The Seoul Foreign Language Spelling Dictionary () is a database of recommended spellings for various Korea-related concepts published by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG). It covers things such as foods, places, and organizations, and is in the English, Japanese, and Chinese languages. The SMG uses the dictionary as a basis for standardizing spellings in Seoul, especially in publicly visible signs and menus. It was started in August 2013.

Description

A predecessor to the dictionary under the domain "englishname.seoul.go.kr" was created just for the English language in 2002. In August 2013, the dictionary was expanded to include Chinese and Japanese, making it the first such standard for these two languages in the country. It was maintained by an advisory committee (), which consisted of around 30 experts (10 for each language).

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

and Japanese

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

are often used in the dictionary. The dictionary covers concepts in twelve categories: administrative districts, public institutions, natural places,

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

, tourist sites,

shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

, hospitality, education, medical/welfare, press/religion, and residential. It was first published with around 80,000 terms, with 48,000 in English and 16,000 each in Japanese and Chinese. Particular focus is given to concepts and places that tourists are likely to interact with. The recommended spellings in the dictionary are not strictly mandatory for businesses, but officials from the SMG do consult with businesses and encourage them to adopt the spellings. The SMG has run multiple public campaigns in the past, wherein citizens are rewarded with cash for reporting incorrect spellings per the dictionary on government-owned signs. In 2021, amidst tensions with China over the cultural identity of kimchi (vs. a similar Chinese dish '' pao cai''), the dictionary began recommending the

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

''xinqi'' () for "kimchi", instead of the previously preferred ''pao cai''.

References

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External links

Homepage
(in Korean) Korean dictionaries 2013 establishments in South Korea Online dictionaries

Description

See also

References

External links