Hangul
Native alphabet of the Korean language / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul[lower-alpha 1] (English: /ˈhɑːnɡuːl/ HAHN-gool;[1] Korean: 한글) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글) in North Korea, is the modern official 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, and they are systematically modified to indicate phonetic features; similarly, 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]
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Korean alphabet 한글 / 조선글 Hangul (Hangeul) / Chosŏn'gŭl | |
---|---|
Script type | Featural |
Creator | Sejong of Joseon |
Time period | 1443 CE – present |
Direction |
|
Languages | Korean and Jejuan (standard); Cia-Cia (limited use) |
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Hang (286), Hangul (Hangŭl, Hangeul) Jamo (for the jamo subset) |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Hangul |
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
Hangul was created in 1443 CE by King Sejong the Great in an attempt to increase literacy by serving as a complement (or alternative) to the logographic Sino-Korean Hanja, which had been used by Koreans as their primary script to write the Korean language since as early as the Gojoseon period (spanning more than a thousand years and ending around 108 BCE), along with the usage of Classical Chinese.[9][10] The development of the Hangul alphabet is traditionally ascribed to Sejong, fourth king of the Chosŏn (Yi) dynasty.[11]
Modern Hangul orthography uses 24 basic letters: 14 consonant letters[lower-alpha 2] and 10 vowel letters.[lower-alpha 3] There are also 27 complex letters that are formed by combining the basic letters: 5 tense consonant letters,[lower-alpha 4] 11 complex consonant letters,[lower-alpha 5] and 11 complex vowel letters.[lower-alpha 6] Four basic letters in the original alphabet are no longer used: 1 vowel letter[lower-alpha 7] and 3 consonant letters.[lower-alpha 8] Korean letters are written in syllabic blocks with the alphabetic letters arranged in two dimensions. For example, the Korean word for "honeybee" (kkulbeol) is written as 꿀벌, not ㄲㅜㄹㅂㅓㄹ.[12] 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 syllable is structured depends 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.[12]
As in traditional Chinese and Japanese writing, as well as many other texts in East 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 Korea, both North and South. 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.
Official names
Korean name (North Korea) | |
Chosŏn'gŭl | |
---|---|
Hancha | |
Revised Romanization | Joseon(-)geul |
McCune–Reischauer | Chosŏn'gŭl |
IPA | Korean pronunciation: [tso.sɔn.ɡɯl] |
Korean name (South Korea) | |
Hangul | |
---|---|
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Han(-)geul |
McCune–Reischauer | Han'gŭl[13] |
IPA | Korean pronunciation: [ha(ː)n.ɡɯl] |
The Korean alphabet was originally named Hunminjeong'eum (훈민정음) by King Sejong the Great in 1443.[10] Hunminjeong'eum is also the document that explained logic and science behind the script in 1446.
The name hangeul (한글) was coined by Korean linguist Ju Si-gyeong in 1912. The name combines the ancient Korean word han (한), meaning great, and geul (글), meaning script. The word han is used to refer to Korea in general, so the name also means Korean script.[14] It has been romanized in multiple ways:
- Hangeul or han-geul in the Revised Romanization of Korean, which the South Korean government uses in English publications and encourages for all purposes.
- Han'gŭl in the McCune–Reischauer system, is often capitalized and rendered without the diacritics when used as an English word, Hangul, as it appears in many English dictionaries.
- hān kul in the Yale romanization, a system recommended for technical linguistic studies.
North Koreans call the alphabet Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글), after Chosŏn, the North Korean name for Korea.[15] A variant of the McCune–Reischauer system is used there for romanization.
Other names
Until the mid-20th century, the Korean elite preferred to write using Chinese characters called Hanja. They referred to Hanja as jinseo (진서/真書) meaning true letters. Some accounts say the elite referred to the Korean alphabet derisively as 'amkeul (암클) meaning women's script, and 'ahaetgeul (아햇글) meaning children's script, though there is no written evidence of this.[16]
Supporters of the Korean alphabet referred to it as jeong'eum (정음/正音) meaning correct pronunciation, gungmun (국문/國文) meaning national script, and eonmun (언문/諺文) meaning vernacular script.[16]
Creation
Koreans primarily wrote using Classical Chinese alongside native phonetic writing systems that predate Hangul by hundreds of years, including Idu script, Hyangchal, Gugyeol and Gakpil.[17][18][19][20] However, many lower class uneducated Koreans were illiterate due to the difficulty of learning the Korean and Chinese languages, as well as the large number of Chinese characters that are used.[21] To promote literacy among the common people, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, Sejong the Great, personally created and promulgated a new alphabet.[3][21][22] Although it is widely assumed that King Sejong ordered the Hall of Worthies to invent Hangul, contemporary records such as the Veritable Records of King Sejong and Jeong Inji's preface to the Hunminjeongeum Haerye emphasize that he invented it himself.[23]
The Korean alphabet was designed so that people with little education could learn to read and write.[24] According to the Hunminjeongeum Haerye Edition, King Sejong expressed his intention to understand the language of the people in this country and to express their meanings more conveniently in writing. He noted that the shapes of the traditional Chinese characters, as well as factors such as the thickness, stroke count, and order of strokes in calligraphy, were extremely complex, making it difficult for people to recognize and understand them individually. A popular saying about the alphabet is, "A wise man can acquaint himself with them before the morning is over; even a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days."[25]
The project was completed in late December 1443 or January 1444, and described in 1446 in a document titled Hunminjeong'eum (The Proper Sounds for the Education of the People), after which the alphabet itself was originally named.[16] The publication date of the Hunminjeongeum, October 9, became Hangul Day in South Korea. Its North Korean equivalent, Chosŏn'gŭl Day, is on January 15.
Another document published in 1446 and titled Hunminjeong'eum Haerye (Hunminjeong'eum Explanation and Examples) was discovered in 1940. This document explains that the design of the consonant letters is based on articulatory phonetics and the design of the vowel letters is based on the principles of yin and yang and vowel harmony.[26] After the creation of Hangul, people from the lower class or the commoners had a chance to be literate. They learned how to read and write Korean, not just the upper classes and literary elite. They learn Hangul independently without formal schooling or such.[27]
Opposition
The Korean alphabet faced opposition in the 1440s by the literary elite, including Choe Manri and other Korean Confucian scholars. They believed Hanja was the only legitimate writing system. They also saw the circulation of the Korean alphabet as a threat to their status.[21] However, the Korean alphabet entered popular culture as King Sejong had intended, used especially by women and writers of popular fiction.[28]
King Yeonsangun banned the study and publication of the Korean alphabet in 1504, after a document criticizing the king was published.[29] Similarly, King Jungjong abolished the Ministry of Eonmun, a governmental institution related to Hangul research, in 1506.[30]
Revival
The late 16th century, however, saw a revival of the Korean alphabet as gasa and sijo poetry flourished. In the 17th century, the Korean alphabet novels became a major genre.[31] However, the use of the Korean alphabet had gone without orthographical standardization for so long that spelling had become quite irregular.[28]
In 1796, the Dutch scholar Isaac Titsingh became the first person to bring a book written in Korean to the Western world. His collection of books included the Japanese book Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (An Illustrated Description of Three Countries) by Hayashi Shihei.[32] This book, which was published in 1785, described the Joseon Kingdom[33] and the Korean alphabet.[34] In 1832, the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland supported the posthumous abridged publication of Titsingh's French translation.[35]
Thanks to growing Korean nationalism, the Gabo Reformists' push, and Western missionaries' promotion of the Korean alphabet in schools and literature,[36] the Hangul Korean alphabet was adopted in official documents for the first time in 1894.[29] Elementary school texts began using the Korean alphabet in 1895, and Tongnip Sinmun, established in 1896, was the first newspaper printed in both Korean and English.[37]
Reforms and suppression under Japanese rule
After the Japanese annexation, which occurred in 1910, Japanese was made the official language of Korea. However, the Korean alphabet was still taught in Korean-established schools built after the annexation and Korean was written in a mixed Hanja-Hangul script, where most lexical roots were written in Hanja and grammatical forms in the Korean alphabet. Japan banned earlier Korean literature from public schooling, which became mandatory for children.[38]
The orthography of the Korean alphabet was partially standardized in 1912, when the vowel arae-a (ㆍ)—which has now disappeared from Korean—was restricted to Sino-Korean roots: the emphatic consonants were standardized to ㅺ, ㅼ, ㅽ, ㅆ, ㅾ and final consonants restricted to ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㄺ, ㄻ, ㄼ. Long vowels were marked by a diacritic dot to the left of the syllable, but this was dropped in 1921.[28]
A second colonial reform occurred in 1930. The arae-a was abolished: the emphatic consonants were changed to ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ and more final consonants ㄷ, ㅈ, ㅌ, ㅊ, ㅍ, ㄲ, ㄳ, ㄵ, ㄾ, ㄿ, ㅄ were allowed, making the orthography more morphophonemic. The double consonant ㅆ was written alone (without a vowel) when it occurred between nouns, and the nominative particle 가 was introduced after vowels, replacing 이.[28]
Ju Si-gyeong, the linguist who had coined the term Hangul to replace Eonmun or Vulgar Script in 1912, established the Korean Language Research Society (later renamed the Hangul Society), which further reformed orthography with Standardized System of Hangul in 1933. The principal change was to make the Korean alphabet as morphophonemically practical as possible given the existing letters.[28] A system for transliterating foreign orthographies was published in 1940.
Japan banned the Korean language from schools and public offices in 1938 and excluded Korean courses from the elementary education in 1941 as part of a policy of cultural genocide.[39][40]
Further reforms
The definitive modern Korean alphabet orthography was published in 1946, just after Korean independence from Japanese rule. In 1948, North Korea attempted to make the script perfectly morphophonemic through the addition of new letters, and, in 1953, Syngman Rhee in South Korea attempted to simplify the orthography by returning to the colonial orthography of 1921, but both reforms were abandoned after only a few years.[28]
Both North Korea and South Korea have used the Korean alphabet or mixed script as their official writing system, with ever-decreasing use of Hanja especially in the North.
In South Korea
Beginning in the 1970s, Hanja began to experience a gradual decline in commercial or unofficial writing in the South due to government intervention, with some South Korean newspapers now only using Hanja as abbreviations or disambiguation of homonyms. However, as Korean documents, history, literature and records throughout its history until the contemporary period were written primarily in Literary Chinese using Hanja as its primary script, a good working knowledge of Chinese characters especially in academia is still important for anyone who wishes to interpret and study older texts from Korea, or anyone who wishes to read scholarly texts in the humanities.[41]
A high proficiency in Hanja is also useful for understanding the etymology of Sino-Korean words as well as to enlarge one's Korean vocabulary.[41]
In North Korea
North Korea instated Hangul as its exclusive writing system in 1949 on the orders of Kim Il Sung of the Workers' Party of Korea, and officially banned the use of Hanja.[42]
Non-Korean languages
Systems that employed Hangul letters with modified rules were attempted by linguists such as Hsu Tsao-te [zh] and Ang Ui-jin to transcribe Taiwanese Hokkien, a Sinitic language, but the usage of Chinese characters ultimately ended up being the most practical solution and was endorsed by the Ministry of Education (Taiwan).[43][44][45]
The Hunminjeong'eum Society in Seoul attempted to spread the use of Hangul to unwritten languages of Asia.[46] In 2009, it was unofficially adopted by the town of Baubau, in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, to write the Cia-Cia language.[47][48][49][50]
A number of Indonesian Cia-Cia speakers who visited Seoul generated large media attention in South Korea, and they were greeted on their arrival by Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul.[51]
Letters in the Korean alphabet are called jamo (자모). There are 14 consonants (자음) and 10 vowels (모음) used in the modern alphabet. They were first named in Hunmongjahoe, a hanja textbook written by Choe Sejin. Additionally, there are 27 complex letters that are formed by combining the basic letters: 5 tense consonant letters, 11 complex consonant letters, and 11 complex vowel letters.
In typography design and in IME automata, the letters that make up a block are called jaso (자소).
Consonants
The chart below shows all 19 consonants in South Korean alphabetic order with Revised Romanization equivalents for each letter and pronunciation in IPA (see Korean phonology for more).
Hangul | ㄱ | ㄲ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄸ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅃ | ㅅ | ㅆ | ㅇ | ㅈ | ㅉ | ㅊ | ㅋ | ㅌ | ㅍ | ㅎ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Initial | Romanization | g | kk | n | d | tt | r | m | b | pp | s | ss | ' [lower-alpha 9] | j | jj | ch | k | t | p | h |
IPA | /k/ | /k͈/ | /n/ | /t/ | /t͈/ | /ɾ/ | /m/ | /p/ | /p͈/ | /s/ | /s͈/ | silent | /t͡ɕ/ | /t͈͡ɕ͈/ | /t͡ɕʰ/ | /kʰ/ | /tʰ/ | /pʰ/ | /h/ | |
Final | Romanization | k | k | n | t | – | l | m | p | – | t | t | ng | t | – | t | k | t | p | t |
g | kk | n | d | l | m | b | s | ss | ng | j | ch | k | t | p | h | |||||
IPA | /k̚/ | /n/ | /t̚/ | – | /ɭ/ | /m/ | /p̚/ | – | /t̚/ | /ŋ/ | /t̚/ | – | /t̚/ | /k̚/ | /t̚/ | /p̚/ | /t̚/ |
ㅇ is silent syllable-initially and is used as a placeholder when the syllable starts with a vowel. ㄸ, ㅃ, and ㅉ are never used syllable-finally.
Consonants are broadly categorized into either obstruents (sounds produced when airflow either completely stops (i.e., a plosive consonant) or passes through a narrow opening (i.e., a fricative)) or sonorants (sounds produced when air flows out with little to no obstruction through the mouth, nose, or both).[52] The chart below lists the Korean consonants by their respective categories and subcategories.
Bilabial | Alveolar | Alveolo-palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Obstruent | Stop (plosive) | Lax | p (ㅂ) | t (ㄷ) | k (ㄱ) | ||
Tense | p͈ (ㅃ) | t͈ (ㄸ) | k͈ (ㄲ) | ||||
Aspirated | pʰ (ㅍ) | tʰ (ㅌ) | kʰ (ㅋ) | ||||
Fricative | Lax | s (ㅅ) | h (ㅎ) | ||||
Tense | s͈ (ㅆ) | ||||||
Affricate | Lax | t͡ɕ (ㅈ) | |||||
Tense | t͈͡ɕ͈ (ㅉ) | ||||||
Aspirated | t͡ɕʰ (ㅊ) | ||||||
Sonorant | Nasal | m (ㅁ) | n (ㄴ) | ŋ (ㅇ) | |||
Liquid (lateral approximant) | l (ㄹ) |
All Korean obstruents are voiceless in that the larynx does not vibrate when producing those sounds and are further distinguished by degree of aspiration and tenseness. The tensed consonants are produced by constricting the vocal chords while heavily aspirated consonants (such as the Korean ㅍ, /pʰ/) are produced by opening them.[52]
Korean sonorants are voiced.
Consonant assimilation
The pronunciation of a syllable-final consonant (which may already differ from its syllable-initial sound) may be affected by the following letter, and vice-versa. The table below describes these assimilation rules. Spaces are left blank when no modification is made to the normal syllable-final sound.
Preceding syllable block's final letter-sound | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ㄱ
(k) |
ㄲ
(k) |
ㄴ
(n) |
ㄷ
(t) |
ㄹ
(l) |
ㅁ
(m) |
ㅂ
(p) |
ㅅ
(t) |
ㅆ
(t) |
ㅇ
(ng) |
ㅈ
(t) |
ㅊ
(t) |
ㅋ
(k) |
ㅌ
(t) |
ㅍ
(p) |
ㅎ
(t) | ||
Subsequent syllable block's initial letter | ㄱ(g) | k+k | n+g | t+g | l+g | m+g | b+g | t+g | - | t+g | t+g | t+g | p+g | h+k | |||
ㄴ(n) | ng+n | n+n | l+n | m+n | m+n | t+n | n+t | t+n | t+n | t+n | p+n | h+n | |||||
ㄷ(d) | k+d | n+d | t+t | l+d | m+d | p+d | t+t | t+t | t+t | t+t | k+d | t+t | p+d | h+t | |||
ㄹ(r) | g+n | n+n | l+l | m+n | m+n | - | ng+n | r | |||||||||
ㅁ(m) | g+m | n+m | t+m | l+m | m+m | m+m | t+m | - | ng+m | t+m | t+m | k+d | t+m | p+m | h+m | ||
ㅂ(b) | g+b | p+p | t+b | - | |||||||||||||
ㅅ (s) | ss+s | ||||||||||||||||
ㅇ(∅) | g | kk+h | n | t | r | m | p | s | ss | ng+h | t+ch | t+ch | k+h | t+ch | p+h | h | |
ㅈ(j) | t+ch | ||||||||||||||||
ㅎ(h) | k | kk+h | n+h | t | r/
l+h |
m+h | p | t | - | t+ch | t+ch | k | t | p | - |
Consonant assimilation occurs as a result of intervocalic voicing. When surrounded by vowels or sonorant consonants such as ㅁ or ㄴ, a stop will take on the characteristics of its surrounding sound. Since plain stops (like ㄱ /k/) are produced with relaxed vocal cords that are not tensed, they are more likely to be affected by surrounding voiced sounds (which are produced by vocal cords that are vibrating).[52]
Below are examples of how lax consonants (ㅂ /p/, ㄷ /t/, ㅈ /t͡ɕ/, ㄱ /k/) change due to location in a word. Letters in bolded interface show intervocalic weakening, or the softening of the lax consonants to their sonorous counterparts.[52]
ㅂ
- 밥 [pap̚] – 'rice'
- 보리밥 [poɾibap̚] – 'barley mixed with rice'
ㄷ
- 다 [ta] – 'all'
- 맏 [mat̚] – 'oldest'
- 맏아들 [madadɯɭ] – 'oldest son'
ㅈ
- 죽 [t͡ɕuk] – 'porridge'
- 콩죽 [kʰoŋd͡ʑuk̚] – 'bean porridge'
ㄱ
- 공 [koŋ] – 'ball'
- 새 공 [sɛgoŋ] – 'new ball'
The consonants ㄹ and ㅎ also experience weakening. The liquid ㄹ, when in an intervocalic position, will be weakened to a [ɾ]. For example, the final ㄹ in the word 말 ([maɭ], 'word') changes when followed by the subject marker 이 (ㅇ being a sonorant consonant), and changes to a [ɾ] to become [maɾi].
ㅎ /h/ is very weak and is usually deleted in Korean words, as seen in words like 괜찮아요 /kwɛnt͡ɕʰanhajo/ [kwɛnt͡ɕʰanajo]. However, instead of being completely deleted, it leaves remnants by devoicing the following sound or by acting as a glottal stop.[52]
Lax consonants are tensed when following other obstruents due to the fact that the first obstruent's articulation is not released. Tensing can be seen in words like 입구 ('entrance') /ipku/ which is pronounced as [ip̚k͈u].
Consonants in the Korean alphabet can be combined into one of 11 consonant clusters, which always appear in the final position in a syllable block. They are: ㄳ, ㄵ, ㄶ, ㄺ, ㄻ, ㄼ, ㄽ, ㄾ, ㄿ, ㅀ, and ㅄ.
Consonant cluster combinations
(e.g. [in isolation] 닭 dak; [preceding another syllable block] 없다 – eop-da, 앉아 anj-a) | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preceding syllable block's final letter | ㄳ
(gs) |
ㄵ
(nj) |
ㄶ
(nh) |
ㄺ
(lg) |
ㄻ
(lm) |
ㄼ
(lb) |
ㄽ
(ls) |
ㄾ
(lt) |
ㄿ
(lp) |
ㅀ
(lh) |
ㅄ
(bs) | |
(pronunciation in isolation) | k | n | n | k or l* | m | l or p** | l | l | p | l | p | |
Subsequent block's initial letter | ㅇ(∅) | k+s | n+j | n+h | l+g | l+m | l+b | l+s | l+t | l+p | l+h | p+s |
ㄷ(d) | k+d | n+d | n+t | k+d | m+d | l+d or p+d** | l+d | l+d | p+d | l+t | p+d |
* Before ㄱ, the cluster ㄺ is pronounced as l (e.g., 맑게 malge [mal.k͈e]).
** For certain words, ㄼ may be pronounced as p (e.g., 밟다 bapda [pa:p̚.t͈a], 넓죽하다 neopjukhada [nʌp̚.t͈ɕu.kʰa.da]).
In cases where consonant clusters are followed by words beginning with ㅇ, the consonant cluster is resyllabified through a phonological phenomenon called liaison. In words where the first consonant of the consonant cluster is ㅂ,ㄱ, or ㄴ (the stop consonants), articulation stops and the second consonant cannot be pronounced without releasing the articulation of the first once. Hence, in words like 값 /kaps/ ('price'), the ㅅ cannot be articulated and the word is thus pronounced as [kap̚]. The second consonant is usually revived when followed by a word with initial ㅇ (값이 → [kap̚.si]. Other examples include 삶 (/salm/ [sam], 'life'). The ㄹ in the final consonant cluster is generally lost in pronunciation, however when followed by the subject marker 이, the ㄹ is revived and the ㅁ takes the place of the blank consonant ㅇ. Thus, 삶이 is pronounced as [sal.mi].
In cases where clusters are followed by syllables beginning with a consonant (e.g., ㄷ as shown above), the cluster generally maintains its isolated pronunciation; however, the cluster's lost consonant may sometimes revive and assimilate into the following syllable's consonant. For example, in 않다 (/anh.ta/ → [an.tʰa]) the lost ㅎ is assimilated into the following syllable and aspirates ㄷ. Similarly, in 앉하다 (/antɕ.ha.ta/ → [an.tɕʰa.da]) the lost ㅈ is revived and aspirated by the following ㅎ.[54]
Vowels
The chart below shows the 21 vowels used in the modern Korean alphabet in South Korean alphabetic order with Revised Romanization equivalents for each letter and pronunciation in IPA (see Korean phonology for more).
Hangul | ㅏ | ㅐ | ㅑ | ㅒ | ㅓ | ㅔ | ㅕ | ㅖ | ㅗ | ㅘ | ㅙ | ㅚ | ㅛ | ㅜ | ㅝ | ㅞ | ㅟ | ㅠ | ㅡ | ㅢ | ㅣ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revised Romanization | a | ae | ya | yae | eo | e | yeo | ye | o | wa | wae | oe | yo | u | wo | we | wi | yu | eu | ui/
yi |
i |
IPA | /a/ | /ɛ/ | /ja/ | /jɛ/ | /ʌ/ | /e/ | /jʌ/ | /je/ | /o/ | /wa/ | /wɛ/ | /ø/ ~ [we] | /jo/ | /u/ | /wʌ/ | /we/ | /y/ ~ [ɥi] | /ju/ | /ɯ/ | /ɰi/ | /i/ |
The vowels are generally separated into two categories: monophthongs and diphthongs. Monophthongs are produced with a single articulatory movement (hence the prefix mono), while diphthongs feature an articulatory change. Diphthongs have two constituents: a glide (or a semivowel) and a monophthong. There is some disagreement about exactly how many vowels are considered Korean's monophthongs; the largest inventory features ten, while some scholars have proposed eight or nine.[who?] This divergence reveals two issues: whether Korean has two front rounded vowels (i.e. /ø/ and /y/); and, secondly, whether Korean has three levels of front vowels in terms of vowel height (i.e. whether /e/ and /ɛ/ are distinctive).[53] Actual phonological studies done by studying formant data show that current speakers of Standard Korean do not differentiate between the vowels ㅔ and ㅐ in pronunciation.[55]
Alphabetic order in the Korean alphabet is called the ganada order, (가나다순) after the first three letters of the alphabet. The alphabetical order of the Korean alphabet does not mix consonants and vowels. Rather, first are velar consonants, then coronals, labials, sibilants, etc. The vowels come after the consonants.[56]
The collation order of Korean in Unicode is based on the South Korean order.
Historical orders
The order from the Hunminjeongeum in 1446 was:[57]
- ㄱ ㄲ ㅋ ㆁ ㄷ ㄸ ㅌ ㄴ ㅂ ㅃ ㅍ ㅁ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅅ ㅆ ㆆ ㅎ ㆅ ㅇ ㄹ ㅿ
- ㆍ ㅡ ㅣ ㅗ ㅏ ㅜ ㅓ ㅛ ㅑ ㅠ ㅕ
This is the basis of the modern alphabetic orders. It was before the development of the Korean tense consonants and the double letters that represent them, and before the conflation of the letters ㅇ (null) and ㆁ (ng). Thus, when the North Korean and South Korean governments implemented full use of the Korean alphabet, they ordered these letters differently, with North Korea placing new letters at the end of the alphabet and South Korea grouping similar letters together.[58][59]
North Korean order
The double letters are placed after all the single letters (except the null initial ㅇ, which goes at the end).
- ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ ㅇ
- ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅚ ㅟ ㅢ ㅘ ㅝ ㅙ ㅞ
All digraphs and trigraphs, including the old diphthongs ㅐ and ㅔ, are placed after the simple vowels, again maintaining Choe's alphabetic order.
The order of the final letters (받침) is:
- (none) ㄱ ㄳ ㄴ ㄵ ㄶ ㄷ ㄹ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅁ ㅂ ㅄ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ ㄲ ㅆ
(None means there is no final letter.)
Unlike when it is initial, this ㅇ is pronounced, as the nasal ㅇ ng, which occurs only as a final in the modern language. The double letters are placed to the very end, as in the initial order, but the combined consonants are ordered immediately after their first element.[58]
South Korean order
In the Southern order, double letters are placed immediately after their single counterparts:
- ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ
- ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ
The modern monophthongal vowels come first, with the derived forms interspersed according to their form: i is added first, then iotized, then iotized with added i. Diphthongs beginning with w are ordered according to their spelling, as ㅗ or ㅜ plus a second vowel, not as separate digraphs.
The order of the final letters is:
- (none) ㄱ ㄲ ㄳ ㄴ ㄵ ㄶ ㄷ ㄹ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅁ ㅂ ㅄ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ
Every syllable begins with a consonant (or the silent ㅇ) that is followed by a vowel (e.g. ㄷ + ㅏ = 다). Some syllables such as 달 and 닭 have a final consonant or final consonant cluster (받침). Thus, 399 combinations are possible for two-letter syllables and 10,773 possible combinations for syllables with more than two letters (27 possible final endings), for a total of 11,172 possible combinations of Korean alphabet letters to form syllables.[58]
The sort order including archaic Hangul letters defined in the South Korean national standard KS X 1026-1 is:[60]
- Initial consonants: ᄀ, ᄁ, ᅚ, ᄂ, ᄓ, ᄔ, ᄕ, ᄖ, ᅛ, ᅜ, ᅝ, ᄃ, ᄗ, ᄄ, ᅞ, ꥠ, ꥡ, ꥢ, ꥣ, ᄅ, ꥤ, ꥥ, ᄘ, ꥦ, ꥧ, ᄙ, ꥨ, ꥩ, ꥪ, ꥫ, ꥬ, ꥭ, ꥮ, ᄚ, ᄛ, ᄆ, ꥯ, ꥰ, ᄜ, ꥱ, ᄝ, ᄇ, ᄞ, ᄟ, ᄠ, ᄈ, ᄡ, ᄢ, ᄣ, ᄤ, ᄥ, ᄦ, ꥲ, ᄧ, ᄨ, ꥳ, ᄩ, ᄪ, ꥴ, ᄫ, ᄬ, ᄉ, ᄭ, ᄮ, ᄯ, ᄰ, ᄱ, ᄲ, ᄳ, ᄊ, ꥵ, ᄴ, ᄵ, ᄶ, ᄷ, ᄸ, ᄹ, ᄺ, ᄻ, ᄼ, ᄽ, ᄾ, ᄿ, ᅀ, ᄋ, ᅁ, ᅂ, ꥶ, ᅃ, ᅄ, ᅅ, ᅆ, ᅇ, ᅈ, ᅉ, ᅊ, ᅋ, ꥷ, ᅌ, ᄌ, ᅍ, ᄍ, ꥸ, ᅎ, ᅏ, ᅐ, ᅑ, ᄎ, ᅒ, ᅓ, ᅔ, ᅕ, ᄏ, ᄐ, ꥹ, ᄑ, ᅖ, ꥺ, ᅗ, ᄒ, ꥻ, ᅘ, ᅙ, ꥼ, (filler;
U+115F
) - Medial vowels: (filler;
U+1160
), ᅡ, ᅶ, ᅷ, ᆣ, ᅢ, ᅣ, ᅸ, ᅹ, ᆤ, ᅤ, ᅥ, ᅺ, ᅻ, ᅼ, ᅦ, ᅧ, ᆥ, ᅽ, ᅾ, ᅨ, ᅩ, ᅪ, ᅫ, ᆦ, ᆧ, ᅿ, ᆀ, ힰ, ᆁ, ᆂ, ힱ, ᆃ, ᅬ, ᅭ, ힲ, ힳ, ᆄ, ᆅ, ힴ, ᆆ, ᆇ, ᆈ, ᅮ, ᆉ, ᆊ, ᅯ, ᆋ, ᅰ, ힵ, ᆌ, ᆍ, ᅱ, ힶ, ᅲ, ᆎ, ힷ, ᆏ, ᆐ, ᆑ, ᆒ, ힸ, ᆓ, ᆔ, ᅳ, ힹ, ힺ, ힻ, ힼ, ᆕ, ᆖ, ᅴ, ᆗ, ᅵ, ᆘ, ᆙ, ힽ, ힾ, ힿ, ퟀ, ᆚ, ퟁ, ퟂ, ᆛ, ퟃ, ᆜ, ퟄ, ᆝ, ᆞ, ퟅ, ᆟ, ퟆ, ᆠ, ᆡ, ᆢ - Final consonants: (none), ᆨ, ᆩ, ᇺ, ᇃ, ᇻ, ᆪ, ᇄ, ᇼ, ᇽ, ᇾ, ᆫ, ᇅ, ᇿ, ᇆ, ퟋ, ᇇ, ᇈ, ᆬ, ퟌ, ᇉ, ᆭ, ᆮ, ᇊ, ퟍ, ퟎ, ᇋ, ퟏ, ퟐ, ퟑ, ퟒ, ퟓ, ퟔ, ᆯ, ᆰ, ퟕ, ᇌ, ퟖ, ᇍ, ᇎ, ᇏ, ᇐ, ퟗ, ᆱ, ᇑ, ᇒ, ퟘ, ᆲ, ퟙ, ᇓ, ퟚ, ᇔ, ᇕ, ᆳ, ᇖ, ᇗ, ퟛ, ᇘ, ᆴ, ᆵ, ᆶ, ᇙ, ퟜ, ퟝ, ᆷ, ᇚ, ퟞ, ퟟ, ᇛ, ퟠ, ᇜ, ퟡ, ᇝ, ᇞ, ᇟ, ퟢ, ᇠ, ᇡ, ᇢ, ᆸ, ퟣ, ᇣ, ퟤ, ퟥ, ퟦ, ᆹ, ퟧ, ퟨ, ퟩ, ᇤ, ᇥ, ᇦ, ᆺ, ᇧ, ᇨ, ᇩ, ퟪ, ᇪ, ퟫ, ᆻ, ퟬ, ퟭ, ퟮ, ퟯ, ퟰ, ퟱ, ퟲ, ᇫ, ퟳ, ퟴ, ᆼ, ᇰ, ᇬ, ᇭ, ퟵ, ᇱ, ᇲ, ᇮ, ᇯ, ퟶ, ᆽ, ퟷ, ퟸ, ퟹ, ᆾ, ᆿ, ᇀ, ᇁ, ᇳ, ퟺ, ퟻ, ᇴ, ᇂ, ᇵ, ᇶ, ᇷ, ᇸ, ᇹ
- Sort order of Hangul consonants defined in the South Korean national standard KS X 1026-1
- Sort order of Hangul vowels defined in the South Korean national standard KS X 1026-1
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Letters in the Korean alphabet were named by Korean linguist Choe Sejin in 1527. South Korea uses Choe's traditional names, most of which follow the format of letter + i + eu + letter. Choe described these names by listing Hanja characters with similar pronunciations. However, as the syllables 윽 euk, 읃 eut, and 읏 eut did not occur in Hanja, Choe gave those letters the modified names 기역 giyeok, 디귿 digeut, and 시옷 siot, using Hanja that did not fit the pattern (for 기역) or native Korean syllables (for 디귿 and 시옷).[61]
Originally, Choe gave ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, and ㅎ the irregular one-syllable names of ji, chi, ḳi, ṭi, p̣i, and hi, because they should not be used as final consonants, as specified in Hunminjeongeum. However, after establishment of the new orthography in 1933, which let all consonants be used as finals, the names changed to the present forms.
In North Korea
The chart below shows names used in North Korea for consonants in the Korean alphabet. The letters are arranged in North Korean alphabetic order, and the letter names are romanised with the McCune–Reischauer system, which is widely used in North Korea. The tense consonants are described with the word 된 toen meaning hard.
Consonant | ㄱ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅅ | ㅈ | ㅊ | ㅋ | ㅌ | ㅍ | ㅎ | ㄲ | ㄸ | ㅃ | ㅆ | ㅇ | ㅉ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | 기윽 | 니은 | 디읃 | 리을 | 미음 | 비읍 | 시읏 | 지읒 | 치읓 | 키읔 | 티읕 | 피읖 | 히읗 | 된기윽 | 된디읃 | 된비읍 | 된시읏 | 이응 | 된지읒 |
McCR | kiŭk | niŭn | diŭt | riŭl | miŭm | piŭp | siŭt | jiŭt | chiŭt | ḳiŭk | ṭiŭt | p̣iŭp | hiŭt | toen'giŭk | toendiŭt | toenbiŭp | toensiŭt | 'iŭng | toenjiŭt |
In North Korea, an alternative way to refer to a consonant is letter + ŭ (ㅡ), for example, gŭ (그) for the letter ㄱ, and ssŭ (쓰) for the letter ㅆ.
As in South Korea, the names of vowels in the Korean alphabet are the same as the sound of each vowel.
In South Korea
The chart below shows names used in South Korea for consonants of the Korean alphabet. The letters are arranged in the South Korean alphabetic order, and the letter names are romanised in the Revised Romanization system, which is the official romanization system of South Korea. The tense consonants are described with the word 쌍 ssang meaning double.
Consonant | ㄱ | ㄲ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄸ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅃ | ㅅ | ㅆ | ㅇ | ㅈ | ㅉ | ㅊ | ㅋ | ㅌ | ㅍ | ㅎ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name (Hangul) | 기역 | 쌍기역 | 니은 | 디귿 | 쌍디귿 | 리을 | 미음 | 비읍 | 쌍비읍 | 시옷 | 쌍시옷 | 이응 | 지읒 | 쌍지읒 | 치읓 | 키읔 | 티읕 | 피읖 | 히읗 |
Name (romanised) | gi-yeok | ssang-giyeok | ni-eun | digeut | ssang-digeut | ri-eul | mi-eum | bi-eup | ssang-bi-eup | si-ot (shi-ot) | ssang-si-ot (ssang-shi-ot) | 'i-eung | ji-eut | ssang-ji-eut | chi-eut | ḳi-euk | ṭi-eut | p̣i-eup | hi-eut |