On Korean Transliteration

The system of transliteration I use in this blog is a mix of standard transliteration schemes. I usually prefer transliterations that represent phonetic (that is, pronounced) over phonemic (underlying) forms.

For example, I would transliterate 감사합니다 "thank you" as kamsamnida, although a more "literal," phonemic representation would be something like kamsahapnida. I just don't see the point of that. The word might be spelled that way—and the facts of its derivation might make sense of that—but that's not how the word actually sounds. It's only in a purely symbolic or pedantic sense that the word is kamsahapnida.

This appeal to a natural-looking phonetic system is also at play in my transliteration of a word like 고마워 (also "thank you," or more like "thanks"). I would transliterate this as komaweo, and not komaueo—even though that's what a letter-by-letter transcription would suggest—because that looks like a nightmare. (Or look at 어려워요 "it is difficult." Going letter by letter would give you eoryeoueoyo! Going with eoryeoweoyo causes 9% less eyestrain. As demonstrated by making things up.)

I also prefer "shi" instead of "si" when transliterating what's written in Korean as 시, because that's closer to what it actually sounds like.

Likewise, when one consonant assimilates to another in spoken Korean, I like it (I think) when the transliteration reflects that. So, I would probably write 끝나요 ("it concludes") as kkeunnayo, instead of as kkeutnayo (even though that's a more accurate representation of the underlying forms). At least, I think I would. For 막내 ("youngest child") I guess I would probably rather use mangnae (which is how the word is actually pronounced) over maknae (which reflects how the word is spelled). But I'm not sure. (This sure is interesting.) Fastidious transliterations seem to require an additional step before they can be helpful guides to pronunciation. And seeing as they're of use only for people who don't know Korean...

One place where I do follow spelling is in the representation of the vowels 에 and 애. Even though they stand for identical sounds, I use e for 에 and ae for 애, which is how everyone (?) always (?) transliterates them.

I'm not sure what approach I like when it comes to aspirated consonants. I just do what I think looks best in the moment. And I probably break my own rules without even knowing it. I'm a free spirit that way.

Through all this, though, I still use the standard (and pretty confusing and annoying) transliterations for the vowels 어 and 으, namely eo and eu, respectively. Like I said, it's a mix.

You know what? Forget everything I said. I think this whole thing is more complicated than I thought.