Korean Romanization Explanations
I've begun romanizing Korean lyrics for _heffyend. Actually, I'm thinking of doing it for any artist possible (temped to create a new user/comm to do so, but I don't want to be totally ripping of koreanlyrics), because I've realized it helps a lot in raising my ability to understand(?) and read Korean.
Anyways. These are the basic disclaimer, rules, guidelines, etc I'll be following when romanizing lyrics (posted here for archiving purposes; to everyone else on my FL, you can just move straight ahead, unless you want a lesson in Korean pronunciation).
Disclaimer:
In terms of lyrics, I do not own these. In terms of translation, I am not fluent. My abilities are limited to one who has grown up in a Korean household in America, with possibly the basic understanding of a five-year-old (if even). I am more than welcome to comments and criticism, especially if something is incorrect. Romanizing Korean is hard, and I'd love to have a discussion with anyone about it.
Rules:
~Feel free to post elsewhere, but please put the link to the original.
~If you do post elsewhere, please do not change anything, and credit properly (lyrics belong to so-and-so, romanization by panserbj0rne or Krys)
NOTE: I am not using the same romanizing rules as hebephrenic from koreanlyrics Why? For the following reasons.
1) They are the "old version". Most of the rules I go by are based off of the official system with a few changes here and there where the rules are unclear. (I use 'ai' instead of 'ae' and 'ae' instead of 'e') I'm going by the official system now, because I've realized that it's rather pointless to try and integrate my own 'different' system, when there's already enough various forms of romanizing Korean out there.
2) I think they're incorrect. I respect hebephrenic and all she's done in romanizing Korean lyrics, but the system she is using doesn't catch all the subtleties. For the sheer purpose of following along in a song, they're clear enough; however, I figure if I'm going to go through the process of romanizing, I might as well do it completely right. =)
And, my computer doesn't seem to support the keys with the symbols on top. =\
Consonants:
For the most part, the consonants sound like they look. However, depending on the placement, they can be dropped or 'changed'. Most common:
1) 'r' & 'l': The 'r' is rolled a bit (Ok, this can depend on accents and whatnot, but for the most part, I've heard it rolled), whereas 'l' is a mix between the English 'r' and 'l' sound.
2) 'b' & 'p': The 'b' sounds like a 'b', whereas 'p' is a mix between the English 'b' and 'p', with a sharper/quicker sound.
3) 'g' & 'k': The 'g' is a hard g-sound, and the 'k' is like the English 'k'.
Vowels:
Probably the most difficult part...
a - ah (ex. "Say 'ah'"); same as Japanese romaji
ya - yah
eo - uh (ex. "uh-oh").
yeo - yuh
o - oh (ex. "uh-oh").
yo - yoh
u - oo (ex. "you") only shorter and tighter; same as Japanese romaji.
yu - yoo
eu - Ok, this is difficult. The best I can come up with is: think of when Japanese people reply with "un!" It's like that vowel sound, only tigher. (Sorry if you aren't familiar with anime/manga, I'll try and come up with a better explanation)
i - ee (ex. "eek!"); same as Japanese romaji.
ae - eh, only with a higher, tight sound; lips are turned up.
yae - yeh
e - eh; same as Japanese romaji.
ye - yeh
oe - eh, only with a lower, tight sound; lips are turned down.
wi - wee
wa - wah
wai - weh, only with a highter, tight sound.
wo - wuh
wae - weh
ui - a mix of eu and i (like eu-i), slurred together. Think "oy vey" or "oi", only replace the "o" with the "eu" sound.
Please tell me if any explanations aren't clear.
First Line: Original Korean
Second Line: Romanization by characters, with '-' between characters and ' ' between words
Third Line: Putting the Romanization together, to show how it would come together as a word; '-' will be used when vowel sounds may get mixed up
Fourth Line: How it sounds, syllable by syllable (can be the same exact as 2nd line, only with spaces; can be very different).
Finally, I'll just reprint the 4th lines, so the people who don't want to bother with the transitions can just sing along.
Why? Because, I figure if I'm going to go through with romanizing Korean, I might as well try and teach some Korean too. You're more than welcome to completely skip the transitions part, and go straight to the syllables. I just hope there will be a few out there who will try to learn a little.
I may also add some footnotes here and there to clarify some transitions.
Thanks. For reading. =)
[EDIT:]
How to pronounce ㅢ:
There was a conversation over at _heffyend about the pronunciation of "ㅢ", and after talking to my parents (who are fluent in Korean), I concluded:
Although "ㅢ" is often heard as "e", it's not proper Korean. It's more of a colloquialism. An English/American example would be: We say "I wanna" and "I'm gonna", when the obvious proper way to say it would be "I want to" and "I'm going to". However we don't talk like this in everyday conversations or sing like this in our music, probably because we're lazy "wanna" and "gonna" simply flows more easily on our tongues. The same thing with "ㅢ". While it should be pronounced Tai Ji ui (Tai Ji eu-i), it's easier to say Tai Ji e (Tai Ji eh). (Also, in terms of music, vowels and sounds are often slurred and mixed anyway.)
But, since the purpose of this romanization is chiefly concerned with how to sing the song, I'll change the fourth line, and the romanization with no transitions, so people will know how to sing it.
I hope that clears things up a bit. =)
[/EDIT]
Longwinded, eh? Sorry about that. ^^;
Please tell me if there are any mistakes (grammar, typos, Korean... ^^)
Anyways. These are the basic disclaimer, rules, guidelines, etc I'll be following when romanizing lyrics (posted here for archiving purposes; to everyone else on my FL, you can just move straight ahead, unless you want a lesson in Korean pronunciation).
Disclaimer:
In terms of lyrics, I do not own these. In terms of translation, I am not fluent. My abilities are limited to one who has grown up in a Korean household in America, with possibly the basic understanding of a five-year-old (if even). I am more than welcome to comments and criticism, especially if something is incorrect. Romanizing Korean is hard, and I'd love to have a discussion with anyone about it.
Rules:
~Feel free to post elsewhere, but please put the link to the original.
~If you do post elsewhere, please do not change anything, and credit properly (lyrics belong to so-and-so, romanization by panserbj0rne or Krys)
NOTE: I am not using the same romanizing rules as hebephrenic from koreanlyrics Why? For the following reasons.
1) They are the "old version". Most of the rules I go by are based off of the official system with a few changes here and there where the rules are unclear. (I use 'ai' instead of 'ae' and 'ae' instead of 'e') I'm going by the official system now, because I've realized that it's rather pointless to try and integrate my own 'different' system, when there's already enough various forms of romanizing Korean out there.
2) I think they're incorrect. I respect hebephrenic and all she's done in romanizing Korean lyrics, but the system she is using doesn't catch all the subtleties. For the sheer purpose of following along in a song, they're clear enough; however, I figure if I'm going to go through the process of romanizing, I might as well do it completely right. =)
And, my computer doesn't seem to support the keys with the symbols on top. =\
Consonants:
For the most part, the consonants sound like they look. However, depending on the placement, they can be dropped or 'changed'. Most common:
1) 'r' & 'l': The 'r' is rolled a bit (Ok, this can depend on accents and whatnot, but for the most part, I've heard it rolled), whereas 'l' is a mix between the English 'r' and 'l' sound.
2) 'b' & 'p': The 'b' sounds like a 'b', whereas 'p' is a mix between the English 'b' and 'p', with a sharper/quicker sound.
3) 'g' & 'k': The 'g' is a hard g-sound, and the 'k' is like the English 'k'.
Vowels:
Probably the most difficult part...
a - ah (ex. "Say 'ah'"); same as Japanese romaji
ya - yah
eo - uh (ex. "uh-oh").
yeo - yuh
o - oh (ex. "uh-oh").
yo - yoh
u - oo (ex. "you") only shorter and tighter; same as Japanese romaji.
yu - yoo
eu - Ok, this is difficult. The best I can come up with is: think of when Japanese people reply with "un!" It's like that vowel sound, only tigher. (Sorry if you aren't familiar with anime/manga, I'll try and come up with a better explanation)
i - ee (ex. "eek!"); same as Japanese romaji.
ae - eh, only with a higher, tight sound; lips are turned up.
yae - yeh
e - eh; same as Japanese romaji.
ye - yeh
oe - eh, only with a lower, tight sound; lips are turned down.
wi - wee
wa - wah
wai - weh, only with a highter, tight sound.
wo - wuh
wae - weh
ui - a mix of eu and i (like eu-i), slurred together. Think "oy vey" or "oi", only replace the "o" with the "eu" sound.
Please tell me if any explanations aren't clear.
First Line: Original Korean
Second Line: Romanization by characters, with '-' between characters and ' ' between words
Third Line: Putting the Romanization together, to show how it would come together as a word; '-' will be used when vowel sounds may get mixed up
Fourth Line: How it sounds, syllable by syllable (can be the same exact as 2nd line, only with spaces; can be very different).
Finally, I'll just reprint the 4th lines, so the people who don't want to bother with the transitions can just sing along.
Why? Because, I figure if I'm going to go through with romanizing Korean, I might as well try and teach some Korean too. You're more than welcome to completely skip the transitions part, and go straight to the syllables. I just hope there will be a few out there who will try to learn a little.
I may also add some footnotes here and there to clarify some transitions.
Thanks. For reading. =)
[EDIT:]
How to pronounce ㅢ:
There was a conversation over at _heffyend about the pronunciation of "ㅢ", and after talking to my parents (who are fluent in Korean), I concluded:
Although "ㅢ" is often heard as "e", it's not proper Korean. It's more of a colloquialism. An English/American example would be: We say "I wanna" and "I'm gonna", when the obvious proper way to say it would be "I want to" and "I'm going to". However we don't talk like this in everyday conversations or sing like this in our music, probably because we're lazy "wanna" and "gonna" simply flows more easily on our tongues. The same thing with "ㅢ". While it should be pronounced Tai Ji ui (Tai Ji eu-i), it's easier to say Tai Ji e (Tai Ji eh). (Also, in terms of music, vowels and sounds are often slurred and mixed anyway.)
But, since the purpose of this romanization is chiefly concerned with how to sing the song, I'll change the fourth line, and the romanization with no transitions, so people will know how to sing it.
I hope that clears things up a bit. =)
[/EDIT]
Longwinded, eh? Sorry about that. ^^;
Please tell me if there are any mistakes (grammar, typos, Korean... ^^)