Proposal to add "Kore' as Suppress-Script for 'ko'

[Randy Presuhn]

Hi -

> From: "Michael Everson" <everson at evertype.com>
> To: "IETF Languages Discussion" <ietf-languages at iana.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2007 6:33 AM
> Subject: Re: Proposal to add "Kore' as Suppress-Script for 'ko'
...
> I am satisfied that it is acceptable for registration.
...

While I still think that's the right thing to do, I also would like to
give this list a summary of an unscientific survey.  I looked at
a variety of Korean-language books at the local library yesterday.
Even in things like translations of Victor Hugo novels and technical
books, in most cases I was not able to spot *any* hanja.  (Caveat:
though I did study Chinese in grad school long ago, my knowledge
of Korean is barely rudimentary.)  In all cases, latin letters were
 *far* more common than hanja.  The consistent reaction of the
Korean speakers (including a PhD who came to the US only four years ago)
I've talked to is that the Wikipedia articles give an impression that the
usage of Hanja is higher than is actually the case today.   This is also
consistent with the usage I've seen in online materials, where the low
incidence of hanja might be attributed to other factors.

Still, I think it would be good for someone with native or near-native
fluency to address this question on this list.

Randy