Hangul - The Korean Writing System



Before King Sejong invented Hangul (한글), introduced to the public in 1446, only the highest class members in Korea were literate. This is because the only written form known in the time period were Chinese characters that had been adopted and modified to fit the Korean language. The goal of Hangul became to make it possible for Koreans from all classes or backgrounds to be able to read and write, and to create a cultural identity for the country with a unique script.

As an invented writing system, it is unlike other alphabets in that the letters are actually phonetically symbolic of the shape our mouth makes in order to produce the sound they represent. As complicated as it may look or sound, it is actually incredibly easy to learn! According to wikipedia, "Persons previously unfamiliar with Hangul can typically pronounce Korean script accurately after only a few hours of study."

Although Korean LOOKS like is is made up of thousands of characters that have to be memorized, like Japanese or Chinese, this is not the case. It actually has a very simple alphabet, similar to ours, made up of 24 different "letters". These letters are then grouped together into syllables when you write. So there can be 2-4 letters in a single "block"...(but usually there's only 2 or 3)

Let me show you...
ㅎ = h (consonant)
ㅏ = 'ah' (vowel)

If you put them together in one block... 하 means "ha". Now let's add one more...

 ㄴ = n

If you put that on the bottom, there are 3 letters in the block, but it is still one syllable... 한 = 'han'

If you want to add another "ah", it becomes 2 syllables...하나 = 'ha-na' (which means "one"!)

There, look! You can read a Korean word! Once you memorize the sounds of the 24 letters, you can read anything! Because they're so simple, most people can memorize them in just a few days. For a more fun way to learn the rest of the letters, check out the comic below by Ryan Estrada!









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