The four standards
- Hangeul orthography: standard Korean is written as pronounced while conforming to grammar (Article 1), balancing sound against preserving word forms.
- Standard language rules: the standard is modern Seoul speech widely used by educated people, together with standard pronunciation rules.
- Loanword transcription: loanwords use only the 24 Korean letters, only seven final consonants, and no tense consonants for plosives, as a rule.
- Romanisation: the 2000 Revised Romanization follows standard Korean pronunciation.
Word spacing
Each word in a sentence is separated by a space, but particles attach to the preceding word (Articles 2 and 41). Dependent nouns and counters are spaced; auxiliary verbs are spaced in principle but may be attached in some cases. Surnames and given names are written together, titles separately.
Sai-siot
In compounds containing a native Korean element, a linking ㅅ is written when the first part ends in a vowel and the second part's initial becomes tense or gains an added ㄴ sound (e.g. 나룻배, 잇몸). Among Sino-Korean compounds only six words take it.
Common errors
Frequent confusions include 되/돼, 안/않, -던지/-든지, 로서/로써 and spacing of dependent nouns. The Standard Korean Language Dictionary and the National Institute's Q&A; service are the usual references.
References
- 국립국어원. (2017). 『한글 맞춤법』(문화체육관광부 고시 제2017-12호).
- 국립국어원. (2017). 『표준어 규정』(문화체육관광부 고시 제2017-13호).
- 국립국어원. (2017). 『외래어 표기법』(문화체육관광부 고시 제2017-14호).
- 국립국어원. (2014). 『국어의 로마자 표기법』(문화체육관광부 고시 제2014-42호).