: Guangzhou). The Canton spelling appears to be an imprecise version of Guangdong which in Chinese is the name of the province (廣東). Under the old postal system, the province is spelled Kwangtung. Once you have an instinctive command of one romanization system, it is not particularly difficult to understand others. The only stumbling block is laziness.

1 Note that the double a in Shaanxi is not strictly part of the pinyin system. It is used when recording the name of this particular province to avoid confusion with the province of Shanxi 山西. The “aa” is a way to indicate that Shaan is pronounced in the third tone (which is generally believed to be of longer duration) while Shanxi is a first tone.

Japanese Both frequently used modern romanization systems are based on the Japanese syllabary chart, the “50 sound chart” 五十音図, which looks like this:

Never mind that there are not actually 50 syllables, or that there are some syllables here that you have never seen before (ゑ, ゐ). Suffice it to say that over the years Japanese phonology has changed significantly, losing many sounds. Some of these still have slots on the chart, but are no longer used.

あ段 い段 う段 え段 お段 (平仮名) あ行

(片仮名)

あ ア

い イ

う ウ

え エ

お オ

か行 か

カ

き

キ

く

ク

け

ケ

こ

コ

さ行 さ

サ

し

シ

す

ス

せ

セ

そ

ソ

た行 た

タ

ち

チ

つ

ツ

て

テ

と

ト

な行 な

ナ

に

ニ

ぬ

ヌ

ね

ネ

の

ノ

は行 は

ハ

ひ

ヒ

ふ

フ

へ

ヘ

ほ

ホ

ま行 ま

マ

み

ミ

む

ム

め

メ

も

モ

や行 や

ヤ

ゆ

ユ

よ

ヨ

ら行 ら

ラ

り

リ

る

ル

れ

レ

ろ

ロ

わ行 わ

ワ

ゐ

ヰ

ゑ

ヱ

を

ヲ

鼻音 ん

ン

Note that the columns are referred to as 段 and the rows are referred to as 行. When you learned kana, you probably began with the あ行, and then continued down the chart row by row. Linguists love this chart, and think of all the sounds in the same 行 as belonging to the same group, even if the actually pronunciation differs. For example, in the た行 each syllable is thought to have an “initial” of “t,” even though when we pronounce ち and つ the initial does not really sound like “t.” This is the impetus behind one of the major romanization systems (see below). The traditional 五十音図 does not include combinations, such as ちゃ or しょ, although the romanization charts below do include them. Neither this chart nor the romanization charts include long vowels (more on this below).

The most common system used to romanize Japanese is the Hepburn system. This system first appeared in 1885 and was named after James C. Hepburn, the author of a seminal Japanese-English dictionary. This is the system with which most of you are familiar. It looks like this: A I U E O KA KI KU KE KO KYA KYU KYOGA GI GU GE GO GYA GYU GYOSA SHI SU SE SO SHA SHU SHO ZA JI ZU ZE ZO JYA JYU JYO TA CHI TSU TE TO CHA CHU CHODA JI ZU DE DO NA NI NU NE NO NYA NYU NYOHA HI FU HE HO HYA HYU HYOBA BI BU BE BO BYA BYU BYOPA PI PU PE PO PYA PYU PYO MA MI MU ME MO MYA MYU MYOYA YU YO RA RI RU RE RO RYA RYU RYOWA (W)I (W)E (W)O N But, it is not the only system. Another well-established system, the Kunrei system, was introduced about the same time as the Hepburn system. The Kunrei system was promulgated by the Japanese Government in 1937. The Kunrei system looks like this: A I U E O KA KI KU KE KO KYA KYU KYOGA GI GU GE GO GYA GYU GYOSA SI SU SE SO SYA SYU SYO ZA ZI ZU ZE ZO ZYA ZYU ZYO TA TI TU TE TO TYA TYU TYO DA ZI / DI ZU / DU DE DO NA NI NU NE NO NYA NYU NYOHA HI HU HE HO HYA HYU HYOBA BI BU BE BO BYA BYU BYOPA PI PU PE PO PYA PYU PYO MA MI MU ME MO MYA MYU MYOYA YU YO

RA RI RU RE RO RYA RYU RYOWA (W)I (W)E (W)O N Here the syllables that differ significantly from the Hepburn system are highlighted in yellow. After the war, the government re-iterated its support of the Kunrei system as the official system of the country. Despite government support, the overwhelmingly popular system is the Hepburn system. The U.S. Library of Congress uses this system for its cataloging. To be fair, the Kunrei system is more systematic. For example, the syllables that fall under the “t” row of the traditional 五十音図 chart all actually begin with “t” in the Kunrei system: た = ta ち=ti つ=tu て=te と=to. However, the Hepburn system more accurately represents the sounds as people make them: た = ta ち=chi つ=tsu て=te と=to. You might be interested to know that the Unicode system on Windows 2000/XP will recognize either system of romanization—there is no toggle necessary. Why is there a row for W, you may ask? Linguists think that long ago these sounds (wi, we, wo) existed in Japanese but no longer do. The reason why this is important for you, though, is that if you are typing in Unicode, the way to get を is to enter “wo.” Typing just “o” will bring up お. The frustrating part is that most romanization systems do not romanize を as “wo” but rather as it is pronounced, “o.” In the Taoist world of balance, perhaps this complication is payback for the fact that Japanese only has two irregular verbs. And, while we’re on the subject of historical anomalies, one occasionally comes across a word romanized according to the old kana usage (旧仮名遣い). For example, the famous collection of ghost stories by Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn, 1850-1904), Kwaidan. The characters for this title are 怪談, which in the old kana usage was glossed くわいだん but today would be glossed かいだん. What about long vowels? Generally speaking, long vowels are represented by a macron for o and u (ō and ū), BUT in the cases of a, i, and e, the vowel is doubled (aa, ii, and ee). The romanization used in textbooks (yet another system) such as Yookoso does not use the macron, but instead doubles the vowels for even o and u. Thus, if we were to write the title of that book in Hepburn, it would be Yōkoso. And, on some occasions, people have chosen (rather randomly it would seem) to represent the long o with oh, such as in Noh theater. You may also see surnames romanized this way, such as Satoh (佐藤) or Gotoh (後藤). The nasal n (ん), when followed by a b, p, or m sound is changed to an m in the Hepburn system. Ex: しんぶん becomes shimbun,しんまい becomes shimmai, and ランプ becomes rampu. A small tsu (っ) will change the consonant it precedes to a double consonant. Ex.: かった becomes katta and こっかい becomes kokkai. However, when the っ precedes a ch sound, the romanization is tch, not chch. Ex.: みっちゃく becomes mitchaku and ねっちゅう becomes netchū.

Korean

Presently, there are three Romanization systems in Korean: McCune-Reischauer (M-R), Yale, and the NAKL system. The most popular Romanization system has been the M-R system. M-R was initially developed in the early 20th century by two Westerners, McCune and Reischauer. Being phonetic, the M-R system best suits non-Koreans since its purpose is to Romanize Korean for the use of a wide variety of scholars, including historians, political scientists, economists, philosophers, and natural scientists, as well as by Korean language learners, tourists, and general readers. For the past 20 years, road signs and tourist guides used the M-R system to write Korean words; this system has also been used by English-language books, guide books, history books and Korean language teaching books. In addition, it is still the most popular system for scholars and students abroad.

The Yale system has been exclusively used by linguists involved in the structural analysis of the language. The Yale system is strictly morphophonemic like Hangul. Consequently, it deviates considerably from the actual pronunciation. However, one advantage of the Yale system compared to M-R system is that while M-R practices macrons, the Yale system does not use such marks.

Some Korean scholars (especially in Korea) have disliked M-R, the dominant system for everyone except linguists, because (a) they feel it does not represent Korean sounds accurately (an assumption based solely on native speakers’ intuition without considering a foreigner’s perspective), (b) because it uses a set of marks (macrons) above the letters, and (c) because it was devised by foreigners. This gave the birth to the third system, produced by the National Academy for the Korean Language (NAKL). The NAKL system was quickly adopted by the South Korean government in 2000. It will be used not only on road signs, but also in tourist brochures and other government publications. Since all road signs cannot be changed at once, it will take until the end of 2005 to fully make this change. The Government of the Republic of Korea will work consistently to see that this new system of Romanization for the Korean Language comes to be used widely around the world.

The student of Korean, then, should be comfortable with the M-R system in that it is still the most widely used system for non-Koreans (non-linguists). For those who are interested in reading, researching, and pursuing further studies in Korean linguistics, learning the Yale Romanization is inevitable. For those who are interested in traveling or living in Korea, they will benefit the most from learning the NAKL system because the government only endorses the use of this system. The following table summarizes each system.

Table of Romanization systems (Korean)

Hankul letters NAKL version (by the Korean government)

McCune-Reischauer (used by non-linguists)

Yale (used by linguists)

Consonants ㅂ b, p p, b p ㅍ p p’ ph ㅃ pp pp pp ㄷ d, t t, d t ㅌ t t’ th ㄸ tt tt tt ㅅ s s s

ㅆ ss ss ss ㅈ j ch, j c ㅊ ch ch’ ch ㅉ jj tch cc ㄱ g, k k, g k ㅋ k k’ kh ㄲ kk kk kk ㅁ m m m ㄴ n n n ㅇ ng ng ng ㄹ r, l l, r l ㅎ h h h Vowels ㅣ i i i ㅟ wi wi wi ㅔ e e ey ㅖ ye ye yey ㅞ we we wey ㅚ oe oe oy ㅐ ae ae ay ㅒ yae yae yay ㅙ wae wae way ㅡ eu ū u ㅓ eo ŏ e ㅕ yeo yŏ ye ㅝ wo wŏ we ㅏ a a a ㅑ ya ya ya ㅘ wa wa wa ㅜ u u wu ㅠ yu yu y(w)u ㅗ o o o ㅛ yo yo yo ㅢ ui ūi uy

It must be noted that none of these systems are perfect in representing spoken Korean, mainly due to vast linguistic differences between English and Korean (e.g,. sound system, syllable structures, etcs). The following table shows how each system Romanize Korean words.

Spelling examples Hankul NAKL M-R Yale Meaning 거북 Geobuk Kobuk Kepwuk ‘turtle’ 한국 Hanguk Han’guk Hankwuk ‘Korea’ 세종 Sejong Sejong Seycong ‘King Seycong’

서울 Seoul Soul Sewul ‘Seoul’ 미국 Miguk Miguk Mikwuk ‘America’ 부산 Busan Pusan Pwusan ‘Pusan’ 조선 Joseon Choson Cosen ‘Cosen Dynasty’ 최 Choe Ch’oe Choy ‘surname Choy’ 백제 Baekje Paekche Paykcey ‘Paykcey kingdom’ Let us take the first word of the spelling examples 거북 ‘turtle’ to see how it is romanized differently by each system. Being phonetic, the M-R system best suits non-Koreans. However, it requires users to use special marks. Using the NAKL system, a Korean native speaker may think it is the best representation of the actual pronunciation for the initial consonant of the first syllable ㄱ, which sounds close to ‘g’ rather than ‘k.’ However, from a non-Korean’s perspective, it may be also read as Geobuk (Jiobuk), which is far different from the actual pronunciation. Being morphophonemic, the romanizied word by the Yale system Kepwuk deviates most considerably from the actual pronunciation. However, it has the greatest benefits in the structural analysis of the language.

Learning the NAKL system may be a little more challenging than the other two systems because it has a number of special rules for romanizing the sound changes. NAKL made special rules to follow for romanizing Korean sound value changes that occur due to both regular and irregular pronunciation rules. For instance, take 신라 ‘Silla kingdom’ as an example. According to the NAKL system, it is supposed to be romanized as ‘Sinla.’ However, due to the special provision, it is romanized as ‘Silla.’ Based on the assimilation rules of adjacent consonants, ㄴ (n) of the first syllable is pronounced as ㄹ (L) due to the following consonant of the next syllable, ㄹ (L) of 라. (For more information, you can refer to the http://www.korea.net/learnaboutkorea/hangeul/revised4.html)