Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DavePuff]

Can anyone tell me how I would write this name in English:

장의현

My best guess is: Jung Wei Hyeon. The '의' part is somewhat difficult for me to change. Any help?

[FMPJ]

Officially, it should be Jang Eui Hyeon

[mikowee]

I believe it's pronounced Jang Ee Hyeon. Maybe.

[Leslie Cheswyck]

I think the term is 'transliteration'.

[FMPJ]

Actually, it's "Romanization."

[Leslie Cheswyck]

I stand corrected.

[Pink Freud]

No you don't.

"Transliteration" is acceptable in this case.

trans�lit�er�ate /tr�nsˈlɪtəˌreɪt, tr�nz-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[trans-lit-uh-reyt, tranz-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
�verb (used with object), -at�ed, -at�ing.
to change (letters, words, etc.) into corresponding characters of another alphabet or language: to transliterate the Greek Χ as ch.

From wikipedia (yeah, yeah, not a scholarly reference)

In linguistics, romanization (or Latinization, also spelled romanisation or Latinisation) is the representation of a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system (or none). Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, for representing the spoken word. The latter can be subdivided into phonemic transcription, which records the phonemes or units of semantic meaning in speech, and more strict phonetic transcription, which records speech sounds with precision. Each romanization has its own set of rules for pronunciation of the romanized words.

[PeteJB]

You can pronounce 의 like 이. 의 is rarely pronounced in it's original way, unless at the beginning of a word such as 의사.

[DavePuff]

[alex83]

[PeteJB]

Well because her name is 의현 then you pronounce the full 으-이 combo sound. But if stating her full name (장의현) then it would become 이 just like 여의도. This wasn't a common practice originally, but since it's hard to pronounce even for Koreans, it became 이. 의사 is not pronounced like 으사, at least not in Gyeonggido.

[i4NI]

[schwa]

I hope the OP went with "Eui." Its a difficult syllable but a "w" just adds to the confusion -- too strong for such a subtle vowel. Better I think to have the standard if ambiguous spelling for a name foreigners will struggle with anyway.