Hangul is the native alphabet used to write the Korean language (as opposed to the Hanja system borrowed from China). For other romanized spellings of "Hangul", please see Names below. The Korean language is the most widely used language in Korea, and is the official language of both North and South Korea. ... Hanja (lit. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... An alphabet is a complete standardized set of letters—basic written symbols—each of which roughly represents a phoneme of a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it may have been in the past. ... The Korean language is the most widely used language in Korea, and is the official language of both North and South Korea. ... Hanja (lit. ... The Great Wall of China, stretching over 6,700 km, was erected beginning in the 3rd century BC to guard the north from raids by men on horses. ...

While Hangul writing may appear ideographic to the uninitiated, it is actually phonetic. Each Hangul syllabic block consists of several of the 24 letters (jamo)—14 consonants and 10 vowels. Historically, the alphabet had three more consonants and one more vowel (See Obsolete Jamo). For a table of phonological descriptions of each letters, see Phonology. A Chinese character. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word phone = sound/voice) is the study of speech sounds (voice). ... See also consonance in music. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... The Korean language is the most widely used language in Korea, and is the official language of both North and South Korea. ...

Names

Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... The Phoenician alphabet dates from around 1000 BC and is derived from an ancient Egyptian alphabet dating to circa 1800 BC. (See Alphabet: History and diffusion. ... This article is mainly about Hebrew letters. ... Aramaic was for a long time (between the later Assyrian empire and the Abbasid Caliphate) a lingua franca in the Middle East; its alphabet, though itself derived from the Phoenician alphabet, therefore superseded the Old Hebrew alphabet that had been independently descended from the Phoenician alphabet. ... The Kharoṣṭhī script, also known as the Gāndhārī script, is an ancient alphabetic script used by the Gandhara culture of historic northwest India to write the Gandhari and Sanskrit languages (the Gandhara kingdom was located along the present-day border between Afghanistan and Pakistan between the Indus River and the... Brahmi refers to the pre-modern members of the Brahmic family of scripts, attested from the 5th century BC. The best known inscriptions in Brahmi are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka, c. ... Rigveda manuscript in Devanagari (early 19th century) Devanāgarī (देवनागरी — in English pronounced ) (ISCII – IS13194:1991) [1] is a script used to write several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, Bihari, Bhili, Konkani, Bhojpuri and Nepali from Nepal. ... The Thai alphabet (ตัวอักษรไทย) is used to write the Thai language (ภาษาไทย) and other minority languages in Thailand. ... The Syriac alphabet is used for writing the Syriac language. ... Pahlavi is a term that refers: (1) to a script used in Iran derived from the Aramaic script, and (2) more broadly, to Middle Persian, the Middle Iranian language written in this script. ... The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language, which is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. ... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... Coptic letters in a florid Bohairic script The Coptic alphabet is an alphabet used for writing the Coptic language. ... This article is about the 4th century alphabet of the Gothic bible. ... Tablet inscribed with the Glagolitic alphabet The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavonic alphabet. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages ( Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Old Italic refers to a number of related historical alphabets used on the Italian peninsula which were used for some non-Indo-European languages (Etruscan and probably North Picene), various Indo-European languages belonging to the Italic branch (Faliscan and members of the Sabellian group, including Oscan, Umbrian, and South... The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ... Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... The South Arabian alphabet branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in ca. ... The Georgian alphabet is the script currently used to write the Georgian language and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus. ... Saint Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet in 405 AD Armenian alphabet in Matenadaran See also Armenian language Categories: Alphabetic writing systems | Armenia | Unique scripts ... Turkic people living in Central Asia developed various alphabets in early ages. ... Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages that was probably often written in wood in early times. ...

Official names

• The modern name Hangul (한글) is a term coined by Ju Si-gyeong in 1912 that means "great script" (in archaic Korean) and "Korean script" (in modern Korean) simultaneously. It cannot be written in Hanja, though the first syllable Han (한), if used in the sense of "Korean," may be written as 韓. It is pronounced [hanɡɯl] (IPA), and can be Romanized in the following ways:
  • Hangeul or "Han-geul" in Revised Romanization of Korean; the Korean government uses this (official) spelling in all their English publications and encourages it for all purposes. Many recent publications have adopted this spelling.
  • Han'gŭl in McCune-Reischauer (when used as an English word, it is often rendered without any diacritic: Hangul, or sometimes without capitalization: hangul, and it appears thus in English dictionaries)
  • Hankul in Yale Romanization
• The original name was Hunmin Jeongeum (see #History)
• North Koreans prefer to call it Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글), for reasons related to the different Names of Korea.

Ju Si-gyeong (December 22, 1876 - July 27, 1914) was one of the founders of modern Korean linguistics. ... Hanja (lit. ... Korea is a formerly unified country, situated on the Korean Peninsula in northern East Asia, bordering on China to the west and Russia to the north. ... This article is about the alphabet officially used in linguistics. ... A romanization or latinization is a system for representing a word or language with the Roman (Latin) alphabet, where the original word or language used a different writing system. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... A diacritic mark or accent mark is an additional mark added to a basic letter. ... The Yale Romanizations are four systems created during World War II by the United States for its soldiers. ... North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), is a country in eastern Asia, covering the northern half of the peninsula of Korea. ... For complex historical reasons, there are three names of Korea in use today. ...

Alternative names

• Jeongeum, short for the official Hunmin Jeongeum (see #History)
• Urigeul (우리글 "our script") is used in both the North and South, but not by non-Koreans.

Hangul has been occasionally denigrated by those who preferred the traditional Hanja writing at least until the early twentieth century, A.D:

• Eonmun (언문 諺文 "vernacular script"). This ancient name may need an explanation: when Hangul was first invented the nobility rather preferred the Chinese letters to the new script, and derogatively called it as Eonmun.
• Amkeul (암클 "females’ script"): 암 is a prefix to a noun that signifies it is feminine. Women were traditionally considered inferior to men in Korea.
• Ahaegeul (아해글 "children‘s script")

However the use of Hanja in writing has become very rare in the past several decades and those names are considered archaic.

History

Hangul was promulgated by the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, Sejong the Great, after being developed under his guidance by a team of researchers. (Sejong is often called the inventor of Hangul: he was more likely the "idea person" who commissioned and backed the researchers, consulted with them, and published the final report.) The system was completed in 1443 or January 1444, and published in 1446 in a document, Hunmin Jeongeum, after which the alphabet was named. The publication date of Hunmin jeongeum, October 9, is Hangul Day in South Korea (Its North Korean equivalent is on January 15). This article is in need of attention. ... King Sejong the Great (May 6, 1397 - May 18, 1450), born I Do, was the fourth ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea from 1418 to 1450. ... Events Albanians, under Turks John Hunyadi defeats Turks at the Battle of Nis Vlad II Dracul begins his second term as ruler of Wallachia, succeeding Basarab II. Births May 31 - Margaret Beaufort (mother of Henry VII of England) December 5 - Pope Julius II Marriages Deaths August 16 - Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Ashikaga... January is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Events March 1 - Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance April 16 - Truce of Tours. ... Events Mehmed II Sultan of the Ottoman Empire is forced to abdicate in favor of his father Murad II by the Janissaries. ... Published in September or October 1446, Hunmin Jeongeum (lit. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in Leap years). ... Hangul Day —also called Hangul Proclamation Day or Korean Alphabet Day—is an observance on October 9 in South Korea to remember the creation of Hangul, their native alphabet, proclaimed by the publication of Hunmin Jeongeum on this day in 1446. ... South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK; Korean: Daehan Minguk (Hangul: 대한 민국; Hanja: 大韓民國)), is a country in East Asia, covering the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. ... North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), is a country in eastern Asia, covering the northern half of the peninsula of Korea. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

An old legend holds that King Sejong visualized the written characters after studying an intricate lattice, but this story is likely apocryphal. The book explains the scientific principles of the original letter designs (see jamo design). In Judeo-Christian theologies, apocrypha refers to religious Sacred text that have questionable authenticity or are otherwise disputed. ...

King Sejong intended Hangul to be a supplement to Hanja, to be used primarily to educate people who did not know Hanja (hence the name Hunmin Jeongeum, which means "Correct Sounds for the Education of the People" in Sino-Korean). At that time, only male members of the aristocracy (Yangban) learned to read and write Hanja; since all written material was only available in Hanja, most Koreans were effectively illiterate. Hangul faced heavy opposition by the literate elite, who believed Hanja to be the only legitimate writing system. The protest by Choe Man-ri and other Confucians in 1444 is a typical example. Later on, the government became apathetic to Hangul. Yeonsan-gun, the 10th king, forbade the study or use of Hangul and banned Hangul documents in 1504, and King Jungjong abolished the Ministry of Eonmun in 1506. Hangul had been used by women and uneducated people. Hanja (lit. ... Sino-Korean describes those elements of the Korean language that come directly or indirectly from Chinese — namely, Hanja and the words formed from them (hanjaeo (한자어; 漢字語; Han-character words)). Hanja were first introduced into the Korean Peninsula during the Chinese Han (한; 漢) Dynasty (202 BC–AD 220) — largely... The Yangban were on the top of the social hierarchy in pre-Modern Korea. ...

When the idea of nationalism was introduced from Japan to Korea, Hangul began to be considered as a national symbol by some reformists. As a result of the Gabo Reform(갑오개혁) by pro-Japanese politicians, Hangul was adopted in official documents for the first time in 1894. After Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910, Hangul was compulsorily taught in schools until Japan began the national mobilization policy in 1937. The Gabo Reform or Gabo Gyeongjang (갑오 경장; 甲午更張) describes a series of sweeping reforms introduced into Korea (at that time called Joseon) in 1894, during the reign of King Gojong. ...

Jamo

"Jamo" (자모; 字母) are the letters that make up the Hangul alphabet. Ja means letter or character, and mo means mother; the name jamo signifies that the jamo are the building-blocks of Hangul. Hanja (lit. ...

There are 51 jamo, of which 24 are simple (not compounded) and equivalent to letters in the Roman alphabet. The remaining 27 are complex clusters formed by combining 2 or sometimes 3 jamo. Of the 24 simple jamo, 14 are consonants (ja'eum; 자음; 子音; literally, "child sound") and 10 are vowels (moeum; 모음; 母音; literally, "mother sound"). 5 of the consonants can be doubled to form 5 additional double consonants (see below), while another 11 complex consonantal clusters are formed by combining 2 different consonants. The vowels can be combined to form 11 additional diphthongs. Here is a summary of the numbers of jamo: This article is about letter, a written message from one party to another. ... Roman or Romans has several meanings, primarily related to the Roman citizens, but also applicable to typography, math, and a commune. ... See also consonance in music. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... In phonetics, a diphthong ( Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds) is a vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ...

• 14 simple consonants
• 5 double consonants
• 11 complex consonants
• 10 simple vowels
• 11 diphthongs

Four of the simple vowels actually have shapes that are not elemental, but have extra short strokes signifying palatalization: ㅑ (ya), ㅕ (yeo), ㅛ (yo), and ㅠ (yu). These four are counted as part of the 24 rudimentary jamo (letters), because the palatalizing stroke taken out of context does not represent y at all. In fact, there is no separate jamo for y. Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ...

Of the basic consonants, ㅊ (chieut), ㅋ (kieuk), ㅌ (tieut), and ㅍ (pieup) are aspirated derivatives of ㅈ (jieut), ㄱ (giyeok), ㄷ (digeut), and ㅂ (bieup) respectively, formed by combining the parent consonant with the jamo ㅎ (hieut).

The doubled consonants consist of two identical consonants placed beside each other horizontally. They are: ㄲ (kk, ssang-giyeok; "ssang", 雙= double), ㄸ (tt, ssang-digeut), ㅃ (pp, ssang-bieup), ㅆ (ss, ssang-siot), and ㅉ (jj, ssang-jieut). Doubled consonants are not really pronounced twice, they are glottalized. A glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution (a movement, a closure) of the glottis (the opening that leads from the nose and mouth cavities into the larynx and the lungs). ...

The sounds represented by the single and double consonantal jamo cannot be pronounced alone in normal speech.

There are three formal categories of jamo:

1. Initials (초성 ; 初聲 choseong): consonant(s) before the vowel(s) in a syllable (the onset). They include all five double-consonant jamo.
   • Position: Placed at the top, the left, or the upper-left corner of the block.
   • See: Hangul consonant and vowel tables#Initials
2. Medials or peaks (중성 ; 中聲 jungseong): All are vowels (the syllable nucleus)
   • Position: usually in the middle of a syllable, but can be at the end as well.

   For a list of the medials, see #Vowel jamo design

3. Finals (종성 ; 終聲 jongseong): consonant(s) after the vowel(s) in a syllable (the coda). All basic finals are also initials, except The zero initial ㅇ is pronounced ng in the final position. However, the only cluster jamo that are both initials and finals are two of the double consonantal jamo: ㅆ (ss) and ㄲ (kk).
   • Position: Placed at the bottom, right or lower-right corner of the block.
   • See: Hangul consonant and vowel tables#Finals

See also consonance in music. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... In phonetics and phonology, the nucleus is the central part of the syllable, mostly commonly a vowel. ... See also consonance in music. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

Jamo design

The shapes of the consonants were designed scientifically, and the vowels philosophically.

Consonantal jamo design

The designs of the basic jamo consonant letters model the physical morphology of the tongue, palate, teeth and throat. The consonants can be divided into five groups, each with a basic shape, and one or more derived basic forms with additional strokes. The names in the brackets are the traditional Sino-Korean linguistic terminology. Alternative meaning: Tongue, Highland The tongue is the large bundle of muscles on the floor of the mouth that manipulates food for chewing and swallowing. ... The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and vertebrate animals. ... Types of teeth Molars are used for grinding up foods Carnassials are used for slicing food. ... In anatomy, the throat is the part of the neck anterior to the vertebral column. ... This article is on the geographic and cultural entity. ... Broadly conceived, linguistics is the study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ...

• Velar consonants (아음 ; 牙音 ; a-eum; "molar sounds"):
  • ㄱ g, ㅋ k
  • Basic shape: ㄱ is the side view picture of the tongue back touching the velum (soft palate). (For illustration, access the external link below.)
• Alveolar consonants (설음 ; 舌音 ; seol-eum; "lingual sounds"):
  • ㄴ n, ㄷ d, ㅌ t, ㄹ r/l
  • Basic shape: ㄴ is the side view picture of the tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge (teethridge).
• Bilabial consonants (순음 ; 唇音 ; sun-eum; "labial sounds"):
  • ㅁ m, ㅂ b, ㅍ p
  • Basic shape: ㅁ represents the outline of the lips.
• Dental sibilants (치음 ; 齒音 ; chieum; "dental sounds"):
  • ㅅ s, ㅈ j, ㅊ ch
  • Basic shape: ㅅ was originally shaped like a wedge /, without the overlapping top slash. It signifies the side view of the teeth.
• Glottal consonants (후음 ; 喉音 ; hueum; "throat sounds"):
  • ㅇ ng, ㅎ h
  • Basic shape: ㅇ symbolizes the outline of the throat.

Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Alveolars are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, the internal side of the upper gums (known as the alveoles of the upper teeth). ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ...

Vowel jamo design

Vowel letters, on the other hand, consist of three elements:

• Horizontal line (which signifies the flat Earth)
• point (the round Heaven), which later becomes a short stroke
• vertical line (the upright Human)

Together, they form various combinations and represent different vowel sounds:

• Simple vowels:
  • Horizontally written vowels: these tend to be high back vowels.
    • ㅗ o
    • ㅜ u
    • ㅡ eu (ŭ)
  • Vertical written vowels: these tend to be mid/low central/front vowels.
    • ㅏ a
    • ㅓ eo (ŏ)
    • ㅣ i
• Compound (complex) vowels: combined simple vowels. the ㅣ here seems to be an indicator of umlauting.
  • ㅐ = ㅏ + ㅣ
  • ㅔ = ㅓ + ㅣ
  • ㅘ = ㅗ + ㅏ
  • ㅙ = ㅗ + ㅏ + ㅣ
  • ㅚ = ㅗ + ㅣ
  • ㅝ = ㅜ + ㅓ
  • ㅞ = ㅜ + ㅓ + ㅣ
  • ㅟ = ㅜ + ㅣ
  • ㅢ = ㅡ + ㅣ
• Palatalized vowel: Romanized as y-, represented by an extra stroke attached to a line
  • ㅑ = ㅏ + a stroke
  • ㅕ = ㅓ + a stroke
  • ㅛ = ㅗ + a stroke
  • ㅠ = ㅜ + a stroke
  • ㅒ = ㅐ + a stroke
  • ㅖ = ㅔ + a stroke

This page is about punctuation. ...

Jamo order

The alphabetical order of jamo does not mix the consonants and the vowels like the Western alphabets (Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet). The consonants are placed before the vowels. The modern order was set by Choi Sejin in 1527. The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages ( Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Choi Sejin (1473-1542) was a Korean linguist, educator, and a proponent of Hangul. ... Events January 5 - Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, was drowned in the Limmat River in Zurich by the Zurich Reformed state church. ...

South Korean and North Korean governments endorse slightly different orders, but they both follow Choi Sejin's order of the basic jamo. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK; Korean: Daehan Minguk (Hangul: 대한 민국; Hanja: 大韓民國)), is a country in East Asia, covering the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. ... North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK; Korean: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk; Hangul: 조선민주주의인민공화국; Hanja: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), is a country in eastern Asia, covering the northern half of the peninsula of Korea. ...

South Korean order

The modern order of the consonantal jamo is:

ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ

Double consonantal jamo are placed immediately after its source simple jamo.

Medials' order is:

ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ

The fundamental (not necessarily basic) medials come first, with derived forms inserted in between, according to their types: 'additional stroke', 'palatalized', then 'palatalized with additional stroke'. For vertical vowels, the derived forms are listed in the order: w- (symbolically represented by ㅏ or ㅓ), then adds a stroke to w- (ㅐ), then just a stroke, without w-.

North Korean order

Consonants:

ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ ㅇ

The first ㅇ represents the final sound /ng/. The second ㅇ represents the zero initial. Note that the double jamo are placed at the very end, before the zero ㅇ, but after all other jamo, rather than immediately after their respective source jamo as is done in South Korea.

Vowels:

ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅚ ㅟ ㅢ ㅘ ㅝ ㅙ ㅞ

ㅐ and ㅔ are placed after all basic vowels, not after ㅏ and ㅓ.

Jamo names

The sequence of jamo is called "the ganada order" (가나다順), named after the first three consonant jamo of the arrangement (g, n, and d) affixed to the first vowel (a). They were named by Choi Sejin in 1527. North Korea has later changed the jamo names. Choi Sejin (1473-1542) was a Korean linguist, educator, and a proponent of Hangul. ... Events January 5 - Felix Manz, co-founder of the Swiss Anabaptists, was drowned in the Limmat River in Zurich by the Zurich Reformed state church. ...

Consonant jamo names

The modern consonants have two-syllable names, with the consonant coming at the beginning and end of the name, as follows:

All but three jamo are named in the format of letter + i + eu + letter (note that in North Korea there are no exceptions; all jamo are of the aforementioned form). For example, t is tieut. The "letter + i" component makes up the first syllable, and "eu + letter" the second. For example, Choi writes bieup as 非 (bi) and 邑 (eup). The jamo g, d, and s are exceptions because there are no Hanja for euk, eut, and eus. Yeok (役) is used in place of euk. And since there is no Hanja that end in t and s, Choi chose two Hanja to be read in the native Korean gloss: 末 (kkeut "end") and 衣 (os "clothes"). Originally, Choi gave j, ch, k, t, p, and h the irregular one-syllable names of ji, chi, ki, ti, pi, and hi. But they were changed to the present regular forms in 1933.

The double consonants precede the parent consonant's name with the word ssang (쌍), meaning "twin" or "double", or with doen (된) in North Korea, meaning "strong". Thus:

In North Korea, an alternative way to refer to the jamo is by the name letter + eu (ㅡ), for example, 그 (geu) for the jamo ㄱ, 쓰 (sseu) for the jamo ㅆ, etc.

Vowel jamo names

The vowels' names are simply the syllable formed by taking the letter ㅇ (ieung) and adding the vowel being named. Thus:

Obsolete jamo

The original additional jamo, called archaic or obsolete, are:

• ㆍ or 丶 (arae-a or araea 아래 아): Pronounced as (IPA ʌ, similar to eo.

  Typically seen on its own, or in the syllable ㆎ (area-ae) The word for "Hanja" was originally written using this letter.

• ㅿ (bansios, 반시옷) [z] (If your browser doesn't show it, the letter looks like an equilateral triangle.)
• ㆆ (yeorinhieuh, 여린히읗 or 된이응 "light hieuh" or "doubled ieung") [glottal fricative/stop]: "lighter than ㅎ and harsher than ㅇ".
• ㆁ (yetieung, 옛이응) [ŋ]: Now merged into ㅇ (ieung), it is the traditional symbol for [ŋ]. With some computer fonts, yetieung is shown as a less round version of ieung. The proper way of representing yetieung, however, is by showing a long peak, longer than what you would see on a serif version of ieung.

In addition, there are two obsolete derived (in form) jamo representing one single sound: Symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet. ... Hanja (lit. ... In typography, a typeface is a co-ordinated set of character designs, which usually comprises an alphabet of letters, a set of numerals and a set of punctuation marks. ... In typography, serifs are the small features at the end of strokes within letters. ...

• ㅸ (gabyeoun bieup, 가벼운 비읍) [β]
• ㆅ (ssanghieuh, 쌍히읗) [xʲ]

Modified versions of the dental consonants existed to denote two kinds of dentals used in Chinese language: plain dental and retroflex. Plain dentals have longer left stems, while retroflexes have longer right stems. Retroflex consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up and back so the bottom of the tip touches the roof of the mouth. ...

Furthermore, there existed many other jamo combinations to express consonant clusters, diphthongs, and triphthongs. A consonant cluster is a linguistic term, simply meaning a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ... In phonetics, a diphthong ( Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds) is a vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... In phonetics, a triphthong is a monosyllabic vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another that passes over a third one. ...

The sounds that these "obsolate jamo" respresent, however, are still present in regional dialects.

Syllabic blocks

To be able to be pronounced, some Hangul jamo must form blocks together, sometimes called "characters". Each Hangul block is a syllable consisting of two to three jamo (simple or cluster). The modern pattern is consonant + medial + (consonant). If a syllable ends with a vowel, then the syllable-final jamo is omitted altogether in writing. If a syllable starts with a vowel, however, ㅇ (ieung) is used as a filler instead of omitting the syllable-initial jamo. This is sensible, since modern Korean lacks a syllable-initial [N]. This article discusses the unit of speech. ...

1. Two jamo: an initial + a medial (vowel)
2. Three jamo: an initial + a medial (vowel) + a final

The placement, or stacking, of jamo in the block follow set patterns:

1. Syllables that end in a vowel are written either vertically or horizontally, depending on the vowel.
   • Vertical jamo: initial left of the vertical vowel: →
   • Horizontal jamo: initial on top of the horizontal vowel: ↓

   The zero initial is called a "placeholder", as regard to patterns

2. batchim (받침 - "supporting floor") When a syllable has an additional jamo (final), it adds to the above pattern, with the final at the bottom ("floor"):
   • Syllables which have a vertical vowel and end in a final are written clockwise.
   • Syllables which have a horizontal vowel and end in a final are written in a vertical stack.

The result is the same size and shape as a Hanja, and hence some Westerners confuse the syllabic blocks with Hanja. In mathematics, and in other disciplines involving formal languages, including mathematical logic and computer science, a free variable is a notation for a place or places in an expression, into which some definite substitution may take place, or with respect to which some operation (summation or quantification, to give two... Hanja (lit. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ...

There once were over 2,500 Hangul blocks, many of which have been eliminated. One of the deleted ones is ㅵ (bsd), entirely consonantal.

There was a very minor movement in the twentieth century to abolish syllabic blocks and write the jamo individually in a row. This would be difficult to read, because syllable ambiguity arises, namely, it becomes unclear when a syllable ends and another begins. Presumably the abolishment of syllabic blocks would necessitate inserting spaces in between all syllables. However, spaces are already presently employed in the Korean script to separate words. (See #Writing) This movement has gained very little support. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... A space is a punctuation convention for providing interword separation in some scripts, including the Latin, Cyrillic, and Arabic. ...

Orthography

Until the 20th century, no orthography of Hangul had been established. Due to liaison, heavy consonant assimilation, dialectical variants and other reasons, a Korean word can be spelt in several different ways. King Sejong seemed to prefer morphophonemic spelling rather than phonemic one. However, since it was mainly used by uneducated people, Hangul was dominated by phonemic and inconsistent spelling.

After much trial and error, the Japanese Government-General of Chosen established the writing style of a mixture of Hanja and Hangul, modeled on the Japanese writing system. The government revised the rule for spelling in 1912, 1921 and 1930, which was relatively phonemic.

The Hangul Society, originally found by Ju Si-gyeong, announced a proposal for a new morphophonemic orthography in 1933, which became the prototype of the contemporary orthographies in the North and South. After Korea was divided, the North and South revised orthographies separately. The guiding text for Hangul orthography is the called the Hangul Matchumbeop, whose last South Korean revision was published in 1988 by the Ministry of Education. Ju Si-gyeong (December 22, 1876 - July 27, 1914) was one of the founders of modern Korean linguistics. ... Hangeul Matchumbeop means orthography of Korean language, and in South Korea, specifically one published in 1988 by the Ministry of Education of South Korea. ...

Writing

Hangul can be written both horizontally and vertically. The latter method is traditional, akin to the Chinese style. The former style was promoted by Ju Si-gyeong, and has become overwhelmingly preferred. Ju Si-gyeong (December 22, 1876 - July 27, 1914) was one of the founders of modern Korean linguistics. ...

Hangul's first appearance was in Hunmin Jeongeum, the 14th-century book that first described the script. At that time, Hangul were printed in lines of even thickness and without short serifs (beginning brushstrokes). This style can be found in books published before about 1900, and also today when Hangul is carved in stone (on statues, for example). In typography, serifs are the small features at the end of strokes within letters. ...

Over the centuries, as people slowly began to use Hangul and write it by hand, an ink-brush style developed, and calligraphers employed the same style of the lines and bending angles as they did in writing Chinese characters, to achieve a similar look. (This style is called Myeongjo in Korean, a translation of the Chinese Mingcho, which name is used to describe a Chinese computer font today.) The Myeongjo style is used today in the body of books, newspapers, and magazines. Some computer fonts, such as Mac Korean, reflect the ink-brush style. Calligraphy (from Greek καλλι calli beauty + γραφος graphos writing) is the art of decorative writing. ... 漢字 in Traditional Chinese and other languages. ... In typography, a typeface is a co-ordinated set of character designs, which usually comprises an alphabet of letters, a set of numerals and a set of punctuation marks. ... Macintosh, also known as Mac, is a family of personal computers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. ...

In longhand writing, ink brushes have given way to ballpoint pens, and a square style has once again emerged. This style (lines of equal width and few curves) is widespread in computers, and most Web browsers have a square font like Microsoft GulimChe as their default, leading to a large amount of text that is now read and written in non-calligraphic fonts. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), (founded 1975), headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, is the worlds largest software company (with over 50,000 employees in various countries, as of May 2004). ...

Pronunciation of the Hangul writing is occasionally not based strictly on Hangul jamo, but also follow specific irregular phonetic rules (see Korean language#Phonology). Until the twentieth century, Hangul was written in the surface form (as is pronounced), but now it is written in the deep form (as is etymologically). The Korean language is the most widely used language in Korea, and is the official language of both North and South Korea. ...

External links

• The Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism's article on Hangul (http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=A020302)
• Hangul lessons (http://www.langintro.com/kintro/toc.htm)
• List of syllables and Romanization (http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hangul_syllables): Wikisource
• Browser and Hangul (http://www.triangletkd.org/students/facts/hangul.html)
• Description of Hangul (http://www.mozilla.or.kr/mozilla/ehanguel.html)
• Korean alphabet and pronunciation (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/korean.htm)
• Jamo in Unicode (http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1100.pdf) (177 KByte PDF)
• Hangul syllables (http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/UAC00.pdf) (7 MByte PDF)
• The Revised Romanization of Korean (http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=A020303)

Wikisource is a sister project to Wikipedia that aims to create a free wiki compendium of primary source texts in any language, as well as translations of source texts. ... Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. ...

See also

• Korean language
• Korean language and computers
• alphabet
• character
• writing system
• Korean romanization
• Romaja
• Languages of China
• List of Korea-related topics