I'd been wondering about this ever since I started reading names in Korean..I'm glad somebody addressed this even if nobody knows exactly why ;). I love that such topics are introduced on this channel - they're informative and interesting!
My name is Li. My grandfather left Korea in early 1900's. He had to go to Shanghai to have a chinese passport to go to Europe. His name was then transcribe by the french authorities in Shanghai who translate the chinese surname written in his passport into "Li". Maybe because a lot of early korean migrants had to go to through the same process, all their names were translated in chinese before they got romanized. That could be the reason why western countries started to write the korean name 이 as "Lee" or "Li".
Thank you! Even if the actual _reason_ has been lost to time, you gave enough information about its history that I can at least understand the _process_ that caused the Romanization to not match the pronunciation/Hangul. In short, we may not know the "why," but knowing the "how" is an excellent substitute. :)
Thank you for this video. I have been wondering whyyy it is pronounced as Lee when I started learning Korean. Mann this clears up so much doubts for me…
Would you mind if you make a video about the surnames 김 (Kim), 박 (Park), and 최 (Choi), and why they are romanized as such? I'm also curious about them. Haha. Thanks. :)
I love this type of video regarding entymology and history. I can see that you do a lot of thorough research which is appreciated. How about a couple of videos on how the Korean language has diverged in North and South Korea.
This is fascinating. I'm glad somebody addressed it because once I learned 한글, I was PORPLEXED (yes "PORPLEXED" lol) at the romanization. So thank you! I learned a lot! It wasn't a waste of time at all! It's interesting how the name has changed & evolved over time!
Facinating. I've noticed that in the UK everybody calls the (brilliant) Tottenham Hotspur player 손흥민 Son, or Sonny; as if his name (in Hangeul) would be written 선. I often wonder if this annoys him and other Korean people. Or have many Korean people become resigned to the fact that foreigners always mispronounce their names? Also, there was a famous Korean martial artist called Jhoon Rhee. It never occured to me, until you mentioned it, that his surname was most likely spelled 이 in Hangeul.
Dunno where you're from but the official romanization for the letter 오 is o in the South Korean system, while o in the North Korean system is 어 (which is why the official name is usually written as Pyongyang and only rarely as Pyeongyang. I could barely type that cause my phone kept reverting to the previous version :)) So as far as I know 오 is the most similar to the typical o sound in English according to most native speakers, and that's why 손 is romanized as Son. However English speakers who know nothing about Korean naturally pronounce it like the English word "son", I guess. In my own language the vowel "o" actually sounds like the Korean 어 and we don't have an 오 sound so I feel much more at ease when seeing the NK romanization... Haha.
@@Mort7an Thanks, time to get my Korean up to speed now. BTW a thing that's also the case with Son is that the pundits usually pronounce the first part of his name, 흥, as 흉... Cause it's romanized to Heung and I guess Hyung is indeed the most natural interpretation of Heung for an English native speaker. Conclusion? Romanization sucks. I have to admit that I'm a gunner, but I still like Sonny. Just glad he didn't score a few days ago. Cheers. ;)
@@agnieszkatwardosz5106 You're an Arsenal supporter? OK, I'm going to have to stop talking to you now. :) :) You are correct about the way they pronounce 흥 in the UK. And about how poor Romanization is for learning Korean; but I still occasionally use my own version of it when coming up with mnemonics to remember new vocabulary. All the best. :)
And vowels in Korean kind of look similiar to each other like “이”, “에”, and “아” in strokes, same with other sounds looking similiar to each other if they sound similiar to each other like “나” and “난”. Even “아” is just “이” with one extra line. Same with Japanese, like how “ジ” just looks like “シ” with an accent mark on top of it.
Actually in German (and many other languages) i is pronounced like the Korean 이. It’s just in English that it’s pronounced as ee. So maybe the romanisation Li comes from a time when English was not the dominant language yet.
@@YourKoreanSaem and have you ever come across a reason why Korean romanize 우 in names to Woo? I find it ironic when many Korean English learners have so much trouble pronouncing the w sound...it seems like they put the w in 우 out of a desire to increase their opportunities to practice.
I guess it makes sense that there’s the “shi” sound in “없이” since on Google Translate, part of it is Romanized with an “s” in “eobs” and “이” is “i” so the “si” would make the “shi”?
even today yi doesn't seem correct because I is not pronounced as e so i think it should Just E rather then i people pronouncing e and i so similarly creates hell of confusion my brother who have is mentally weak is 28 and still get confused where to use e wand where i because everyone changes e/i pronunciation to their liking
Chinese people who uses the lee surname was under the British colonial rule in Hong Kong while the people who uses Li was never under British domination..
Well, Korean sure sticks out from other eastern Asian languages and nationalities, since the Korean language and the nationality are the only East Asian nationalities and only east Asian language that does not end in “nese”, and unlike Chinese and Japanese, it’s the only language that actually has the characters spaced out, making more sense for seperate words instead of one whole thing.
Hey! I was wondering if you could do a video on sentence structure (order of words) like time person object and adjectives. I have trouble with making long sentences in korean
I don't want to see videos like that. We can learn grammar through a text book or website. These videos are useful because they teach things you can't find in text books. Basic grammar videos will only appeal to new learners and they're the most likely to quit study.
Gâu Gâu Cầu Vồng it's true that we can't find these videos through textbooks/ websites. That's why I want to learn how to make extra long sentences not just basic ones like for beginners. In textbooks they teach you S.O.V but eventually sentences get longer and word order makes all the difference.
Japanese has something in common with Spanish: both the word for bread makes the “pan” sound like “パン”. Even though in Korean, it’s “빵” instead of “판”….
I always thought it’s funny that English is a Germanic language but “no” is both English and Spanish while Spanish is a Romance language and the German word for “no” is “nein”.
I think that Koreans are better at pronouncing the “f” in English like “fire” than at the “z”. ’Cuz “zoom” still sounds like “joom” in K-pop sounds. Though Purple Kiss did do a great job at saying English’s “zombie” in their song of the same name.…
Korean surnames really are different from Japanese surnames. Since Japanese surnames all end in vowels and vowel sounds, but Korean surnames can end in constinents.
Well, I guess since Korean’s “왜” obviously sounds closer to English’s “why” than Japanese’s “どうして”, I guess Korean has more in common with a Western language than Japanese does?
I remember being curious about this but then because 박 was always translated as Park I figured the English translators had done this to make Korean seem less alien.
![Why 맛없다 is Pronounced [마덥따] and NOT [마섭따]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5NNkOFyJ_6M/mqdefault.jpg)
I'd been wondering about this ever since I started reading names in Korean..I'm glad somebody addressed this even if nobody knows exactly why ;). I love that such topics are introduced on this channel - they're informative and interesting!
You absolutely did NOT waste my time. Thank you so much.
My name is Li. My grandfather left Korea in early 1900's. He had to go to Shanghai to have a chinese passport to go to Europe. His name was then transcribe by the french authorities in Shanghai who translate the chinese surname written in his passport into "Li". Maybe because a lot of early korean migrants had to go to through the same process, all their names were translated in chinese before they got romanized. That could be the reason why western countries started to write the korean name 이 as "Lee" or "Li".
you are so smart oh my god
Thank you! Even if the actual _reason_ has been lost to time, you gave enough information about its history that I can at least understand the _process_ that caused the Romanization to not match the pronunciation/Hangul.
In short, we may not know the "why," but knowing the "how" is an excellent substitute. :)
Very informative. I was wondering about this for a long time. This is the first video I've seen of yours. Subscribed! Thank you. 😊
Extremely informative video, thank you. Seem to be a variety of different factors that influence why it is the way it is
That was quite helpful. Finally someone addressed my query.
감사합니다.
Thank you so much, been wondering it for a long time!
Thank you for your amazing description of the surname "Lee* Your explanation was very interesting. Gamsahabnida 🇰🇷
Thank you for this video. I have been wondering whyyy it is pronounced as Lee when I started learning Korean. Mann this clears up so much doubts for me…
Thanks! Your videos are so informative.
Great! the explanation about 두음법칙 ! and yes! I will like to now more about it!
Would you mind if you make a video about the surnames 김 (Kim), 박 (Park), and 최 (Choi), and why they are romanized as such? I'm also curious about them. Haha. Thanks. :)
I think they are done incorrectly. If I had to romanise them I would say 김 Gim, 박 Bag, 최 Chwe
It’s because it follows old romanization and “park” in British accent sounds like the korean Surname.
I've aaalways wondered this omg. I swear you explain the best topics! Thanks again :)
I love this type of video regarding entymology and history.
I can see that you do a lot of thorough research which is appreciated.
How about a couple of videos on how the Korean language has diverged in North and South Korea.
Thanks I had that doubt unsolved.
Gracias Tenía esa duda pendiente.
This is fascinating. I'm glad somebody addressed it because once I learned 한글, I was PORPLEXED (yes "PORPLEXED" lol) at the romanization. So thank you! I learned a lot! It wasn't a waste of time at all!
It's interesting how the name has changed & evolved over time!
What an interesting video! 😊
Then why not romanize it as 'ii' instead of 'lee' or 'yi'?
No apologies needed whatsoever .. not useless at all, and not a waste of time, nor was it any less diminished .. in fact very informational. 감사합니다
Wow, you know a lot of history. Good job!
Why is 모습이 pronounced as moseubshi in “Stereotype” by Isa in StayC in 나도 알아 내 모습이?
I'd love a video on 받침 rules too! Hope your day is going well
Thanks and you too! Will add 받침 to my list of videos to make :)
All Things Korean awesome!! I really appreciate your channel 😁
Amazing video ❤️
Super interesting, thank you!! I'm interested in knowing more about 두음법칙 :)
Facinating. I've noticed that in the UK everybody calls the (brilliant) Tottenham Hotspur player 손흥민 Son, or Sonny; as if his name (in Hangeul) would be written 선. I often wonder if this annoys him and other Korean people. Or have many Korean people become resigned to the fact that foreigners always mispronounce their names?
Also, there was a famous Korean martial artist called Jhoon Rhee. It never occured to me, until you mentioned it, that his surname was most likely spelled 이 in Hangeul.
Dunno where you're from but the official romanization for the letter 오 is o in the South Korean system, while o in the North Korean system is 어 (which is why the official name is usually written as Pyongyang and only rarely as Pyeongyang. I could barely type that cause my phone kept reverting to the previous version :)) So as far as I know 오 is the most similar to the typical o sound in English according to most native speakers, and that's why 손 is romanized as Son. However English speakers who know nothing about Korean naturally pronounce it like the English word "son", I guess. In my own language the vowel "o" actually sounds like the Korean 어 and we don't have an 오 sound so I feel much more at ease when seeing the NK romanization... Haha.
@@agnieszkatwardosz5106 Thanks for the information. :) Your English is amazing considering it is not your native language.
@@Mort7an Thanks, time to get my Korean up to speed now. BTW a thing that's also the case with Son is that the pundits usually pronounce the first part of his name, 흥, as 흉... Cause it's romanized to Heung and I guess Hyung is indeed the most natural interpretation of Heung for an English native speaker. Conclusion? Romanization sucks. I have to admit that I'm a gunner, but I still like Sonny. Just glad he didn't score a few days ago. Cheers. ;)
@@agnieszkatwardosz5106 You're an Arsenal supporter? OK, I'm going to have to stop talking to you now. :) :)
You are correct about the way they pronounce 흥 in the UK. And about how poor Romanization is for learning Korean; but I still occasionally use my own version of it when coming up with mnemonics to remember new vocabulary. All the best. :)
And vowels in Korean kind of look similiar to each other like “이”, “에”, and “아” in strokes, same with other sounds looking similiar to each other if they sound similiar to each other like “나” and “난”. Even “아” is just “이” with one extra line. Same with Japanese, like how “ジ” just looks like “シ” with an accent mark on top of it.
Korean is also similiar to English in letter sounds for words since “마음” and “mind” both have the “m” sound?
Huh??
I’ve wondered the same thing about 박 becoming ‘Park’
Actually in German (and many other languages) i is pronounced like the Korean 이. It’s just in English that it’s pronounced as ee. So maybe the romanisation Li comes from a time when English was not the dominant language yet.
I loved this! Have you ever come across a person with the Yi version of the family name?
I have!
@@YourKoreanSaem and have you ever come across a reason why Korean romanize 우 in names to Woo?
I find it ironic when many Korean English learners have so much trouble pronouncing the w sound...it seems like they put the w in 우 out of a desire to increase their opportunities to practice.
Very interesting!! I had always wondered why the romanization wasn't "i"
Interestingly, the surname 李 in Taiwan is often romanized as Lee as well despite the fact that the official romanization of it is Li.
Taiwan has used a lot of romanization systems in the past
What does 시퍼 mean in Korean?
I'm binge watching all of your Videos. They are interesting. Be my teacher already 😂
I guess it makes sense that there’s the “shi” sound in “없이” since on Google Translate, part of it is Romanized with an “s” in “eobs” and “이” is “i” so the “si” would make the “shi”?
even today yi doesn't seem correct because I is not pronounced as e so i think it should Just E rather then i people pronouncing e and i so similarly creates hell of confusion my brother who have is mentally weak is 28 and still get confused where to use e wand where i because everyone changes e/i pronunciation to their liking
And even if out of 나도 알아 내 모습이, why does the speak-button voice on Google Translate pronounce 모습이 as 모스비?
What else would it be pronounced as???
In China is Li 李 and Yi 易 are considered different families but in Korean same the pronounced.
Do 밤 and 맘 look similiar because they are similiar in sound?
Why do do cat and bat look similar? Is it because they are similar in sound?
Ok. At least I learned lots of interesting things. Thank you.
Chinese people who uses the lee surname was under the British colonial rule in Hong Kong while the people who uses Li was never under British domination..
Why is 싶어 pronounced as 시퍼?
Okay but I found this so interesting-
Language is a mysterious existence indeed.…
Well, Korean sure sticks out from other eastern Asian languages and nationalities, since the Korean language and the nationality are the only East Asian nationalities and only east Asian language that does not end in “nese”, and unlike Chinese and Japanese, it’s the only language that actually has the characters spaced out, making more sense for seperate words instead of one whole thing.
if u want to know ur english pronunciation is good or not, turn on auto subtitle, ur english is pretty good, 쎔.
Hey! I was wondering if you could do a video on sentence structure (order of words) like time person object and adjectives. I have trouble with making long sentences in korean
Hi! I'll try to come up with something within the next couple of weeks!
@@YourKoreanSaem Thank you so so much!
I don't want to see videos like that. We can learn grammar through a text book or website.
These videos are useful because they teach things you can't find in text books.
Basic grammar videos will only appeal to new learners and they're the most likely to quit study.
Gâu Gâu Cầu Vồng it's true that we can't find these videos through textbooks/ websites.
That's why I want to learn how to make extra long sentences not just basic ones like for beginners. In textbooks they teach you S.O.V but eventually sentences get longer and word order makes all the difference.
@@dianenguyen1523 howtostudykorean.com has hundreds of lessons on grammar.
Also you can study what you need from TV shows or films or books etc.
Japanese has something in common with Spanish: both the word for bread makes the “pan” sound like “パン”. Even though in Korean, it’s “빵” instead of “판”….
I always thought it’s funny that English is a Germanic language but “no” is both English and Spanish while Spanish is a Romance language and the German word for “no” is “nein”.
I think that Koreans are better at pronouncing the “f” in English like “fire” than at the “z”. ’Cuz “zoom” still sounds like “joom” in K-pop sounds. Though Purple Kiss did do a great job at saying English’s “zombie” in their song of the same name.…
Korean doesn't have an f sound
Why is 모습이 pronounced as moseubshi?
It's pronounced moseubi
Why is 없어 pronounced as 업서?
The video didn't seem useless at all. In fact I just happened to learn something
“Zoom” as “Joom”? I meant as “줌”?
Korean surnames really are different from Japanese surnames. Since Japanese surnames all end in vowels and vowel sounds, but Korean surnames can end in constinents.
Lee is my middle name. Thank you.
It must come from 李小龍，aka Bruce Lee, aka 이브루스.
Well, I guess since Korean’s “왜” obviously sounds closer to English’s “why” than Japanese’s “どうして”, I guess Korean has more in common with a Western language than Japanese does?
What
So it's not Lee Min Ho, but Yi Min Ho??
Everyday I learn something new.
prounciation is yi min ho right
just lee is just conventional thing
No Lee Min Ho is correct.
Are 않 and 안 homophones?
Answerd: idk dude, lol
Are 좋 and 조 homophones?
Why do Koreans pronounce 없어 as 업서?
Why do Koreans pronounce 싶어 as 시퍼?
They are the same pronounciation
I remember being curious about this but then because 박 was always translated as Park I figured the English translators had done this to make Korean seem less alien.
So North Koreans do pronounce "L"? Wow, I really don't know that!
Why do Koreans pronounce 네 as 니?
They don't
No Le is pronounced like how it’s pronounced in English so you are WRONG.
Why do Koreans pronounce 같아 as 가타 or pronounce 것 같아 as 것 가타?
Emphasis is different
Ohh thats why as i read Yiruma's real name i was confused😂😂😂