The last decade of the 19th century,
in which Hangeul was afloat in the foreground
of Korean life, saw almost all the important problems
of Hangeul writing appear and concrete attempts
related to them be suggested. Of them, leaving
a space between words (hereafter, abbreviated
as spacing) and marking proper nouns will be discussed
below.
As is well known, there was no spacing in the
past. It appeared in neither ??nhae?(諺解: Korean
translation books from Chinese originals in Middle
Korean) nor ancient novels, but it appeared after
Kabo-Ky?ngjang(甲午更張, a Korean reform occurring
in 1894) as two methods by using periods and blanks.
Spacing with periods first appeared in <Tongnip-S?gomun>(獨立誓告文:
A Declaration of Independence, December 12th,
in the year 1894). This was written in three styles
such as Korean, Chinese, and blend of Korean and
Chinese. In the former two, black periods were
dotted. In ?Shinj?ngshimsangsohak?(新訂尋常小學) and
?Kungmun-Ch?ngni?(國文正理, 1897) by Lee Pong- Un,
circles were drawn. Studying his books, we can
conclude that Chu Shi-Gy?ng paid close attention
to spacing. He adopted the ‘spacing with blanks’
system in ?W?llam-Mangguksa?(월남망국?, 1907), and
used black periods in ?Kungmun-Chohak?(국문초학, 1909)
and circles in ?Kug?-Munb?p?(국어문법, 1910) and at
last he introduced black periods, circles, and
angle brackets altogether in ?Mare-Sori?(말의 소리,
1914). Furthermore, he varied the place of circles.
This showed that he, having precisely analysed
morphological and syntactical facts, marked them.5)
Meanwhile, ‘spacing with blanks’ system was, above
all, widely spread at the same time of the adoption
of ?Tongnip-Shinmun?(독립신문, Tongnip daily newspaper).
It must have been influenced by the orthography
of Western languages including English. The examples
of ‘spacing with blanks’ in fact were found in
??nmun-Malchik?(언문말칙, 1887) by British attache
Scott and in books written by Western missionaries,
including ?Hany?ng-Munb?p?(韓英文法, 1890) by Underwood.
In this context it was not surprising that S?
Chae-Phil, accustomed to spacing with blanks in
English during his stay in America, should adopt
this spacing system in Korean writing. He insisted
in a leading article(논셜) in the first edition
of ?Tongnip-Shinmun? that they should leave a
space between phrases, and carried it out. Additionally,
in an editorial(논셜)6)
on the national language reported in number 92,
volume 2 of the same newspaper. the edition of
a dictionary of Chinese characters(玉篇) and spacing
with blanks were emphasized most heavily. It was
clear evidence that he stuck to this spacing system.
With the advent of the twentieth century, of the
above-mentioned two methods of leaving a space,
the latter won out and at last it was adopted
in ‘A Unified Proposal On Hangeul Orthography’
by The Linguistic Society of Chos?n(朝鮮語學會) in
1933. The author would like to add two facts here.
Firstly, leaving a space was carried out only
in a pure Hangeul style from the latter part of
the 19th century. A mixture style of Hangeul and
Chinese characters took no notice of leaving a
space. Secondly, in so far as leaving a space
the disciples of Chu Shi-Gy?ng (周時經) did not follow
their master. The fact that there was no leaving
a space at all in ?Chos?n-Malbon?(조선말본, 1916)
by Kim Tu-Bong(金枓奉), presented a striking contrast
with ?Chos?n-?mun-Ky?ngwi?(朝鮮語文經緯, 1923) by Kwon
T?k-Kyu (權悳奎). Many other books afterwards and
a coterie magazine ?Hangeul?(July 1927-October
1928) adopted leaving a space with blank.
The system of leaving spaces is generally practised
today,but it varies from elementary textbooks
to newspapers and magazines because of the loose
regulations of orthography. It is desirable to
prepare unified regulations which all publications
are willing to obey.
?Tongnip-Shinmun?(독립신문) used a side-line in the
right side of a related word in order to represent
proper nouns. Furthermore, this newspaper used
a double line for names of states and places and
a single line for personal names. A side-lining
system(傍線法) was observed in Number 125, Volume
1, and it was abolished afterwards. No reason
was given.
This side-lining system was found in the Korean
translation (1897) by The Ministry of Learning(學部),
of ?Thaes?shinsa?(泰西新史) published in China. In
this book it is peculiar that double lines were
used at the right side of names for marking names
of states and places; they were used at the left
side of names for marking personal names. The
side-lining system in ?Kugmun-Ch?ngni?(國文正理, 1897)
by Lee Pong-Un is identical to that of ?Tongnip-Shinmun?.
This system was followed into the 20th century.
A magazine ?Sony?n?(少年) published by Choi Nam-S?n
was an example of this system. This is not true
of ?Ch?ngchun?(靑春). It is interesting that this
follows the same change as ?Tongnip-Shinmun?.
As we see it, the side-lining system for proper
nouns was partially practised. Yet it is worth
noticing a regulation in A Unified Proposal On
Hangeul Orthography (Appendix 2, Punctuation)
that in representing proper nouns a single line
is drawn on the left side of a related proper
noun in the case of writing from top to bottom
and a single line under a related proper noun
in the case of writing from left to right. The
need for marking proper nouns requires that this
regulation be preserved in the later revised version
of A Unified Proposal On Hangeul Orthography,
in spite of its troublesome procedure and its
ugly appearance.
Recent publications have almost abandoned marking
proper nouns. This trend is true of dictionaries
?Kh?n-Saj?n?(A Large Dictionary of Korean, 1947-1957)
published by The Hangeul Academic Society(한글학회),
adopted an underlining system for proper nouns,
but ?Urimal Kh?n-Saj?n?(A Large Dictionary of
Our Language Korean, 1992) did not take any measure
at all for proper nouns. Even though we sometimes
see quotation marks(? ?, “ ”) for proper nouns,
it is no more than a patch-up. As a special case,
the Korean version of Reader's Digest uses a Gothic
typeface for the first appearance of a proper
noun.
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