[STYLE-2498]: Korean or Hangul for script?

Hi!

It was brought up in STYLE-2498 and on this edit that it is unclear what script should be used for Korean releases that only use Hangul (so, most Korean releases). I certainly don’t know enough to make a call, but we have plenty of editors for Korean music who will almost certainly have an opinion.

Right now, Korean is marked as a frequent script and it’s sort of expected to just pick that for Korean releases. The script documentation says “This covers any combination of Hangul and Hanja for Korean” and it’s basically the equivalent to the Japanese script, “This covers any combination of Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana for Japanese”.

For Japanese we specifically say to just use Japanese script even if a release uses Katakana, unless it’s a transliteration. That said, I understand that the issue with Japanese is that script combination is very common, while almost every Korean release (at least modern ones) are exclusively Hangul.

Should we suggest using Hangul for Korean releases unless they include any Hanja, and put Hangul rather than Korean in the frequently used scripts list?

6 Likes

I would say yes.

Are you sure?
Where do we say that?

But anyway, as the artist name is very likely to be in Kanji, for me the language and script is related to both the track titles and track artists, anyway, so Japanese would be frequently ok.

But for me きみがいるから is Japanese language in Hiragana script and メイクアップ is English language in Katakana script, not just Japanese script.

1 Like

Yes from me as well. Making a ticket for this was on my todo list I never got around to. I can’t personally think of any examples I’ve added that had both Hangul and Hanja.

2 Likes

In the script documentation I linked above :slight_smile: But it is except for transliterations probably because that’s the only time they really use only or mostly Katakana?

1 Like

I searched and edited some release scripts. :weary:
(Japanese, sorry off topic)

Regarding the Japanese language, what is the purpose of the “katakana,” “hiragana,” and “syllabaries” categories? As a Japanese person, subdividing the Japanese into these categories don’t think it makes sense, but is it useful for non-native speakers? (Perhaps native Korean speakers also feel that there is no point in creating a separate “Hangul”).

If it is meant to be used for transliteration, I can understand why it is used to distinguish between the Japanese translation of the original English title and the katakana reading of the original English title.

Example:
Original Latin Title: Ticket to Ride (by the Beatles)
Katakana: チケット・トゥ・ライド
Japanese: 涙の乗車券
Hiragana: なみだのじょうしゃけん

2 Likes

Mmmh no you’re completely right, IMO.
I don’t think anyone cares, either.
Good point, thank you!! :grin::+1:

We can still handle only Japanese script:

Title Language Script
Ticket to Ride English Latin
チケット・トゥ・ライド English Japanese
涙の乗車券 Japanese Japanese
なみだのじょうしゃけん Japanese Japanese
NAMIDANO JŌSHAKEN Japanese Latin

Indeed we have two identical
Japanese/Japanese rows, if we are dropping syllabaries.

But what would be the point of a pseudo-release Japanese transcription in hiragana, anyway?

Do we have any?


So if we extend that to Korean, is it really that useful to have both Korean (Hangeul plus Hanja) and Hangeul ?

1 Like

There would be no necessity to register only in hiragana. The previous example was just a possible case to justify the existence of those “subcategories”. And reading guides such as furigana and ruby should be handled by Alias.

Depending on the actual usage of the MBdb and the compatibility with external application (if exist), it seems simplification would be better – “Japanese” only.

1 Like

I’d definitely be in favor. Most Korean releases I add are multiple languages/multiple scripts since there’s an equal mix of English/Latin and Korean/Hangul, but for those that are mostly Korean it’s nearly always Hangul only. Since it’s the more specific and more common script, I’d say it should be prominently suggested instead of Korean.

1 Like

I am pretty sure the intended purpose of “Katakana” and “Hiragana” was solely for pseudo-releases (alternate tracklists) used for furigana, whereas “Japanese” was intended for everything else (including any combination of Latin script and Japanese characters).

Some people “won” the debate though and classify Japanese titles as “Multiple scripts” now. In a world where the release’s “Script” field can’t be used to figure out what kind of tracklist is being pulled down by your software, there are few reasons to keep around both “Korean” and “Hangul” as scripts, just like there are few reasons to keep around the trio of “Japanese”, “Hiragana”, and “Katakana”.

Likewise, there’s no reason to keep around “Han (Hanzi, Kanji, Hanja)” since the spirit of the Script field is being ignored.

3 Likes

IMO you should make them Korean, not Multiple.
Same as for Japanese and Latin should be Japanese.
Multiple is not very useful, IMO.

2 Likes

For releases where it’s only a few English/Latin words, I usually did that. And when it’s the other way around where there’s only one or two Korean titles with everything else in English/Latin, that combination seems to fit the best. The complexity arises around 50/50 releases.

Most preferably, I’d love to specify multiple languages/scripts instead of the [Multiple ...] catch-all, just like it’s suggested in MBS-13200.
Until that’s implemented, I’ll use the more unique language/script from now on, like you suggested. The English/Latin can then be added later on.

1 Like