Hangul Translation Thread

[MBuzzy]

I wanted to put this out there as an offer to anywho who would like words translated into Hangul. Particularly names of techniques, movements, opening commands, and personal names.

My Hangul spelling isn't great and sometimes translating can be a touchy thing, but I'm hoping that there are enough other Korean speakers and writers to assist. I will be happy to give any requests my best shot.

This came about because I was working on some study materials for an upcoming test and realized that there really isn't a resource out there than has the translations for the names of our techniques into Hangul. Plenty give the English and the Korean Romanization, but none that I can find actually have the Hangul. If all goes well, I will build a word document will all of the things we have complied (people's names not included of course) and post it out there somewhere.

 

[IcemanSK]

Thanks!

 

[Chris Lee Sammut]

Hello,

I'm South Korean by birth and I'm adopted and live in Australia. I'm interested in finding out how to spell my name in Korean. My original passport shows my name in English as Lee, Soo Cheol. I wish to know how to write this in Hangul please, if you can help I would appreciate the support.

Cheers,
Christopher

 

[MBuzzy]

No problem, Chris. Well, you already know that in Korea, the surname comes first, then the given name. Most names are one syllable as well and most Koreans have three separate names.

So your Korean name would be: (Lee, Soo Cheol)

이, 수 절

 

[morph4me]

I think you may need a small disclaimer here. It's easier translating English to Hangul than Hangul to English and back to Hangul.

It's hard to capture the true pronunciation of a name or even a word. The Korean alphabet is phonetic and some of the sounds have no direct equivalent in English, so there may be some alternatives. Lee Soo is the easy part Cheol, depending on how it's actually pronounced in Korean, is alot harder.

 

[MBuzzy]

Very good point, Morph - any translations here are done based on the McCune-Reischauer system. So there is a standard set of romanized character to hangul character translations. For example, based on that system, an "eo" always becomes ㅓ. Based on that, if you have a Korean word written in English by someone who does it often or knows the sytem, it is EASY to put it into Hangul.

BUT, if you have a Korean word that was just written out by an American as it sounds or an English word being translated to its sounds in Hangul it won't always be the same. There are lots of threads that talk about the sounds that Korean characters have and the fact that they have no equivalent in English or are hard to translate.

A perfect example is my name....Craig
It can be translated as: 그레그, 꾸래그, or honestly any variety of ways....because it just simply doesn't translate well. Even amongst Koreans, two may do it differently. It is simply a different alphabet with different rules and different sounds.

BUT, in martial arts terms, our terminology has a prescribed spelling, so as long as you know the word, amongst the people here, we should be able to get the right spelling.

 

[MBuzzy]

SO - Chris, in your case....Assuming that the romanized version of your name was done by a Korean or someone who write things in our alphabet on a regular basis and assuming that they used McCune Reishchauer, your name is written as 이, 수 절, but, as Morph said, it can also be written 이, 수철, which will give you a harder Ch sound.

Ch is particularly difficult, because it can be said basically three ways depending on its placement in the word and its pronunciation. It can take on a j or ch sound, plus a number of different aspirations (written as ㅈ (ch,j,ort) ,ㅊ (ch' or t) , or ㅉ (tch)...all of which have different placements and pronunciations).

The other two sounds are fairly common and the translation is fairly common. Generally when eo is written, it means ㅓ....as in Incheon, Seoul, a number of other cities, and more words than are in my Korean vocabulary.

 

[lpincada1]

Hi there, my name is Leilani, i am a 4th degree black belt in American Kenpo Karate and i have been studying this art for 26 years, and i am a sensei (teaher) of the art as well. But most importantly i am a mother of 6 gorgeous children who came to us through the miracle of adoption. All of my children were born in s. korea and i would LOVE to know how to write their american names in hangul (we already know how to write their korean names in hangul thanks to their paperwork).

Here are their american names, do your best, thanks!

Elan
Sumner
Matea
Ayani
Aaden
Javien

P.s. I will also send this message to your in a pm since you havent posted on this thread since january and i want to make sure you see it! :angel:

Thanks a ton, Leilani!

 

[MBuzzy]

Ma,am,

No problem at all. Please keep in mind that not all sounds translate exactly into English, so this is my take on translation. For names, it ends up being the way that you prefer. I will also include the phoenetic pronunciations of the Korean versions (in case the name sounds different than it is written).

Elan - 이란 - Ee lawn
Sumner - 섬너 - Saum nah
Matea - 마데아 - Ma tay ah
Ayani - 어예니 - ah ya nee
Aaden - 에딘 - Ay din

The last one is VERY dependent on Pronunciation. I've done a few translations and placed them with the sounds that they may relate to.
Javien (if pronounced Jay - vee - en) 죄비인 - Chwoe pee in
Javien (if pronounced Jah - vee - en) 자비인 - Cha pee in
Javien (if pronounced Hay - vee - en) 햬비인 - Chae pee in
Javien (if pronounced Hah - vee - en) 하비인 - Cha pee in

I have to run right now, I'll explain more later

 

[MBuzzy]

As you can see and have probably read, the hangul spellings are a bit up to the translator. Some sounds also don't go into Hangul very well, so I've taken my best shot at translating them. If I have the pronunciations off, please let me know and I'll get the hangul close to how it is said in english.