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Article published In: Proper Names:
Edited by Chia-Jung Pan and Yang Huang
[Asian Languages and Linguistics 6:1] 2025
► pp. 203–228

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Proper names in Korean

ORCiD logo with link | Faculty of Liberal Arts Mahidol University | Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Published online: 19 August 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/alal.25011.rhe
Abstract
This paper addresses Korean proper names focusing on their lexical, phonological, morphological, and syntactic characteristics. Koreans use surnames and given names in that order. Surnames are patrilineal and relatively few in number, and given names are created entirely ad hoc, based on their meaning and sound. Given names are predominantly bi-syllabic and CVC structures are on the decrease in favor of light, coda-less syllables. Proper names are also given to pets, geological formations and landmarks, important public facilities, deities, historically significant events and festivities. Phonologically and morphologically proper names behave much in the same way as common nouns do, but they have numerous variations of romanized names due to idiosyncratic phonological constraints. Syntactically, proper names also behave like common nouns but certain peculiarities are also observed. Titles and address terms, intertwined with pronouns, status nouns, and kinship terms, form paradigms with multiplicity of members.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Preliminaries: Korean in brief
    • 2.1Genealogy
    • 2.2Typology
    • 2.3Noun as a word class
    • 2.4Hangeul and romanization
    • 2.5Contact with Chinese
  • 3.Classes of proper names
    • 3.1Person names
    • 3.2Place and entity names
    • 3.3Names of deities
    • 3.4Event names
  • 4.Phonology and morphology of proper names
    • 4.1Phonology
    • 4.2Morphology
  • 5.Syntax of proper names
    • 5.1Delimiters
    • 5.2Modification
    • 5.3Address terms
  • 6.Summary and conclusion
  • Disclosure statement
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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