The JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) reports that a conclusion has been reached to discussion concerning the Korean spelling of the name of the U.S. ambassador to Korea, Alexander Vershbow.
And to think I didn’t even know there was a discussion going on. But there was, apparently.
You see, according to the official rules for Koreanizing foreign words, the "Ver" in "Vershbow" is supposed to be written "??," with the entire name written "???๙??." Yet at almost every unofficial meeting, the ambassador insisted that his name be written "???๙??."
The Foreign Ministry even got involved, issuing a statement saying it would be best to spell the ambassador’s name as he preferred.
Some papers then adopted Vershbow’s preferred spelling, but most–including the JoongAng–continued to use the old spelling, adhering to the established rules for Koreanizing foreign words. This led to some degree of confusion, with two spellings going on simultaneously. The joint government-media committee on the Koreanization of foreign words–and yes, there is apparently such a committee–convened a snap subcommittee meeting and issued a statement saying there was no basis for the ambassador’s preferred spelling (???๙??), and the old spelling (???๙??) was correct.
The ambassador brought the matter to a conclusion when he recently had new business cards made up using the "official" spelling. A U.S. embassy official said on Wednesday that the ambassador had decided to use the ???๙?? spelling out of respect for the spelling rules employed by most newspapers and "Korean public opinion."
Vershbow’s attachment to the ???๙?? spelling is said to be thanks to his Stateside Korean teacher, who apparently taught him to spell it that way. And it was in that manner that he initially printed up his business cards, which he had made before coming to Korea.
Interestingly enough, this would be at least the second time the Vershbow family has been denied the preferred spelling of their name. The Vershbow name was originally "Wierzbowy," which apparently means "willow tree" in Polish. U.S. immigration officials, of course, butchered the name, and the Vershbow clan was born. If it makes the ambassador feel any better, the Koehler clan suffered a similar fate, having been cruelly deprived of their umlaut by dastardly Ellis Island officials.
Now, just to note, regardless of the rules regarding the Koreanization of foreign words, when it goes the other way (i.e., from Korean to English), personal names are written in accordance with the individual’s preference. When I was translating at the Chosun, perhaps the biggest pain in the ass was tracking down the preferred spellings of Korean personal names. At least with lawmakers and government officials, you could always see how they spelled their names at the English homepages of the National Assembly and the various government ministries.
And who could forget, of course, the Foreign Ministry’s epic struggle to get the CIA to change the spelling of the name of Korea’s president from "No" to "Roh" on the spook agency’s homepage.
Photo, BTW, ripped off from here.
24 Comments
Pathetic! Worse than the Fench Canadians!
So Koreans decide how Korean is Romanized, with latitude for Korean names, and how foreign words are written in Hangul, with no latitude for foreigner preference on their name spelling. I see. I wonder how Koreans would feel if the U.S. told them how to Romanize their names when they came to the U.S. Ok, I dont wonder, I have a pretty good idea.
Still, if I were Vershbow Id probably go with ???? (which sounds like beo-shi-ba-boo transliterated back into Roman letters) rather than his preferred ???? (which sounds like beu-shi ba-bo, and also sounds a lot like the Korean words for Bush is foolish). Hehe.
If he were gutsy, he would have gone with
V????.
Some papers then adopted Vershbow’s preferred spelling, but most–including the JoongAng–continued to use the old spelling, adhering to the established rules for Koreanizing foreign words.
Reminds me of what’s lame about the “new” Romanization system: eo is pronounced ?, by God, because we say so!
Next they’ll force Leonardo DiCaprio to pronounce his first name ????. And neon will henceforth be pronounced ?.
Its stimulating blogs entries like this that really grant me the opportunity to shine.
It seems the younger brother of our esteemed Hwang Woo-suk is taking his place in the limelight.
http://english.yna.co.kr/Engne.....454E3.html
Sorry to spike your pudding Michael, but I have it on good “understanding” that Seol Woo-suk is actually the gay (Baduk will transcend time differences for this) partner of our beloved if somewhat embattled cloning researcher. Their marriage in Eunpyonggu early last year was well recorded and it is a testament to the high journalistic standards of South Korea that this fact is not dragged up for all to see.
I may be a ????? who sold out his country so my children could attaining the high level of education that posters such as Kushibo have been so fortunate to receive, but the two are actually not related. In Korean, The family name comes first, and the Christian name last. In this case, the two gentlemen simply share the same Christian name.
http://kushibo.blogspot.com/
Boy you were quick to demonstrate you gay prejucides. For you information, Hwang Woo-suk is Buddhist, therefore inso facto ergo sum pseudo intellectual gibberish Woo-suk is actually his Buddhist name
My bad, double post.
Kushibo, you are being really stupid guy. Why don’t you gome home and stop having sex with Korean girls. You are a hagwon white trash
One of the young ladies where I work actually has four names. I’m not going to write her real name, but it is something like
? ?
Cha-eun Mi-yeon. She said its really rare and because she is a kind of royalty (?? but Im not sure if thats the correct spelling). Thats what I love about Korea and the reason I write, there are so many fascinating things i can learn . Did you know that if you mix soju and bekseju it becomes ohshipseju, which means 10 crow/birds alcohol. And it tastes great
Is everyone else on LSD or are all these comments a little off topic?
The above comment was not posted by me but my cyber stalker. Apologies to all.
dyed hair
I may be a ????? who sold out his country so my children could attaining the high level of education that posters such as Kushibo have been so fortunate to receive,
I was educated in Korea.
but the two are actually not related.
Um, I am not the one who brought up Hwang Woo-suk or Seol Woo-suk.
http://kushibo.blogspot.com/
Boy you were quick to demonstrate you gay prejucides.
Has everyone gone mental? Is Oranckay right about the LSD? Attention everyone: do not take the orange pills! Do not take the orange pills!
What “gay prejudices” am I demonstrating (and is it for or against gays?)? And what does this have to do with anything? If you have a problem with anything, leave a comment at blog post itself.
Kushibo, you are being really stupid guy.
It’s a hobby of mine. It helps me fit in.
Why don’t you gome home and stop having sex with Korean girls.
I am home, and it’s been quite a while since I last had sex with a Korean female.
You are a hagwon white trash
I do not work in a hagwon, and I am off-white trash.
Okay, Marmot, I’m done. As long as the weirdly random attacks are over.
Yes, could we please lay off random personal attacks on Kushibo.
And I’m sorry to hear about your lack of luck with the Korean ladies, Kushibo.
PS: Anyone posting using MY name will be banned.
And I’m sorry to hear about your lack of luck with the Korean ladies, Kushibo.
Um, it could also be luck with ladies (er, a lady) of a different ethnic persuasion.
You got my hopes up for a moment there, Kushibo. I was about to board a plane for Seoul. I love off-white trash!
That really is something. Is there any Korean alive who can see the hypocrisy here? Or do all believe that they really just are so much smarter than everyone else, like our friend “baduk”?
Somebody posts as “Michael” with the fake email address I usually stick on posts (because I’m not too creative), then someone else posts as “Michael” with “The above comment was not posted by me….” You must be even more bored at work than I am.
Well, carry on, knock yourself out, the comments have been innocuous so far, and the Marmot can always check IP addresses if you misbehave.
As for me, I am shocked, yes shocked, I tell you, to discover that Hangul could not capture the sonorous nuances of Ambassador Vershbow’s patronym. Everyone here knows, yes, don’t deny it, that hangul is the most scientifically organized alphabet in world history, capable of reproducing every sound made by human vocal chords. Now, umm, where did I leave those lab samples?
(oooh, and off-white trash! Yes, that deserves a respectful doff of the plumed hat and bow!)
Is everyone else on LSD or are all these comments a little off topic?
Posted by: Oranckay | January 05, 2006 at 10:26 PM
The above comment wasn’t made by me.
The above comment wasn\’t made by me.
It makes sense that there have to be rules to hangeulize foreign names and that they have to be followed, because though 98% of the world’s population has foreign names, very few have any personal preference whatsoever as to how to write them in hangeul. Vershbow, too, for that matter, does not read and write Korean.
What annoys me a little is that some of newspapers are ignoring Vershbow’s personal preference despite respecting the personal preferences of Koreans when it comes to the rare cases where there are ambiguities hangeulizing names that are in hanja. IE, most major publications write ??? for ??? and ??? for ??? because that’s the way ??? and ??? prefer their names be written. So, if they’re going to break the rules for how certain Koreans spell their names, they need to be consistent and respect how a foreigner spells his as well. Hankyoreh, btw, writes it like Vershbow likes it, and many other publications do as well.
And folks, it’s ??? not ???, since the ? in question is doing the ?-ing ?.
I would use his personal preference — it’s his name.
I had to deal with the same thing here in Japan. When putting my name in kana, do you go by the sound, or the spelling.
I’m Darin ten Bruggencate. If you go by the spelling, I’m ?????????????. If you go by sound I’m ??????????????. How can it be decided which way to do it? Well, It should be done the way I want it done — it’s my name. The same should be applied for Mr. Vershbow I believe. It’s his name after all. How do I write my name? I like to cause trouble, so I write my name in Hiragana (which is a ‘no-no’, all dirty gaijin have to use katakana so as to make it well known how different they are) and write my name ???.
On a semi-related matter, why is it that when someone from Japan for example comes to America, most will insist that you pronounce their name the way it should be in Japanese, but when someone from America goes to Japan, most Japanese people will insist that this is Japan and therefor you must pronounce your own name wrong as to accommodate us vowel-lacking Japanese. I never understood that. I’ll be starting another school in April 1st (3rd college is a charm right? hehe) and I plan on just writing my name “Darin” and not katakana-izing the pronunciation.