Cyrillization of Korean

The Cyrillization of Korean is the transcribing and transliterating the Korean language into the Cyrillic alphabet. The main cyrillization system in use is the Kontsevich system (Russian: Систе́ма Конце́вича, romanized: Sistema Kontsevicha, IPA: [sʲɪˈsʲtʲemə kɐnˈt͡sɛvʲɪt͡ɕə]). The Kontsevich system was created by the Soviet-Russian scholar Lev Kontsevich (Russian: Лев Конце́вич, IPA: [kɐnˈtsɛvʲɪtɕ]) in the 1950s based on the earlier transliteration system designed by Aleksandr Kholodovich [ru] (Russian: Алекса́ндр Холодо́вич, IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr xəlɐˈdovʲɪtɕ]). As a consequence of the Cold War, a Latin-script variant of the Kontsevich system is used in the states of the former Warsaw Pact (for example, in Polish and Czech), while Serbian and Macedonian follow a Cyrillization system based on McCune–Reischauer romanization owing to the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia being a non-aligned state outside the Soviet bloc.

Features

Cyrillization systems for Korean were developed domestically in both North Korea (where it has been proposed to replace the current script in the past) and South Korea; Kontsevich carried out work on the systemization of these rules. In contrast with some systems of Romanization of Korean, the transcription is based primarily on the pronunciation of a word, rather than on its spelling.

Consonants

Initial

Hangul	ㄱ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅅ	ㅈ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ	ㄲ	ㄸ	ㅃ	ㅆ	ㅉ	ㅇ
Cyrillic	к	н	т	р	м	п	с	ч	чх	кх	тх	пх	х	кк	тт	пп	сс	чч	–
McCune–Reischauer	k	n	t	r	m	p	s	ch	ch'	k'	t'	p'	h	kk	tt	pp	ss	tch	–
Revised Romanization	g	n	d	r	m	b	s	j	ch	k	t	p	h	kk	tt	pp	ss	jj	–

Final

Hangul	ㄱ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅅ	ㅈ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ	ㄲ	ㄸ	ㅃ	ㅆ	ㅉ	ㅇ
Cyrillic	к	н	т	ль	м	п	т	т	т	к	т	п	т	к	–	–	т	–	нъ
McCune–Reischauer	k	n	t	l	m	p	t	t	t	k	t	p	t	k	–	–	t	–	ng
Revised Romanization	k	n	t	l	m	p	t	t	t	k	t	p	t	k	–	–	t	–	ng

Medial consonant rules

Some letters are transcribed differently in the middle of a word when following certain other letters.

Next initial Previous ending		ㄱ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅅ	ㅈ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ	ㅇ
		к	н	т	р	м	п	с	ч	чх	кх	тх	пх	х	–
ㄱ	к	кк	нн	кт	нн	нм	кп	кс	кч	кчх	ккх	ктх	кпх	кх	г
ㄴ	н	нг	нн	нд	лл	нм	нб	нс	ндж	нчх	нкх	нтх	нпх	нх	н
ㄹ	ль	льг	лл	льтт	лл	льм	льб	льсс	льчч	льчх	лькх	льтх	льпх	рх	р
ㅁ	м	мг	мн	мд	мн	мм	мб	мс	мдж	мчх	мкх	мтх	мпх	мх	м
ㅂ	п	пк	мн	пт	мн	мм	пп	пс	пч	пчх	пкх	птх	ппх	пх	б
ㅇ	нъ	нг	нн	нд	нн	нм	нб	нс	ндж	нчх	нкх	нтх	нпх	нх	нъ

Vowels

Hangul	ㅏ	ㅑ	ㅓ	ㅕ	ㅗ	ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅣ	ㅐ	ㅒ	ㅔ	ㅖ	ㅚ	ㅟ	ㅢ	ㅘ	ㅝ	ㅙ	ㅞ
Cyrillic	а	я	о	ё	о	ё	у	ю	ы	и	э	йя	е	йе/ -е	ве	ви	ый/ -и	ва	во	вэ	ве
McCune–Reischauer	a	ya	ŏ	yŏ	o	yo	u	yu	ŭ	i	ae	yae	e/ -ë	ye	oe	wi	ŭi	wa	wŏ	wae	we
Revised Romanization	a	ya	eo	yeo	o	yo	u	yu	eu	i	ae	yae	e	ye	oe	wi	ui	wa	wo	wae	we

Examples

English	Hangul (Hanja)	RR (RR transliteration in parentheses)	Kontsevich (Latin transliteration in parentheses)
wall	벽 (壁)	byeok (byeog)	пёк (pyok)
on the wall	벽에	byeoge (byeog-e)	пёге (pyoge)
outside (uninflected)	밖	bak (bakk)	пак (pak)
outside	밖에	bakke (bakk-e)	пакке (pakke)
kitchen	부엌	bueok (bueok)	пуок (puok)
to the kitchen	부엌에	bueoke (bueok-e)	пуокхе (puokhe)
Wikipedia	위키백과	wikibaekgwa (wikibaeggwa)	викхибэкква (vikhibèkkva)
Hangul	한글	hangeul or han-geul (han-geul)	хангыль (hangyl')
Hanja	한자 (漢字)	hanja (han-ja)	ханчча (hanchcha)
character, letter	글자 (㐎字)	geulja (geul-ja)	кыльчча (kyl'chcha)
easy	쉬운	swiun (swiun)	свиун (sviun)
Four seasons are distinct.	사계절(四季節)이 뚜렷하다.	Sagyejeori tturyeotada. (Sa-gye-jeol-i ttu-lyeos-ha-da.)	Сагеджори ттурётхада. (Sagedzhori tturyothada)
Just check the line color and width you want.	원(願)하시는 선(線) 색(色)깔과 굵기에 체크하시면 됩니다.	Wonhasineun seon saekkkalgwa gulgie chekeuhasimyeon doemnida. (Won-ha-si-neun seon saeg-kkal-gwa gulg-gi-e che-keu-ha-si-myeon doeb-ni-da.)	Вонхасинын сон сэкккальгва кульккие чхекхыхасимён твемнида. (Vonhasinyn son sèkkal'gva kul'kkie chhekhyhasimyon tvemnida.)
Republic of Korea	대한민국 (大韓民國)	Daehan Minguk (Dae-han Min-gug)	Тэхан Мингук (Dèkhan Minguk)
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	조선민주주의인민공화국 (朝鮮民主主義人民共和國)	Joseon Minjujuui Inmin Gonghwaguk (Jo-seon Min-ju-ju-ui In-min Gong-hwa-gug)	Чосон Минджуджуый Инмин Конхвагук (Choson Mindzhudzhuyy Inmin Konhvaguk)

See also

• Romaja
• New Korean Orthography
• Hangul

Notes

Korean personal names are written by family name first, followed by a space and then the given name. As a rule, syllables in given names are not separated.

External links

• (in Russian) Degrees of Courtesy and Communication Styles in the Korean Language, by K. B. Kurotchenko.
• (in Russian) Entry for Lev Kontsevich on the Institute of Oriental Studies.
• (in Russian) Russian and Latin Transcription of Korean Words, by Lev Kontsevich.