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| Korean alphabet 한글/조선글 Hangul (Hangeul)/Chosŏn'gŭl | |
|---|---|
 "Chosŏn'gŭl" (top) and "Hangul" (bottom) | |
| Script type | Featural |
| Creator | Sejong of Joseon |
Time period | 1443–present |
| Direction |
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| Languages | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Hang (286), Hangul (Hangŭl, Hangeul) Jamo (for the jamo subset) |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Hangul |
.jpg) |
| Korean writing systems |
|---|
| Hangul |
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| Hanja |
| Mixed script |
| Braille |
| Transcription |
| Transliteration |
| Writing systems |
|---|
 |
| Abjad |
| Abugida |
| Alphabetical |
| Logographic |
| Syllabic |
| Hybrids |
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Japanese (Logographic and syllabic) Hangul (Alphabetic and syllabic) |
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul[a] or Hangeul[b] in South Korea (English: /ˈhɑːnɡuːl/ HAHN-gool;[1] Korean: 한글; Korean pronunciation: [ha(ː)n.ɡɯɭ]) and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea (조선글; North Korean pronunciation [tsʰo.sʰɔn.ɡɯɭ]), is the modern writing system for the Korean language.[2][3][4] The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs used to pronounce them. They are systematically modified to indicate phonetic features. The vowel letters are systematically modified for related sounds, making Hangul a featural writing system.[5][6][7] It has been described as a syllabic alphabet as it combines the features of alphabetic and syllabic writing systems.[8][6]
Hangul was created in 1443 by Sejong the Great, fourth king of the Joseon dynasty. It was an attempt to increase literacy by serving as a complement to Hanja, which were Chinese characters used to write Literary Chinese in Korea by the 2nd century BCE, and had been adapted to write Korean by the 6th century CE.[9]
Modern Hangul orthography uses 24 basic letters: 14 consonant letters[c] and 10 vowel letters.[d] There are also 27 complex letters that are formed by combining the basic letters: 5 tense consonant letters,[e] 11 complex consonant letters,[f] and 11 complex vowel letters.[g] Four basic letters in the original alphabet are no longer used: 1 vowel letter[h] and 3 consonant letters.[i] Korean letters are written in syllabic blocks with the alphabetic letters arranged in two dimensions. For example, the South Korean city of Seoul is written as 서울, not ㅅㅓㅇㅜㄹ.[10] The syllables begin with a consonant letter, then a vowel letter, and then potentially another consonant letter called a batchim (Korean: 받침). If the syllable begins with a vowel sound, the consonant ㅇ (ng) acts as a silent placeholder. However, when ㅇ starts a sentence or is placed after a long pause, it marks a glottal stop. Syllables may begin with basic or tense consonants but not complex ones. The vowel can be basic or complex, and the second consonant can be basic, complex or a limited number of tense consonants. How the syllables are structured depends solely if the baseline of the vowel symbol is horizontal or vertical. If the baseline is vertical, the first consonant and vowel are written above the second consonant (if present), but all components are written individually from top to bottom in the case of a horizontal baseline.[10]
As in traditional Chinese and Japanese writing, as well as many other texts in East and southeast Asia, Korean texts were traditionally written top to bottom, right to left, as is occasionally still the way for stylistic purposes. However, Korean is now typically written from left to right with spaces between words serving as dividers, unlike in Japanese and Chinese.[7] Hangul is the official writing system throughout both North and South Korea. It is a co-official writing system in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County in Jilin Province, China. Hangul has also seen limited use by speakers of the Cia-Cia language in Indonesia.[11]
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Hangul". Dictionary by Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
- ^ 알고 싶은 한글. National Institute of Korean Language. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ Kim-Renaud 1997, p. 15.
- ^ Cock, Joe (28 June 2016). "A linguist explains why Korean is the best written language". Business Insider. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ Sampson 1990, p. 120.
- ^ a b Taylor 1980, p. 67–82.
- ^ a b "How was Hangul invented?". The Economist. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ Pae, Hye K. (1 January 2011). "Is Korean a syllabic alphabet or an alphabetic syllabary". Writing Systems Research. 3 (2): 103–115. doi:10.1093/wsr/wsr002. ISSN 1758-6801. S2CID 144290565.
- ^ "Hangul". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Individual Letters of Hangul and its Principles". National Institute of Korean Language. 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ Anya, Agnes (20 December 2023). "Indigenous Indonesians use Korean letters to save dialect". The Japan Times. Retrieved 5 June 2024.