Cyrillization of Korean

The Kontsevich system (Russian: Систе́ма Конце́вича, romanized: Sistema Kontsevicha, IPA: [sʲɪˈsʲtʲemə kɐnˈt͡sɛvʲɪt͡ɕə]) is a cyrillization system for the Korean language and currently the main system of transcribing and transliterating Korean words into the Cyrillic alphabet. 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 (Russian: Алекса́ндр Холодо́вич, IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr xəlɐˈdovʲɪtɕ]).

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	о́	ё	у	ю	ы	и	э	йя	е́	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(百科)	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( - 字)	geulja (geul-ja)	кыльчча (kyl'chcha)
(an) easy (+ noun)	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.)
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 Конъхвагук (Choson Mindzhudzhuyy Inmin Kon'hvaguk)

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.

See also

• Romaja
• New Korean Orthography
• Hangul
• List of Korea-related topics

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.