On the Pronunciation and the Meaningful Rendering of the Oriental Medical Chinese Terminology into Korean

한의학용어(韓醫學用語)의 발음(發音)과 독음(讀音)에 대(對)하여 -두음법칙(頭音法則)과 경음화(硬音化)를 중심으로-

In this paper, this writer looked into the initial law and fortification, which are two of the most important phonetic changes of Sino-Korean words. Pronunciation and inscription rules of Oriental Medical terminologies have also been studied. Moreover, several problems of meaningful rendering of Oriental Medical Chinese terminologies into Korean have been looked into. As a result, the following conclusions could be drawn. 1. The initial law only applies to Sino-Korean words that consist of more than one syllable. It does not apply to words borrowed from foreign languages. Especially, compound words like Jang-ssi-yu-gyeong(張氏類經) or Im-sin-yuk-hyeol(姙娠衄血) consist of already existing words such as Jang-ssi(張氏), Yu-gyeong(類經), Im-sin(姙娠), and Yuk-hyeol(衄血), and thus the initial law applies to these words. They are inscribed and pronounced 'Jang-ssi-yu-gyeong' and 'Im-sin-yuk-hyeol'. 2. Fortification of Sino-Korean words can be applied variously according to the structure and meaning of the words. Words such as '科', '格', '氣', '法', '病', '症', and '證' are often fortified and at the same time used frequently in Oriental Medicine. Also, many other words are derived from these words. However, there has not been a scholastic consent among the Oriental Medical society as to in which circumstances these words will be fortified. Therefore, a standardization process to stipulate the pronunciation of Oriental Medical terminologies is necessary. 3. Meaningful rendering of Oriental Medical Chinese terminologies into Korean also needs scholastic investigation. Especially, the word 兪 should be meaningfully rendered and pronounced 'su' just like the words 輸 and 腧, but is wrongly pronounced 'yu'. Other than this, the words 井滎兪經合, 秦艽, 膻中, 共振丹, 成無已, and 麗澤通氣湯 should respectively be pronounced 'jeong-hyeong-su-gyeong-hap', 'jin-gyo', 'dan-jung', 'gong-sin-dan', 'Seong-mu-yi', and 'Yi-taek-tong-gi-tang'. Moreover, there are four pronunciations to the word 梴 of 李梴. This should also be standardized. This writer proposes that in the future, correct meaningful rendering of Chinese terminologies into Korean and phonetic signs be inscribed in dictionaries regarding Oriental Medical terminologies.