Asian DramaWiki Forum

Im really in the mood for making threads today so here's my second.

This has been on my mind for quite a while now so I ask today. Is it just me or the way the Korean pronounce there names is totally different to how they spell it (in English of course). Ive been watching Kdramas for less than 2 yrs but still find Korean names to be very hard to remember (seriously, I only remember Jeon Ji Hyun) even when compared to Japanese names.

Anyone else felt like that?

Well, I can't actually correctly pronounce a lot of the sounds in Korean, and since there are several methods for romanizing the hangul, I can't always tell how something should be pronounced unless I see the actual characters. In "Jeon Ji Hyun," I would normally think "Jeon" and "Hyun" would have the same vowel sound, but if someone romanized the whole name, then the "yu" in "hyun" seems like it would be a "yoo" sound (like the English word "you")--unless it's just a spelling mistake. I only somewhat recently mostly learned the korean alphabet (hangul or hangeul), so I'm still really bad at these things. Oh, and I've gotten better at names, but I find that I start to forget characters' names from dramas I've finished unless there's something specifically memorable about it, like Kim Sam Soon, or the way KDW says "Joo Yoo Rin" all the time in My Girl.

I find Korean names easier to remember Can't really remember a Japanese name ,lol.

mangosteen wrote:I find Korean names easier to remember Can't really remember a Japanese name ,lol.

Same here... Korean names sounds less complicated than Japanese names... the only ones I can remember right now is Takuya Kimura and Takenouchi...forgot.... Oh, and Takeshi Kaneshiro...the rest...total blank...haha

I can remeber my Japanese friend's first names because they're so short like sachi, tomoko but their last names are so long ...btw, you spelled "their" wrong

Agree.. and I noticed that sometimes Yun and Yoon are used inter-changeably. I mean, are these romanized names the same?

i'm not an expert of korean names... but from what i noe.. the hangeul alphabet has no fixed romanzation, so it can be interpreted differently by different ppl
eg. yun n yoon are both윤....

I used to be confused by how Koreans pronounced Korean names until I actually learned Hangeul, read the pages on pronounciation in 'Teach Yourself Korean' and did a few of the first units. Now, Korean is A LOT clearer to me, I have a feeling for the language whenever I watch a drama and I am able to understand the simplest of all phrases. Though it isn't enough to understand a drama without subs, of course, it's like I finally find Korean sentences logical and the sounds nice and familiar now that I've learned the basics. So, this is what I recommend you do.

There are two systems of romanization, actually, in the Korean system. The one that is used more was developed in 1982, I believe, and it's probably reflected most in the romanization in drama titles now. (ex. Goong) However, in Korea, there is an attempt to have it standardized, but there are so many signs to change, so you'll see the multiple ways to romanize something just a few feet away. Ex: the city "Daegu" can be seen as "Taegu" as well. Anyway, the problem with Korean lies in the fact that that a sound is not distinctly or another: ex. the 'k/g' sound. It's not exactly either sound, like in English; so that's why you get discrepancies.

But I digress. Sorry for the long post.

Tristiseye wrote:There are two systems of romanization, actually, in the Korean system. The one that is used more was developed in 1982, I believe, and it's probably reflected most in the romanization in drama titles now. (ex. Goong) However, in Korea, there is an attempt to have it standardized, but there are so many signs to change, so you'll see the multiple ways to romanize something just a few feet away. Ex: the city "Daegu" can be seen as "Taegu" as well. Anyway, the problem with Korean lies in the fact that that a sound is not distinctly or another: ex. the 'k/g' sound. It's not exactly either sound, like in English; so that's why you get discrepancies.

But I digress. Sorry for the long post.

It makes sense ... I think!

OvertheRainbow wrote: I can remeber my Japanese friend's first names because they're so short like sachi, tomoko but their last names are so long ...btw, you spelled "their" wrong

Argh! Excuse my english!

I actually find the japanese names easier, its also to do with the fact that most Korean names have 3 'words' in them rather than 2 names. Having said that I still find Arabic names quite difficult (but they are still my fav names )

Edit: quote corrected!

Kayote wrote:

OvertheRainbow wrote: I can remeber my Japanese friend's first names because they're so short like sachi, tomoko but their last names are so long ...btw, you spelled "their" wrong

Argh! Excuse my english!

Lol...I was just kidding...nobody notices the smiey faces anymore....

Funny how in many Korean threads, the comparison to Japanese come up right out of the blue...

--- groink

actually there arent that many letters in the korean alphabet. the alpahbet is split into 14 main consonants and 10 main vowels. but there are some consonants called "ssang (blank)" this means like two letters put together. Together they make a different sound. for example "Ah-SSAH!" the "ssah" part is a double of the letter ㅅ. so in korean it looks like this 싸. there are also vowels that are put together to make sounds like "ae". i dunno. i'm korean so it's kinda hard to explain. haha, for me its like common knowledge...

so yeah but i agree korean names are easier to remember (not just cuz i'm korean).

groink wrote:Funny how in many Korean threads, the comparison to Japanese come up right out of the blue...

--- groink

don't read to much into things groink. it's prob. because k and j dramas are the most dominate it seems in asia.

Maybe I'm stupid, but I can't remember either korean nor japanese names. especially korean names are difficult for me as hell
but it doesn't matter, I like k/j dramas very much

Kayote wrote:Im really in the mood for making threads today so here's my second.

This has been on my mind for quite a while now so I ask today. Is it just me or the way the Korean pronounce there names is totally different to how they spell it (in English of course). Ive been watching Kdramas for less than 2 yrs but still find Korean names to be very hard to remember (seriously, I only remember Jeon Ji Hyun) even when compared to Japanese names.

Anyone else felt like that?

You are absolutely right! What were they thinking of? I can sort of understand this when it comes to names, because nearly every name has a Hanja spelling which reads rather differently if you speak Mandarin, Cantonese or Japanese instead of Korean, so in a sense they are used to having several spellings or several pronunciations or sometimes several entirely different names (that's some asian thing). Government officials really puzzle me though, "Revised Romanization of Korean", right...

Btw. I'm still to meet the first person who can pronounce Hyundai

Btw. I'm still to meet the first person who can pronounce Hyundai

haha i always crack up when i hear something like "hondai" "hon day" in their american commercials.

japanese names are harder for me to remember, but probably cuz i'm korean. i think they have too many syllables..

dima wrote: You are absolutely right! What were they thinking of? I can sort of understand this when it comes to names, because nearly every name has a Hanja spelling which reads rather differently if you speak Mandarin, Cantonese or Japanese instead of Korean, so in a sense they are used to having several spellings or several pronunciations or sometimes several entirely different names (that's some asian thing). Government officials really puzzle me though, "Revised Romanization of Korean", right...

Btw. I'm still to meet the first person who can pronounce Hyundai

You made me chuckle.

So Im intrigued now. Exactly how DO you pronounce it?

To me its something like this:

Hyundai = Hi-un-dae-e

I don't abide by any romanizatoin system stricly, but I do prefer to spell all "uh" sounds with the "eo". Thus --> Jeon Ji Hyeon instead of Jun Ji Hyun. Sometimes I break that rule for names like "Sun Young" -- which otherwise would be spelled "Seon Yeong."

I wonder how people here pronounce a name like "Choi Ji Woo"? It's pronounced "Chweh Jee Oo" Though the w in the "Chweh" isn't supposed to be noticable while the "Oo" has a small "w" sound -- so it's correct as "Cheh Jee Woo" too.

It's funny though when Korean Americans with the last name "Choi" pronounce their own names as "Choy" (rhymes with toy). It's funny because it's wrong and yet they're Korean...

Kayote wrote: You made me chuckle.

So Im intrigued now. Exactly how DO you pronounce it?

To me its something like this:

Hyundai = Hi-un-dae-e

Hönde

ö like in her
e like in heh

really a short word, means modern btw

Well Japanese is more straight-forward and has a lot of the same sounds as English besides the whole "r" and "l" and "d" sounds that kind of confuse people sometimes. But Korean has some really unique sounds and spellings so it's harder for me. I don't speak either fluently, but I find it easier to remember Japanese names and pick up Japanese easier then I can with Korean. And also because Koreans have a lot of the same syllables in their names like "Jung" and "Hoon" etc...

There is a new official Romanization scheme

Romanization of Korean names here

http://www.metro.daejeon.kr/english/lif ... fkorea.jsp


If you can read Korean

http://www.korean.go.kr/000_new/80_s03_c4.htm


another one here

http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=A020303

altair wrote:There is a new official Romanization scheme

Romanization of Korean names here

http://www.metro.daejeon.kr/english/lif ... fkorea.jsp


If you can read Korean

http://www.korean.go.kr/000_new/80_s03_c4.htm


another one here

http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=A020303

That's cool, thanks for the links.

Korean is ALOT harder than Japanese!!
I don't like the Korean language, talk about C.O.M.P.L.I.C.A.T.E.D !!
and Japanese is much easier and more fun ^_^
another thing is remmebering Korean names is harder, I so don't like thier names $_$

So there isn't any fixed romanization even if they try to make a standard?
I found it a bit interesting since I watched some dramas where they translated the background songs (like in goong) to "romanizationed" Korean (how do I inflect/conjugate the word romanization?). So I could hear the actual pronunciation and at the same time trying to read the romanzation. I read it trying to use the "English alphabet" and the "Swedish" and thought that the Swedish pronunciation sounded actually more accurate. For example The Swedish "u" and "i" sounded more correct and we also use a rolling "r"...but maybe that's because English isn't my native tongue and there is no Korean standard...

listen to the Swedish alphabet
http://web.hhs.se/isa/swedish/chap9.htm#pronunciation

The government mandated New Romanization is standard.

The three links that I gave follow the same rules.


I agree that Korean pronunciation is much harder than Japanese. Sometimes, even the natives have a hard time differentiating between the sounds (e.g. 레 and 래)

The problem with the New Romanization would be with the established business names

like

현대 -> romanized as Hyundai
real Korean pronunciation is Hyun (as in Jeon Ji-Hyun) Dae (as in Daehanminguk)
if the new Romanization is followed
현대 == Hyeondae

Please help me to find somewhere a hangul font from free, THANX

I'm wondering if two person's can get married and both keep their family name?
It looks like that's the case with this example.
In Dear My Sister there's a married couple Lee Eunyeong and Seo Dongjun.
What I've seen so for others have only called Eunyeong. "Lee Eunyeong" not "Seo Eunyeong."
There isn't any law that the wife should take the husband's family name?

In Korea wife retains her maiden's name, while kids have father's name.

Ethlenn wrote:In Korea wife retains her maiden's name, while kids have father's name.

I see, thank you for the answer.

altair wrote:The problem with the New Romanization would be with the established business names

like

현대 -> romanized as Hyundai
real Korean pronunciation is Hyun (as in Jeon Ji-Hyun) Dae (as in Daehanminguk)
if the new Romanization is followed
현대 == Hyeondae

I agree with you. It sounds really strange when the actual pronunciation of Hyeondae turns out as Hyundai.
So it took me quite a while to figure out that my friend was referring to the car maker.
I doubt the established business names like Hyundai would change it to Hyeondae.

Keiko1981 wrote:I'm wondering if two person's can get married and both keep their family name?
It looks like that's the case with this example.
In Dear My Sister there's a married couple Lee Eunyeong and Seo Dongjun.
What I've seen so for others have only called Eunyeong. "Lee Eunyeong" not "Seo Eunyeong."

There isn't any law that the wife should take the husband's family name?

Extracted from http://www.planetesl.com/resources/society.html .... "Korean women retain their maiden surname after they get married. They do not use their husband's surname since family surnames are reserved only for people with blood ties."

"People with the same surname who come from the same ancestral hometown are not allowed to marry each other. This is because they are considered family members, even if they are only distantly related. Consequently, when people are attracted to a person with the same surname, they typically will ask for that person's ancestral hometown right away."

BUT ....
If that's true then what about the show LOST? The Korean couple both had the same name?
Read the best answer given here.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 526AA2iDbt

y0ssy wrote:

Keiko1981 wrote:I'm wondering if two person's can get married and both keep their family name?
It looks like that's the case with this example.
In Dear My Sister there's a married couple Lee Eunyeong and Seo Dongjun.
What I've seen so for others have only called Eunyeong. "Lee Eunyeong" not "Seo Eunyeong."

There isn't any law that the wife should take the husband's family name?

Extracted from http://www.planetesl.com/resources/society.html .... "Korean women retain their maiden surname after they get married. They do not use their husband's surname since family surnames are reserved only for people with blood ties."

"People with the same surname who come from the same ancestral hometown are not allowed to marry each other. This is because they are considered family members, even if they are only distantly related. Consequently, when people are attracted to a person with the same surname, they typically will ask for that person's ancestral hometown right away."

Some confusion here...
Again family names in Dear My Sister.

Kang Insuk (married to the doctor Kim Jinguk): "Eunju worked hard today"

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kim. The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun.
Mrs. Kim (she's talking about Lee Eunyeong here, married to Kang Junmo) will get better in no time.

So the correct verison would be like this?

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kang. The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun. Mrs. Lee will get better in no time."

Keiko1981 wrote:Some confusion here...
Again family names in Dear My Sister.

Kang Insuk (married to the doctor Kim Jinguk): "Eunju worked hard today"

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kim. The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun.
Mrs. Kim (she's talking about Lee Eunyeong here, married to Kang Junmo) will get better in no time.

So the correct verison would be like this?

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kang. The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun. Mrs. Lee will get better in no time."

Using Personal Titles #4: Miss, Mrs., Ms., Ma'am, by Dennis Oliver
http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/using_pe ... les04.html

Kang Insuk (married to Kim Jinguk) = Mrs. Kim Jinguk or Ms. Kang Insuk
Lee Eunyeong (married to Kang Junmo) = Mrs. Kang Junmo or Ms. Lee Eunyeong

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kim (or Ms. Kang).
The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun.
Mrs. Kang (or Ms. Lee) will get better in no time."

y0ssy wrote:

Keiko1981 wrote:Some confusion here...
Again family names in Dear My Sister.

Kang Insuk (married to the doctor Kim Jinguk): "Eunju worked hard today"

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kim. The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun.
Mrs. Kim (she's talking about Lee Eunyeong here, married to Kang Junmo) will get better in no time.

So the correct verison would be like this?

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kang. The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun. Mrs. Lee will get better in no time."

Using Personal Titles #4: Miss, Mrs., Ms., Ma'am, by Dennis Oliver
http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/using_pe ... les04.html

Kang Insuk (married to Kim Jinguk) = Mrs. Kim Jinguk or Ms. Kang Insuk
Lee Eunyeong (married to Kang Junmo) = Mrs. Kang Junmo or Ms. Lee Eunyeong

Eunju: "Don't mention it, Mrs. Kim (or Ms. Kang).
The apartment is on the first floor, but it gets a lot of sun.
Mrs. Kang (or Ms. Lee) will get better in no time."

Thank you for the help.

@Keiko1981
I think you may find this write-up by Palash Ghosh an interesting read.
Kim, Park And Lee: Why Do Koreans Have So Few Surnames?