Editing Hanja (section)

==Pronunciation==
Each Hanja character is pronounced as a single syllable, corresponding to a single composite character in Hangul. The [[pronunciation]] of Hanja in Korean is by no means identical to the way they are pronounced in modern Chinese, particularly [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]], although some Chinese dialects and Korean share similar pronunciations for some characters. For example, {{linktext|印刷}} "print" is {{transliteration|cmn|yìnshuā}} in Mandarin Chinese and {{transliteration|ko|inswae}} ({{lang|ko|인쇄}}) in Korean, but it is pronounced {{transliteration|wuu|inseh}} in [[Shanghainese]] (a [[Wu Chinese]] dialect).

One difference is the loss of [[tone (linguistics)|tone]] from standard Korean while most Chinese dialects retain tone. In other aspects, the pronunciation of Hanja is more conservative than most northern and central Chinese dialects, for example in the retention of labial consonant [[syllable coda|coda]]s in characters with labial consonant [[syllable onset|onset]]s, such as the characters {{linktext|法}} ({{lang|ko|법}} {{transliteration|ko|beop}}) and {{linktext|凡}} ({{lang|ko|범}} {{transliteration|ko|beom}}); [[Labial consonant|labial]] codas existed in [[Middle Chinese]] but do not survive intact in most northern and central Chinese varieties today, and even in many southern Chinese varieties that still retain labial codas, including [[Cantonese]] and [[Hokkien]], labial codas in characters with labial onsets are replaced by their [[dental consonants|dental]] counterparts.

Due to divergence in pronunciation since the time of borrowing, sometimes the pronunciation of a Hanja and its corresponding [[hanzi]] may differ considerably. For example, {{linktext|女}} ('woman') is {{transliteration|cmn|nǚ}} in Mandarin Chinese and {{transliteration|ko|nyeo}} ({{lang|ko|녀}}) in Korean. However, in most modern Korean [[Korean dialects|dialects]] (especially South Korean ones), {{linktext|女}} is pronounced as {{transliteration|ko|yeo}} ({{lang|ko|여}}) when used in an initial position, due to a systematic [[elision]] of initial ''n'' when followed by ''y'' or ''i''. Additionally, sometimes a Hanja-derived word will have altered pronunciation of a character to reflect Korean pronunciation shifts, for example, {{transliteration|ko|mogwa}} {{lang|ko|모과 木瓜}} 'quince' from {{transliteration|ko|mokgwa}} {{lang|ko|목과}}, and {{transliteration|ko|moran}} {{lang|ko|모란 牡丹}} 'Paeonia suffruticosa' from {{transliteration|ko|modan}} {{lang|ko|모단}}.

There is some pronunciation correspondence between the onset, rhyme, and coda between [[Cantonese]] and Korean.<ref>Patrick Chun Kau Chu. (2008). [http://www.patrickchu.net/uploads/9/0/5/3/9053324/2008_prfl_ppt.pdf Onset, Rhyme and Coda Corresponding Rules of the Sino-Korean Characters between Cantonese and Korean] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924065046/http://www.patrickchu.net/uploads/9/0/5/3/9053324/2008_prfl_ppt.pdf |date=24 September 2015 }}. Paper presented at the 5th Postgraduate Research Forum on Linguistics (PRFL), Hong Kong, China, March 15–16.</ref>

When learning how to write Hanja, students are taught to memorize the native Korean pronunciation of the Hanja's meaning and the Sino-Korean pronunciations (the pronunciation based on the Chinese pronunciation of the characters) for each Hanja respectively so that students know what the syllable and meaning is for a particular Hanja. For example, the name for the Hanja {{linktext|水}} is {{lang|ko|물 수}} ({{transliteration|ko|mul-su}}) in which {{lang|ko|물}} ({{transliteration|ko|mul}}) is the native Korean pronunciation for 'water', while {{lang|ko|수}} ({{transliteration|ko|su}}) is the Sino-Korean pronunciation of the character. The naming of Hanja is similar to if ''water'', ''horse'' and ''gold'' were named "water-aqua", "horse-equus", or "gold-aurum" based on a hybridization of both the English and the Latin names. Other examples include {{lang|ko|사람 인}} ({{transliteration|ko|saram-in}}) for {{lang|ko|人}} 'person/people', {{lang|ko|클 대}} ({{transliteration|ko|keul-dae}}) for {{lang|ko|大}} 'big/large/great', {{lang|ko|작을 소}} ({{transliteration|ko|jageul-so}}) for {{lang|ko|小}} 'small/little', {{lang|ko|아래 하}} ({{transliteration|ko|arae-ha}}) for {{lang|ko|下}} 'underneath/below/low', {{lang|ko|아비 부}} ({{transliteration|ko|abi-bu}}) for {{lang|ko|父}} 'father', and {{lang|ko|나라이름 한}} ({{transliteration|ko|naraireum-han}}) for {{linktext|韓}} 'Han/Korea'.