From: Doug Ewell (dewell@adelphia.net)
Date: Mon Dec 15 2003 - 11:25:08 EST
Patrick Andries <Patrick dot Andries at xcential dot com> wrote:
> Because according to the articles this was the original English
> spelling before the occupying Japanese authorities changed the initial
> C by a K so that Korea would follow Japan in alphabetical order.
This seems very misguided, if true. Alphabetical primacy can hardly be
considered an effective measure of the relative power or importance of a
nation.
In English transcriptions at least, the first two countries
alphabetically are Afghanistan and Albania. It is difficult to imagine
how the status of these countries has been bolstered by being first in
the alphabet.
Remember that in the time frame in question, the late '30s and early
'40s, three of the major world powers were the United States, the United
Kingdom, and the Soviet Union (Союз Советских Социалистических
Республик). These countries, beginning with "U", "U", and "S" in their
respective national languages, were unlikely to attach much significance
to the relative alphabetical order of "Japan" and "Korea."
Furthermore, Japan in the pre-WWII era was still relatively isolated and
anti-Western. Did it really matter to the Imperial authorities how
things were spelled in English (while simultaneously ignoring the French
spellings)?
Alternative English spellings of non-Latin-alphabet place names were
common in the pre-WWII era. In addition to "Corea," you will also find
"Tokio" and "Bagdad" in American literature of the day.
-Doug Ewell
Fullerton, California
http://users.adelphia.net/~dewell/
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