There is a discussion among the English teams, about the formatting of Korean names.
As you may know, back in the day, an informal poll was made among Korean-English subbers and they tended to prefer the three separate syllables form, because it was fussy to add a hyphen and because writing the whole name without a hyphen would make some names difficult to pronounce.
Why would we want to change the existing system (Lee Min Ho)?
Because for people who are not knowledgeable in Korean, it might seem as Lee is the surname (right), Min is the middle name and only Ho the given name! Whereas Min Ho is the given name, and itās pronounced as one thing (except when enounciating oneās name clearly syllable by syllable, on the first day of school, or in the army!)
South Koreaās [Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government agency issuing passports to its nationals, formally advised its nationals not to put a space in their given names because having a space in a given name can be misunderstood as having first and middle names;
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea (2014). āģ¬ź¶ģ ķźø ģ±ėŖ , ė”ė§ģ(ģė¬ø ģķė²³)ė”ė ģ“ė»ź² ķźø°ķėģ?ā [How do I romanize my Hangul name on my passport?] (in Korean).
Some Koreans have told me that for them it is absurd to separate the two syllables of the name.
(Of course, place names are always romanized as one word, as per guidelines of the Korean government)
Why choosing the whole first name written together (Minho) could be problematic and a hyphen (Min-ho) would make it more clear:
For example: the name Ga In. Put together looks like āgainā, which is also an English word. A hyphen (Ga-in) would clear that misunderstanding.
Another example: Hae In, if written Haein, people would scratch their head, āhow on earth do I pronounce this?ā.
You would think that a name like Minho doesnāt pose any problems, right? For the native English maybe, but donāt only think about your own language! Ask a Portuguese person how they pronounce NH! Like āRonaldinhoā, or the equivalent of the Spanish Ć. Not at all what we are looking for!!
Korean of course doesnāt have hyphens. But itās because they donāt need to! Syllables are neatly written as a cluster of characters, so you definitely know whether a letter in the middle of the word belongs to the first or to the second syllable. There is no possible confusion.
In English and most other non-Asian languages we donāt have such a way to clearly visualise the syllable separation. Thatās why, in my opinion, if we choose to change the existing system to having the two syllables of the first name written together, we need a hyphen.
Generally, I believe that the way we romanize should be the one that would enable us, if we so wish, to easily and exactly recreate the Korean original.
Moreover, separating the syllables helps see the generational name (which is the first syllable), the one shared by siblings.
From Wikipedia:
Traditionally, given names are partly determined by generation names, a custom originating in China. One of the two characters in a given name is unique to the individual, while the other is shared by all people in a family generation. In both North and South Koreas, generational names are usually no longer shared by cousins, but are still commonly shared by siblings.
The linguistic details
Given names are typically composed of Hanja, or Chinese characters.
In the case of Hanja-derived names, the given name is linguistically not two syllables but two words.
Since the late 1970s, some parents have given their children names that are native Korean words, usually of two syllables.
Given names of this sort include Ha-neul (ķė; lit. heaven/sky), Da-som (ė¤ģ; lit. love) and Bit-na (ė¹ė; lit. to shine) Ah-reum (ģė¦; lit. beauty), Sa-rang (ģ¬ė; it. love).
Between 2008 and 2015, the proportion of such names among South Korean newborns rose from 3.5% to 7.7%.
If the name is a two-syllable native Korean word like ģ¬ė (Sarang =love or Haneul=sky), there are two syllables in a single word. Therefore, some argue that it doesnāt make sense to put a hyphen or a space between the two syllables.
But if the name is taken from two Hanja such as ķģ , there are two Hanja characters and therefore two words, so again it doesnāt make sense to put a hyphen between them.
Of course the two Hanja characters are put together coherently to create one concept, a complete meaning. Which is largely a matter of parentās choice, because most hanja-derived Korean syllables can have many different meanings
See an example for the name Chun Hwa (ģ¶ķ). Depending on how you write the name in hanja, it can have different meanings:
There are four hanja with the reading āchunā and 15 hanja with the reading āhwaā on the South Korean governmentās official list of hanja which may be used in given names. Some ways of writing this name in hanja include:
- ę„ čÆ (ė“ ģ¶ bom chun, ė¹ė ķ binnal hwa): āspring splendourā
*ę„ č± (ė“ ģ¶ bom chun, ź½ ķ ggot hwa): āspring flowerā
Yes, all this is absolutely true. There are distinctions between hanja-derived names and native Korean names. Yet we cannot expect all translators, editors and especially viewers to know these differences/exceptions. It would be unrealistic and would create more work and confusion.
In my opinion, there should be one standard used for all names consistently.
What is done elsewhere?
Wikipedia uses the syllables separated by hyphens, even for names derived from native Korean words like āSarangā
We already saw that the Ministry of Exterior recommends not separating the two syllables of a given name with a space.
What about streaming platforms? One (NF) has a hyphen, one (Dputs it all together, some the three syllables separately. There is no consensus
What about the Korean government? As personal names are concerned, they leave two options to the discretion of individuals.
According to the new guideline, the family name will come before the given name. The first letter of the family name and given name will be capitalized. Inserting a hyphen between syllables in the given name will avoid confusion in where they lie.
For example, the name Hong Gil-dong was previously written in various forms, from GILDONG HONG to Hong, Gil dong or HONG GILDONG. Following the new rules, it will now be written Hong Gildong or Hong Gil-dong.
(upload://vS9BgInchNsmAzYyLazXnmlJFmF.jpeg)
The Poll
But what do all of you think about it? You donāt need to be an English-language volunteer to vote, or a volunteer at all. What makes the most sense to you, and helps you visually understand better our beloved drama charactersā names?
NOTE: When voting, please donāt only think of Lee Min Ho. Do think about the other examples quoted before like Lee Rain or Gain.
- Lee Min Ho
- Lee Min-ho
- Lee Minho
Thank you for taking part in the poll!