diff --git a/icu4j/main/classes/core/src/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java b/icu4j/main/classes/core/src/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java
index 9e24ff47f0..18162abcd6 100644
--- a/icu4j/main/classes/core/src/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java
+++ b/icu4j/main/classes/core/src/com/ibm/icu/text/RuleBasedBreakIterator.java
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
  *******************************************************************************
- * Copyright (C) 2005-2010 International Business Machines Corporation and          *
+ * Copyright (C) 2005-2011 International Business Machines Corporation and          *
  * others. All Rights Reserved.                                                *
  *******************************************************************************
  */
@@ -38,9 +38,19 @@ public class RuleBasedBreakIterator extends BreakIterator {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Create a break iterator from a precompiled set of rules.
-     * @internal
-     * @deprecated This API is ICU internal only.
+     * Create a break iterator from a precompiled set of break rules.
+     * 
+     * Creating a break iterator from the binary rules is much faster than
+     * creating one from source rules. 
+     * 
+     * The binary rules are generated by the RuleBasedBreakIterator.compileRules() function.
+     * Binary break iterator rules are not guaranteed to be compatible between
+     * different versions of ICU.
+     * 
+     * @param is an input stream supplying the compiled binary rules.
+     * @throws IOException if there is an error while reading the rules from the InputStream.
+     * @see    #compileRules(String, OutputStream)
+     * @draft ICU 4.8
      */
     public static RuleBasedBreakIterator getInstanceFromCompiledRules(InputStream is) throws IOException {
         RuleBasedBreakIterator  This = new RuleBasedBreakIterator();
@@ -307,7 +317,22 @@ public class RuleBasedBreakIterator extends BreakIterator {
         }
     }
 
-    private static void compileRules(String rules, OutputStream ruleBinary) throws IOException {
+    /**
+     * Compile a set of source break rules into the binary state tables used
+     * by the break iterator engine.  Creating a break iterator from precompiled
+     * rules is much faster than creating one from source rules.
+     * 
+     * Binary break rules are not guaranteed to be compatible between different
+     * versions of ICU.
+     * 
+     * 
+     * @param rules  The source form of the break rules
+     * @param ruleBinary  An output stream to receive the compiled rules.
+     * @throws IOException If there is an error writing the output.
+     * @see #getInstanceFromCompiledRules(InputStream)
+     * @draft ICU 4.8
+     */
+    public static void compileRules(String rules, OutputStream ruleBinary) throws IOException {
         RBBIRuleBuilder.compileRules(rules, ruleBinary);
     }