• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.39
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• pp.485-499
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• 2015

Initially, the word 'usage' in the rule of Korean orthography was used to indicate the whole grammatical knowledge to separate between stems and inflectional affixes and nominals and case markers. Nowadays the word 'usage' in the rule of Korean orthograph is understood to indicate both 'usage' as the principles of the orthographic rule and 'grammar.' Even though 'usage' and 'grammar' can be understood as two different words, the discrepancy between them is not clear. In fact, if examining the rule of Korean orthography, it is not difficult to find that the principles of the orthography is written based on the grammar rules. Thus, the original principle is damaged because the rule of Korean orthography depends on the grammar rules too much. In addition, the rule of Korean orthography forces to change the grammar rules when describing them. Incorrect description of the grammar rules often causes the spelling mistakes. Therefore, it is necessary to divide two areas such as 'usage' and 'grammar' when dealing with 'the orthographic rules' and describing them.