names, ethnicity, and colonialism

Joel at Far Outliers has an interesting post on how Koreans chose Japanese names during the Japanese colonial period. (Spotted on Language Hat.)

Regarding name frequency in Taiwan, I once did some checking of an old version of Chih-Hao Tsai’s invaluable list of Chinese names (in Taiwan) and ended up with the top ten names covering 50 percent of the population. Now that he’s got an improved name-list online, I should check again.

Also here in Taiwan, few aborigines have taken the trouble to change their official names, now that they finally have an alternative to the sinicized versions that had been forced upon them by Taiwan’s officialdom. It will be interesting to see how the situation changes, if at all, now that new national ID cards are finally being issued. For more on this, see Romanization to be allowed on some Taiwan ID cards, including the link in the note.

Ban loan words, says North Korea

When it’s not prompting nightmares, North Korea is often good for a laugh.

The December 9 edition of Minju Chosun, the newspaper of North Korea’s Cabinet, editorialized on the “Culture of Language,” arguing for the importance of the “four don’ts.”

  1. Don’t use difficult Chinese phrases and other words of foreign origin. Loan words should be banned because they are “‘toxins that destroy the character and purity” of the Korean language. They also undermine the people’s sense of independence.
  2. Do not make excessive use of regional dialects. That sort of thing “creates confusion in language, hampers communication and degenerates personality.”
  3. Avoid slang and vulgar words. They cause misunderstanding and distrust and mar public unity.
  4. Don’t speak too fast. The proper speaking speed is 260-270 words per minute. If people speak too fast, it’s hard to understand what they are saying.

Talk about the “purity” of a language is of course particularly absurd, especially considering what a large portion of Korean has been borrowed from Sinitic languages over the years. But there is a grain of truth in the assertion that borrowings from Chinese have resulted in some troubles for Korean. The problem, however, is rooted in Chinese characters rather than linguistic borrowing itself. William Hannas discusses this some in his excellent book Asia’s Orthographic Dilemma, including within a section on the so-called homonym problem.

For nearly two millennia non-Chinese languages on China’s periphery have shared Sinitic vocabulary) freely, in a manner known to all of the world’s languages. Until recently, the direction of this “borrowing” had been largely from Chinese to Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, although the latter languages — most notably Japanese — have reversed the process and for the last century and a half have been coining new terms from Sinitic morphemes that are adopted by all four languages. As a result of this borrowing, more than 40 percent of Japanese, 50 percent of Korean, and at least one-third of the words in Vietnamese are based on Sinitic morphemes, according to Liu (1969:67). These figures apply to everyday vocabulary and are lower than other researchers’ counts that take in a wider corpus…. Ho Ung claims 60 percent (1974:44), and Oh claims 90 percent for some types of Korean materials (1971:26). Helmut Martin notes that in formal Vietnamese the ratio of Sinitic words can reach 50 percent; for newspapers it goes much higher (1982:32).

In general, the share of Chinese-style words in these non-Chinese languages increases with formality and difficulty of content, which is to say, Sinitic terms dominate those environments where style and subject matter make them the least predictable. One would think that the emphasis would be on maintaining phonetic distinctions between these word forms, but the opposite is more nearly true. Since most of the terms refer to higher-level concepts, the expectation was they would be identified through writing, where phonetic characteristics matter less. Accordingly, there was less pressure to avoid homonyms and near homonyms. Another, more important reason for the homophony can be traced to the dynamics of borrowing. When a language “borrows” terms from another, it typically adapts the words’ sounds to its own phonology, which is never a perfect match. The borrowing language cannot add distinctions to the sounds of the terms it is borrowing, but it can and does ignore phonological distinctions that its own system is not equipped to handle. In the case of international Sinitic, this means dropping the tonal features that help distinguish one Chinese syllable from another.

source: North Chides South for Dirtying Korean Tongue, Korea Times, December 18, 2005. This article also has an interesting anecdote about a North Korean general’s reaction to seeing “English” letters on a sign in the south.

‘Seoul’ in Chinese characters

Last year I noted that South Korea had decided to call upon China to use different Chinese characters to refer to “Seoul”. Judging by a Xinhua article, it looks like China has finally agreed. Taiwan had already approved the change.

So 汉城 (“Hànchéng” in Mandarin) is out, and 首尔 (“Shǒu’ěr” in Mandarin) is in. I’ve seen the spelling “Shouer” in several stories. The proper Pinyin spelling, however, is “Shou’er.” The apostrophe is not optional.

In traditional Chinese characters, 汉城 is written 漢城 and 首尔 is written 首爾.

While it is important to keep in mind that the etymologies of words/names and the etymologies of Chinese characters used to write them are not at all the same thing, it can be hard to overlook the characters. Thus, the desire for a different Chinese name isn’t mere caprice on the part of South Korea. The 漢 in 漢城 is used to refer to the Han people (i.e. “Chinese”). This is the same “Han” as in Hanzi (漢字 / Chinese characters) and Hanyu Pinyin (漢語拼音). The 城 means “city” (as in 城市 chéngshì). 城 is also used for “wall,” as in the walls that used to surround most Chinese cities (Xi’an’s wall is almost the only one left), and as in chángchéng (长城 / the Great Wall). (I’m not sure which meaning came first, so I don’t know which way that metonomy flows, as it were.) So using Hancheng for Seoul could be seen as labelling it a Chinese city.

And then there’s the fact that “Hancheng” doesn’t sound a thing like “Seoul.” The Chinese languages take a variety of approaches to rendering foreign place names.

The Xinhua article says “Hancheng” came from the fact that Seoul originated as a walled city on Korea’s Han River. Interestingly, the Chinese “Han” also originally referred to a river (a different one, in China). Later, Han was the name of a dynasty (206 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.). Then it became associated with the most populous ethnic group in China and the language.

source of China’s announcement: Zhōngguó jìnrì jiāng kāishǐ qǐyòng Hànchéng shì Zhōngwén xīn yìmíng “Shǒu’ěr”, Xinhua, October 23, 2005:

Zhōngguó jìnrì jiāng kāishǐ qǐyòng Hànchéng shì Zhōngwén xīn yìmíng “Shǒu’ěr”
Xīnhuá wǎng Běijīng 10 yuè 23 rì diàn (jìzhě tán jīngjīng) jìzhě 23 rì cóng yǒuguān bùmén huòxī, Zhōngguó jìnrì jiāng kāishǐ qǐyòng Hánguó shǒudū Hànchéng shì de Zhōngwén xīn yìmíng “Shǒu’ěr”.
Hànchéng shì jīnnián 1 yuè xuānbù, jiāng gāi shì Zhōngwén yìmíng gǎiwéi “Shǒu’ěr”, Hán fāng xīwàng zài Zhōngguó yě shǐyòng zhè yīxīn yìmíng.
Cǐjiān zhuānjiā rènwéi, Hánguó shǒudū shǐyòng Zhōngwén yìmíng “Shǒu’ěr”, fúhé guójì guànlì, yě fúhé Zhōngguó yǒuguān wàiguó dìmíng fānyì shǐyòng guīdìng.
Shǒu’ěr lìshǐ yōujiǔ, gǔshí yīn wèiyú Hàn Jiāng zhī běi, démíng “Hànyáng”. 14 Shìjìmò Cháoxiǎn wángcháo dìngdū Hànyáng hòu, gǎimíng wéi “Hànchéng”.
Jìndài Cháoxiǎn Bàndǎo shòu Rìběn zhímín tǒngzhì qījiān, Hànchéng gǎichēng “Jīngchéng”.
1945 nián Cháoxiǎn Bàndǎo guāngfù hòu, gēngmíng wéi Cháoxiǎnyǔ gùyǒu cí, Luómǎ zìmǔ biāojì wéi “Seoul”, yǔyì wéi “shǒudū”.

Korea’s official seal

South Korea’s official chop has become cracked, worn, and should be replaced, according to government auditors there.

The 2.15 kg, 18-karat gold chop, commissioned to mark the nation’s 50th anniversary in 1998, is used to authenticate public documents and diplomatic papers, honorary certificates, and certificates of appointment.

The chop uses a “more modern font” than that of its predecessor. According to the report on this, “critics had complained that the old seal used Korean characters that looked too much like Chinese characters.”

(Emphasis added.)

Here’s the current seal:

source: Crack in seal, 6 years old, irks auditors (Joong Ang Daily, September 23, 2005)

sign

A sign of change at Gwanghwamun?

The Cultural Heritage Administration is at the center of controversy after announcing plans to take down a sign penned by former President Park Chung-hee located at Gwanghwamun, the southern gate of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul.

The administration plans on hanging in its place a sign written in hanja (Chinese characters) compiled from the handwriting of King Jeongjo (1752-1800), the 22nd king of the Joseon Dynasty.

Its head Yoo Hong-jun announced three days ago that it was taking measures to remove the “Gwanghwamun” sign in Park’s handwriting as part of palace restoration projects.

“The current sign does not match with the characteristics of Gyeongbok Palace and compared to the original hanja sign, it is written backwards so we have decided to change it,” said an official at the cultural properties administration, which oversees the restoration and preservation of the nation’s cultural properties. In contrast to modern Korean, signs composed in hanja were traditionally written from right to left or top to bottom.

The administration is drawing fire from conservatives over its decision to replace the marker at Gwanghwamun, considered by many as the spiritual center of the capital. Conservatives are abuzz with suspicions that the decision has political motivations behind it. The Chosun Ilbo, a conservative daily newspaper, featured an article on its front page yesterday claiming that Yoo had likened President Roh Moo-hyun to the reform-minded King Jeongjo.

While giving a tour of Changdeok Palace to the president last October, Yoo was said to have remarked to Roh that he shared three characteristics with the late Joseon Dynasty ruler: upholding reform as his motto, unsuccessfully attempting to move the capital and seeking out the advice of young scholars.

Yoo responded to the newspaper’s allegations, saying, “It’s true that I compared the president to King Jeongjo. But that is not the reason why we are trying to change the Gwanghwamun sign, nor are there any political reasons behind it.”

The administration plans to make the switch on August 15, to mark the 60th anniversary of Liberation Day. The decision must first be approved by a separate cultural heritage board. A sign by Park has already been taken down at Hwaryeongjeon, a palace housing a shrine to Jeongjo in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

King Jeongjo did not reside in Gyeongbok Palace but lived at Gyeonghui Palace and later moved to Changdeok Palace, where he established Gyujeonggak, a royal library, in 1776, the first year of his reign. He also built Hwaseong Fortress in honor of his father, crown prince Sa-do Sae-ja.

The current wooden sign hanging at Gwanghwamun is written in Korean characters and was made in 1969. The three hanja characters in Gwanghwamun form the meaning, “Bestowing the great virtues of a king upon the nation and its people.” The original sign was said to have been written by nobleman painter Jeong Hak-kyo (1832-1914).

Placed at the center of a gate’s beam near the roof, signs or “hyeonpan” were typically written by important individuals to denote certain characteristics of a building. Signs were first used during the Three Kingdoms Period (57 B.C.-688 A.D.). During the Joseon Dynasty they were used to mark temples, palaces, Confucian academies and even ordinary residences.


The current “Gwanghwamun” sign (above) penned in Korean letters by late President Park Chung-hee and a new sign written in Chinese characters compiled from the handwriting of Joseon Dynasty King Jeongjo

source

‘Net influences writing in Chinese

Related sorts of Internet-influenced mixed scripts, abbreviations, and loan words are also popular in Taiwan and China among the young.

“よøぎㅎビλĦㅎコ_¤ 읍ㅎF_しち흐ロっㅉヴ”_≥∇≤☆”

This is one of the commonly used words of teenagers on the Internet. It means: “Hello. You are so cool.”

The language used on the Internet is passing over the danger level for breaking down Hangeul, the Korean alphabet.

Up until recently, it was just writing down the words as they were heard or shortening words, like “ban-ga-wo” (meaning ‘glad to see you’ in Korean) to “bang-ga” or “yeo-ja-chin-gu” (meaning “girlfriend” in Korean) to “yeo-chin.” However, lately, it has gotten to the point where words that the general public cannot understand at all are being used.

The language for these words used by some netizens for communication, mixing special characters, Japanese, Chinese characters and Korean, are called “alien words.”

The meaning of alien words such as “㉯㉯납별뉨ⓔ는ⓔ렇퀘글쓰능高☆로㉯뽀게생각안훼 (I, Byeol-nim, do not think using words this way is that bad)”, can be guessed when looking closely, but some seem like codes, such as “읍ㅎ℉를_ㅁ|てつ효_∩∇∩★ (I believe in you)”.

These alien words are becoming popular among some teenage netizens who want to share secrets of their own. They even make community clubs on the Internet and talk with each other in alien words.

However, these alien words are not in the Korean spelling system, and so netizens using this language sometimes misunderstand each other. Accordingly, a translation program for alien words has appeared. It translates Korean words into alien words.

The problem here is that this language used by teenagers on the Internet is continuing into use in everyday life, becoming a serious threat to breaking down the Korean language.

In fact, teachers are pointing out that many students are writing “추카” instead of “축하” and “겜” instead of “게임” during writing classes. (Words are written by the way they sound or by shortening the original word.)

Accordingly, the Education and Human Resources Development Ministry (MOE) has published a teachers’ guide to refine the Korean language and effectively teach students the manners in language for everyday life to be distributed throughout schools on Monday, January 10.

This teachers guide, titled: “Refining Internet Language, Manners for Language in Everyday Life,” was written by the MOE, the National Academy of the Korean Language, the Information Communication Ethics Committee, the Korean Education and Research Information Service and the Teachers’ Clean Media Movement, and will be used during classes starting this semester.

some Xinhua blah-blah-blah on Chinese characters in Korea

There’s some useful information here scattered among the propaganda and party line. It’s also good to know what the other side is thinking.

韩国: 汉字命运新挑战
( 尽管韩国一直尝试用韩文取代汉文。但由于和中国日益密切的联系以及韩文本身的缺陷,汉字在韩国的影响将越来越大。)

预计最早从明年开始,韩国国内法律文本中很难看懂的汉字标记方式将全部被韩文取汽车生活方式大比拼特别关注银屑病鱼鳞病专治各种血管瘤! 免费与美女视频聊天代。

据《朝鲜日报》报道,韩国政府于12月21日在政府中央大厦召开由李海瓒总理主持的国务会议,会议决定“有关将法律韩文化的特别措施法案”。该法案的主要内容为,将现行759项法律文本中混用的汉字标记方式全部以韩文取代。

汉字为韩国所长期借用,但随着历史进程的演变,汉字在韩国的命运有所不同。概而言之,汉字先是备受推崇,之后又被弃而不用。伴随着这一过程,汉字在韩国的命运也经历了诸多变迁。

韩国汉字盛行

一下汉城的仁川机场,扑面而来的便是标识牌上的汉字,和到西方国家全是外文截然不同。2003年7月,我们一群中国访问者在汉城并没有太多身在异乡的感觉,同行的小梁乘地铁到汉城著名的南大门购物,竟然一点也没有问路——地铁站都有中文标识。

同属汉文化圈,汉字对韩国的影响今天还依稀可见,且有扩大之势。10月29日至11月12日,14名韩国书法家携带自己的作品来到北京进行展览,虽然以韩国文字写成,但也与中国书法相通,有类似隶书的版本体,有类似行书的宫体正字,也有类似草书的真草体。

书法、绘画、艺术等和文字难以截然分开。目前,韩国60%以上的词汇是汉字的发音或者汉字的意思,好多概念也是从汉语传过去,离开汉字,有些意思真的难以表达。

韩国的表音字由10个元音和14个子音组成。其优点是简单易学。即使外国人,只要掌握了拼写组合方法,也能正确诵读。不过,能够诵读是一回事,能否理解其中的意思却是另外的事。全部使用拼音文字的朝鲜表音字存在严重“盲点”。

仅以韩国的姓氏为例。郑和丁,姜和康,柳和俞,林和任等均同音。另外,单词中也存在不少同音异字。例如,故事、古寺、考查、古辞、告辞、枯死等22个单词同音;诈欺、士气、死期、社旗同音;电机,转机,前期,战记同音;输入、收入同音……报纸上也经常遇到,因使用表音字母令读者对其表达意思感到头疼,需要像猜谜一样猜想。

正因为如此,韩国政府决定,在法律文件中用韩文取代汉字后,如果存在难以正确表达原意或可以被解释为多种意思的术语,便在该词后面打上括号注明汉字。

韩国驻华使馆一位官员在和笔者聊天时说:“汉字在韩国的具体情况要问韩国的教育部门,但我们很重视汉字的教育。”

汉字兴衰和韩国民族主义情绪

就在“汉风”在韩国劲吹之际,韩国为什么取消法律文本中的汉字标记?按照《朝鲜日报》的报道,表面原因是韩国政府考虑到在学校没有学汉字的人群逐渐增加,为了解决上述人群在了解法律的过程中面临的难题而推进了该法案。但实际上,原因没有这么简单。《当代韩国》编辑部的资深编辑郑成宏女士认为,这说明韩国民族主义抬头。她介绍说,金大中总统执政时期,韩国在公务文件、交通标志等领域,恢复使用已经消失多年的汉字和汉字标志,并在中小学推行“1800个常用汉字必修教育”。

但现在由于中韩关系因为历史问题出现了一点摩擦,韩国主张均衡战略的一派抬头。郑成宏认为,民族主义可能是这次从法律文本中取消中文标记的原因之一。

其实,关于是否保留汉字、保留多少汉字的争端一直在进行中。有些机构主张保留汉字,有些机构主张不要汉字,有些主张增加或者减少汉字。

在韩国,既有170多个社会团体联合组成全国汉字教育推广总联合会,又有以韩国表音字学会为中心的表音字专用实践促进会。前者1998年提出“从小学接受汉字教育,摆脱文化危机”的口号,而后者为维护表音字专用法,曾经开展过轰轰烈烈的1000万人大签名活动。双方围绕着是否恢复使用汉字问题的争论不仅是理论之争,甚至扩展升华至民族感情层次。

韩国法律规定,以表音字为专用文字。1948年独立之后,为了弘扬民族精神,政府制定了朝鲜拼音文字专用法,规定公文只能用表音字书写。但是鉴于历史的缘故,暂时允许兼用汉字。从1970年起,韩国小学、中学教科书中的汉字被取消,完全使用朝鲜表音字。在其后的30年当中,小学完全取消了汉字,初中高中仅向学生教授1800个汉字。这一原因造成韩国20~40岁的人几乎完全不懂汉字。他们被称为“表音字的一代”。

带给这代人的后果,是古典文化修养欠缺,与传统脱离,完全脱离了东亚文化圈,深陷孤立与凄楚之中。韩国青年一代连汉字读法都不清楚,书写汉字就更困难了。很多人用汉字写不出自己的名字,父母的名字也写不出,走出学校进入社会之后还要自学汉字。

但是,社会必须面对汉字的存在,因而韩国面向成人的汉字函授机构遍布各地。随着“中国热”的兴起,到中国学汉语更是成了一股热潮。