A Proposal for Punctuating the New Korean Revised Version: Focusing on Quotations and Exclamations

Soo-kyung Yang

Lecturer, Department of Linguistics, Seoul National University; 1, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, South Korea

Abstract

The New Korean Revised Version (NKRV) is currently undergoing revision, including the systematic addition of punctuation. This study proposes punctuation guidelines for quotations and exclamations by examining seven Korean Bible translations published by the Korean Bible Society. Three guidelines are proposed, each derived from the current Korean orthographic rules rather than formulated independently of them. First, nested quotations should be marked hierarchically with double quotation marks, single quotation marks, double corner brackets, and single corner brackets, an ordering that applies the double-single contrast the rules establish for both quotation marks and corner brackets; for the rare fifth level, a comma marks the onset of the quotation. Second, when an embedded quotation is followed by a reporting clause, its final period should be omitted, a choice the rules explicitly permit. Third, the rules specify what exclamation marks mark but not how to identify those cases in translation; this study locates the evidence in Hebrew and Greek forms such as interjections, degree-based exclamatives, verbs of forceful speech, and vocatives with rhetorical questions, treating such forms as necessary but not sufficient. These guidelines fill gaps in the rules by extending principles internal to them, preserving the source text's structure while improving readability.

≪성경전서 개역개정판≫의 문장 부호 표점 제안 : 인용문과 감탄문을 중심으로

초록

Vol. 40 No. 4 (2022.12)

Journal Abbreviation j. Korea Saf. Manag. Sci.
Frequency Published four times annually in March, June, September, and December
Doi Prefix 10.14353/sjk.
Year of Launching 1993
Publisher The Sociolinguistic Society of Korea

Indexed/Tracked/Covered By