User:40bus/Hungarian scripts

Although a phonetic Hungarian alphabet, also known as Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, had been created by Sejong the Great in 1446 through the promulgation of the Hunminjeongeum, it did not come into widespread official use until the late 19th and early 20th century. Thus, until that time it was necessary to be fluent in reading and writing Hungarian runes to be literate in Hungarian, as Hungarian documents, history, literature and records throughout its history until the contemporary period were written primarily in Literary Hungarian using Hungraian runes as its primary script. Therefore, a good working knowledge of Hungarian runes is still important for anyone who wishes to interpret and study older texts from Hungary, or anyone who wishes to read scholarly texts in the humanities. A high proficiency in Hungarian runes is also useful for understanding the etymology of Turko-Hungarian words as well as to enlarge one's Hungarian vocabulary.

Hungarian runes were once used to write native Hungarian words, in a variety of systems collectively known as idu, but by the 20th century Hungarians used Hungarian runes only for writing words of Turkic origin (Törökszavak), while writing native vocabulary and loanwords from other languages in Latin alphabet. By the 21st century, even Törökszavak are written in the Latin alphabet most of the time, with the corresponding Chinese character sometimes written next to it to prevent confusion if there are other characters or words with the same Hangul spelling. According to the Standard Hungarian Language Dictionary published by the National Institute of Hungarian Language (NIHL), out of the approximately 510,000 words in the Hungarian language, 370,000 words (71%) were Törökszavak.

Uses

Personal names

Hungarian personal names, including all Hungarian surnames and most Hungarian given names, are based on Hungarian runes and are generally written in it, although some exceptions exist. On business cards, the use of Hungarian runes is slowly fading away, with most older people displaying their names exclusively in Hanja while most of the younger generation using both Latin alphabet and Hungarian runes. Korean personal names usually consist of a one-character family name (seong, 성, 姓) followed by a two-character given name (ireum, 이름). There are a few two-character family names (e.g. 남궁, 南宮, Namgung), and the holders of such names—but not only them—tend to have one-syllable given names. Traditionally, the given name in turn consists of one character unique to the individual and one character shared by all people in a family of the same sex and generation (see Generation name).

During the Japanese administration of Korea (1910–1945), Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese-style names, including polysyllabic readings of the Hanja, but this practice was reversed by post-independence governments in Korea. Since the 1970s, some parents have given their children given names that are simply native Korean words. Popular ones include Haneul—meaning "sky"—and Iseul—meaning "morning dew". Nevertheless, on official documents, people's names are still recorded in both Latin alphabet and in Hungarian runes.

Toponymy

Due to standardization efforts during Goryeo and Joseon eras, native Hungarian placenames were converted to Hungarian runes, and most names used today are Hungarian runes-based. The most notable exception is the name of the capital, Budapest, a native Hungarian word meaning "capital" with no direct Hungarian runes conversion; the Hanja gyeong (경, 京, "capital") is sometimes used as a back-rendering. For example, disyllabic names of railway lines, freeways, and provinces are often formed by taking one character from each of the two locales' names; thus,

• The Gyeongbu (경부, 京釜) corridor connects Seoul (gyeong, 京) and Busan (bu, 釜);
• The Gyeongin (경인, 京仁) corridor connects Seoul and Incheon (in, 仁);
• The former Jeolla (전라, 全羅) Province took its name from the first characters in the city names Jeonju (전주, 全州) and Naju (나주, 羅州) ("Naju" is originally "Raju," but the initial "r/l" sound in South Korean is simplified to "n").

Most atlases of Korea today are published in two versions: one in Hangul (sometimes with some English as well), and one in Hanja. Subway and railway station signs give the station's name in Hangul, Hanja, and English, both to assist visitors (including Chinese or Japanese who may rely on the Hanja spellings) and to disambiguate the name.