// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Initial Sound Rule say? "I'm first".
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The initial sound rule (Korean: 두음법칙; Hanja: 頭音法則; RR: dueum beopchik) is series of changes to Hangul, the writing system for the Korean language, made in South Korea to better reflect modern Korean phonology. The changes affect syllable-initial ㄹ r and ㄴ n sounds in Sino-Korean vocabulary under certain conditions. In North Korea, the orthography does not recognize this rule, which makes it one of a number of North–South differences in the Korean language.
Background
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In native Korean words, ㄹ r does not occur at the beginning (onset) of syllables, unlike in Chinese loanwords. Literature from as early the 16th century shows that pronunciation of Sino-Korean words was nativized enough that the new sounds began to be reflected. In the 17th century, the original version of Hendrick Hamel's book also records placenames that reflect the rules of pronunciation, such as Naedjoo for Naju (Hanja: 羅州) and Jeham for Yeongam (Hanja: 靈巖). In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, there were also cases of the surname Lee being also romanized as "Ye," "Yi," etc.
Thus, the claim of Professor Emeritus Ryeo Jeoung-dong (려증동) that the initial sound rule and the final consonant notation were first organized in the Korean orthography for elementary schools in 1912, during the Korean colonial period, is not true. He works for the Department of Korean Literature at Gyeongsang National University and is South Korea's representative proponent for the abolition of the initial sound rule.[1][2]
In Modern Korean, the South Korean standard language recognizes the initial sound rule except in a few conditions. While the North Korean standard language briefly adhered to the initial sound rule, it soon abandoned it. North Korea no longer follows the rule today except in a few cases and instead uses the earlier spellings for Sino-Korean vocabulary.
Specific rules made by the National Institute of Korean Language
[edit]The National Institute of Korean Language made three rules regarding initial sounds:
- When the Chinese consonants "nyeo, nyo, nyu, ni" appear at the beginning of a word, they are written as "yeo, yo, yu, i" according to the initial sound rule.
- When the Chinese consonants "rya, ryeo, rye, ryo, ryu, ri" appear at the beginning of a word, they are written as "ya, yeo, ye, yo, yu, i" according to the initial sound rule.
- When the Chinese consonants "ra, rae, ro, roe, ru, reu" appear at the beginning of a word, they are written as "na, nae, no, noe, nu, neu" according to the initial sound rule.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ An impassioned speech by Professor Ryeo Jeoung-dong for the abolition of the initial sound rule, Shindonga, 2006-01-13 https://shindonga.donga.com/society/article/all/13/105106/4
- ↑ Jo Song-hyeon's Issue Person <10> Ryeo Jeoung-dong, Professor Emeritus of Gyeongsang National University, The Kookje Daily News, 2012-05-13 https://www.kookje.co.kr/news2011/asp/newsbody.asp?key=20120514.22006195934
- ↑ https://korean.go.kr/kornorms/regltn/regltnView.do?regltn_code=0001®ltn_no=180#a180
Reference articles
[edit]- 문화어 [Cultural language]. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean).
- (2030과정) 남북한 표기법 차이-두음법칙과 사이시옷 [(2030 course) Differences in North and South Korean notation - first sound rule and saisiot] (in Korean). 국립평화통일민주교육원. Oct 21, 2019 – via YouTube.
- Ko, Dae-young (2013-05-02). 어디서 간단히 '요기'라도 할까 [Where can we have a 'quick meal'?]. 겨레말큰사전 [Great Dictionary of the Korean Language] (in Korean).
- Gang, Seong-man (2007-11-15). ‘자모음 배열순서’부터 차근차근 [Step by step, starting with ‘Consonant and Vowel Arrangement Order’]. The Hankyoreh. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21.
Reference research theses
[edit]- Ahn, Miae; Hong, Miju; Paek, Doohyun (2018). 북한 문화어의 어두 ㄹ, ㄴ 규정을 통해서 본언어 정체성 구축과 차별화 방식 연구 [The Establishment of Linguistic Identity and Differentiation through the Word-initial ㄹ/ㄴ Rule in Standard North Korean]. 어문론총. 76. Korean Literary and Linguistic Society: 85–125. doi:10.22784/eomun.2018..76.85.
- Byeon, Yongwoo (2004). 두음법칙의 형태적 제약 [Morphological Constraints of Word-initial Avoidance in Korean]. 불교어문논집 [Buddhist Language and Literature]. 9. Association of Korean Buddhist Language & Literature: 199–229. ISSN 1598-1606.
- Cho, Gyutae (1999). 두음법칙 표기에 대하여 [Problems of Hangul orthography: Regarding the notation of the initial sound rule]. Baedalmal. 25. Baedalmal Society: 293–310.
- Cho, Gyutae (2009). 낱말머리 'ㄹ' 표기의 바뀌어옴에 대하여 [On the change of the word head “ㄹ” notation]. Baedalmal. 45. Baedalmal Society: 69–109.
- Shin, Seong-cheol (2018). ㄹ 두음법칙의 통시적 고찰 [The Diachronic Study on ㄹ Initial Law]. Korean Linguistics. 85. Korean Linguistic Society: 151–179. doi:10.15811/jkl.2018.85.005.
- Wi, Jin (2004). /ɲ/두음법칙에 대한 통시적 연구 [A diachronic study on the /ɲ/ Initial law]. Korean-Chinese Humanities Research. 12. Korea-Chinese Humanities Society: 148–167.