Editing McCune–Reischauer (section)

== Characteristics ==
The following are some characteristics of the McCune–Reischauer system:
* With a few exceptions, it does not attempt to transliterate Korean [[hangul]] but rather represents the phonetic pronunciation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Song|first=Jae Jung|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k-x-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT87|pages=87|title=The Korean Language: Structure, Use and Context|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|isbn=9781134335893}}</ref>
** Example: {{lang|ko|독립}} (pronounced [{{lang|ko|동닙}}]) {{transliteration|ko|MR|to'''ngn'''ip}} (not *''to'''kr'''ip'')
* The voiceless and voiced [[allophone]]s of the Korean [[phoneme]]s /{{lang|ko|ㄱ}}/, /{{lang|ko|ㄷ}}/, /{{lang|ko|ㅂ}}/, and /{{lang|ko|ㅈ}}/ are transcribed differently.
** Examples: {{lang|ko|가구}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|'''k'''a'''g'''u}}, {{lang|ko|등대}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|'''t'''ŭng'''d'''ae}}, {{lang|ko|반복}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|'''p'''an'''b'''ok}}, {{lang|ko|주장}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|'''ch'''u'''j'''ang}}
* The apostrophe is used for transcribing [[Aspiration (phonetics)|strongly aspirated]] consonants {{lang|ko|ㅋ}}, {{lang|ko|ㅌ}}, {{lang|ko|ㅍ}}, and {{lang|ko|ㅊ}} ({{transliteration|ko|MR|k'}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|t'}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|p'}} and {{transliteration|ko|MR|ch'}} respectively), and for distinguishing {{lang|ko|ㄴㄱ}} ({{transliteration|ko|MR|n'g}}) from {{lang|ko|ㅇㅇ}} ({{transliteration|ko|MR|ng}}).
** Examples: {{lang|ko|투표}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|'''t{{`}}'''u'''p{{`}}'''yo}}; {{lang|ko|연구}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|yŏ'''n'g'''u}} (cf. {{lang|ko|영어}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|yŏngŏ}})
* The [[breve]] is used for the vowels {{lang|ko|ㅓ}} ({{transliteration|ko|MR|ŏ}}) and {{lang|ko|ㅡ}} ({{transliteration|ko|MR|ŭ}}), and [[diphthong]]s containing those sounds ({{lang|ko|ㅕ}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|yŏ}}, {{lang|ko|ㅝ}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|wŏ}}; {{lang|ko|ㅢ}} {{transliteration|ko|MR|ŭi}}).

=== Limitations ===
McCune–Reischauer employs dual use of apostrophes, with the more common being for syllabic boundaries. Therefore, it may take some time for learners to familiarise themselves with the placement of apostrophes to determine how a romanized Korean word is pronounced. For example, {{lang|ko|마찬가지}} → {{transliteration|ko|MR|mach'an'gaji}}, which consists of the syllables {{transliteration|ko|MR|ma}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|ch'an}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|ga}}, and {{transliteration|ko|MR|ji}}.

In the early days of the Internet, the apostrophe and breve were even omitted altogether for both technical and practical reasons, which made it impossible to differentiate the strongly aspirated consonants {{transliteration|ko|MR|k'}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|t'}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|p'}} and {{transliteration|ko|MR|ch'}} from the [[Tenuis consonant|unaspirated consonants]] {{transliteration|ko|MR|k}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|t}}, {{transliteration|ko|MR|p}} and {{transliteration|ko|MR|ch}}, and the vowels {{lang|ko|ㅓ}} and {{lang|ko|ㅡ}} from {{lang|ko|ㅗ}} and {{lang|ko|ㅜ}}. As a result, the South Korean government adopted a [[Revised Romanization|revised system of romanization]] in 2000.<ref name="MoCT2000">{{cite web|url=http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=A020303|title=Romanization of Korean|date=July 2000|website=[[Korea.net]]|publisher=Ministry of Culture & Tourism|access-date=9 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070916025652/http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=A020303 <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=16 September 2007}}</ref> However, Korean critics claimed that the Revised System fails to represent {{lang|ko|ㅓ}} and {{lang|ko|ㅡ}} in a way that is easily recognizable and misrepresents the way that the unaspirated consonants are actually pronounced.

Regardless of the official adoption of the new system in South Korea, North Korea continues to use a version of McCune–Reischauer.