ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief introduction on the sound systems of Korean and English languages. It discusses song and poetry translation, including rhymes in English poetry and syllable-length adaptation in Korean poetry. The chapter explains how onomatopoeia can be translated in both E-K and K-E translations. It also provides a case study discussion on translating P'ongdangp'ongdang, a Korean children's song, into English. In terms of sound inventory, Korean has a very rich inventory of stop sounds like /p/, /t/ and /k/. In terms of frequency, stop and nasal sounds are the most frequently observed sounds in spontaneous Korean speech. It is not only the number and types of sounds that vary from language to language, but also the way in which sound sequences are structured. There are many ways of making poetry melodic. In the case of Korean poetry, repeating a similar number of syllables or "breathing-units" is a common method.
