History

The Korean people have their own language and their own alphabet, Hangeul. From ancient times, many peoples of the world have tried to invent characters with which to write their languages. The world's major orthographies gradually took form and came into use over long periods of time, and most of them changed as time went by. The creation of Korean Hangeul, however, is a unique example of a new writing system being developed by a small number of people in a short time, without any direct influence from any existing orthography, and becoming a written language that permitted mass literacy and eventually became the nation's official script.

Literacy had come to Korea with the adoption of Chinese characters around the beginning of the Christian era, and by the middle of the 15th century Korea had produced a substantial literature of scholarly and creative works composed in classical Chinese. However, Chinese characters were designed for writing the Chinese language and were not suitable for Korean, a language quite different from Chinese. Before the invention of Hangeul, Koreans had a dual system of literacy: hanmun, or classical Chinese, for the upper class and idu, a system of writing Korean sounds in Chinese characters, for the middle class. Great inconvenience was caused by the incompatibility between the two systems, one based on a literary language and the other on a spoken vernacular. Neither system was well adapted to written communication in Korean.

Realizing this, King Sejong (r. 1418-1450) of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and the scholars who belonged to the Jiphyeonjeon, the Hall of Worthies, studied Chinese prosody and the orthographies of neighboring countries and analyzed the contem-porary state of Korean phonology. This knowledge provided the foundation for the new alphabet which they promulgated in 1446. Sejong had the scholars write examples of the new orthography with commentaries and compile them in a book along with his own simple explanation of the new script. The book, Sejong's introduction, and the alphabet itself, were all given the same name: Hunmin Jeongeum, or Proper Sounds to Instruct the People. This is the writing system known today as Hangeul.

The first section of the book is the main text, written by King Sejong himself. In the preface Sejong elucidates his purpose in inventing the new alphabet. He points out that, because the Korean language is quite different from Chinese, it contains elements that are hard to represent in Chinese characters, making it difficult for the common people to express their thoughts in writing. Finding this unacceptable, he proposes the adoption of 28 new letters which are easy to learn and convenient to use in everyday life. The main text lists the 28 letters - 17 consonants and 11 vowels - with brief descriptions and examples. It then explains that the consonants can be used at the end of a syllable as well as the beginning, that more than one consonant can be combined in either initial or final position by writing them from left to right, and that more than one vowel can be combined in the middle of a syllable, fitting the letters together according to their shape. It also indicates that speech tones are marked with dots to the left of the syllable.

The principle of Formulating Hangeul

The alphabet is famous as a phonemic writing system in which the letters are grouped into syllables of approximately the same size and shape as monosyllabic Chinese characters, which are often interspersed with Hangeul in what is known as "mixed script."(Modern Hangeul is not strictly phonemic but morphophonemic, so that written syllables no longer correspond exactly with spoken sounds.) Hangeul is recognized worldwide as a highly scientific writing system that is both an alphabet and a syllabary.

Another unusual feature of Hangeul is that the shapes of its letters were modeled on the human articulatory organs and the three basic components of the universe: heaven, earth, and man. King Sejong and his scholars conceived of a syllable as comprising initial consonant(s), medial vowel(s), and final consonant(s). While other alphabets arrange their letters in horizontal or vertical rows, Hangeul forms them into squares, each representing a syllable, which allows both accurate representation of the Korean language and ease of learning.

Consonants are divided into five classes modeled on five articulatory positions. The basic forms are the "molar"(velar) ㄱ (g), in the shape of the root of the tongue closing the throat; the "lingual"(alveolar) ㄴ (n), in the shape of the tongue touching the inner upper gum; the labial ㅁ (m), in the shape of the mouth; the "incisor" dental fricative) ㅅ (s), in the shape of a tooth; and the laryngeal ㅎ (voiced h), in the shape of the throat. In each class, phonemes that are "stronger" than these basic forms are written with one or two additional strokes. For example, the "lingual" ㄴ (n) is "strengthened" to ㄷ(d), which in turn becomes ㅌ (aspirated "t").

"Medials"(vowels) are divided into yang, yin, and combined yang-yin categories, and the three basic vowels are associated with heaven ( . , a), earth ( ㅡ, eu), and man ( ㅣ, i). The other vowels (ㅏ,ㅑ,ㅓ,ㅕ,ㅗ,ㅛ,ㅜ,ㅠ) are formed by combining these basic vowel shapes. For example, in ㅗ (o), ㅛ (yo), or ㅑ (ya), the basic vowel shape "." is added once or twice above the basic vowel shape "ㅡ" or to the right of the basic vowel shape "ㅣ" In ㅜ (u), ㅠ (yu), and ㅕ (yeo), the basic vowel shape "." is added once or twice below the basic vowel shape "ㅡ" or to the left of the basic vowel shape "ㅣ". These design principles may not be self-evident, but modern linguists concur with the concept of vowel harmony and the categories of strong vowels, weak vowels, and neutral vowels.

"An Explanation of the Initials" refers to the ancient Chinese rime books, or phonological treatises, which divided each syllable into its initial consonant and the remainder, comprising a vowel and sometimes a final consonant. For example, the initial consonant ㄱ (g) combines with the medial vowel ㅜ plus the final consonant ㄴ (un) to make the syllable 군 (gun), and other initials work the same way.

A highly scientific orthography which can readily transcribe any word or sound in the Korean language, Hangeul was originally intended for translating the Chinese classics, highly regarded in Confucian Korea, so that these revered texts could be more widely read. For example, a translation of the Chinese "Four Books and Five Classics" was begun in Sejong's reign and completed under King Seonjo in the late 16th century. Novels written in Hangeul reached a burgeoning audience, primarily middle-class and female, adding a new dimension to Korean culture. In modern times, Hangeul gradually replaced Chinese characters as the main system of writing in Korea.

Hangeul Today

The name Hangeul was suggested by the Korean linguist Ju Si-gyeong in the 1910s. Scholars of the Korean Language Society wrote grammars defining the standard spoken language and set forth a major revision of Hangeul orthography. These became the basis of language education after Korea's Liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945. In 1988 the National Academy of the Korean Language recognized some changes in the standard grammar and lexicon and in September 1990 updated the spelling of some 1,400 words. The academy has promoted the computerization of Hangeul, improving the Hangeul code and keyboard and developing new software and fonts. As the nation's standing in the international community advances, interest in the Korean language and culture is growing. Korean language textbooks and educational computer programs are being developed along with efforts to promote access to the Korean language in other countries. Hangeul originally had 28 letters, but four letters have dropped out of use. Today, 24 letters are in use, 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

The rigorous logic and scientific principles of Hangeul have impressed the linguists and intellectuals of the world. Hangeul is now widely acknowledged as the most scientific writing system in the world, not only compared with ideographic systems like Chinese but also compared with other alphabetic systems.

The high literacy rate that Korea enjoys today is mainly due to its easily learned alphabet. Appropriately enough, the prize awarded by UNESCO in recognition of contributions to the eradication of illiteracy is called the Sejong Prize. In the long run Hangeul itself will contribute to UNESCO's movement to eradicate illiteracy.