How to read and write Hangul

This article is based on Zev Handel who works for University of Washington.

Chinese oracle bones

- 3250 yrs before present

 - divination records of

Shang dynasty kings

- cattle scapulae and

turtle plastrons

- partially deciphered

one of four ex nihilo

- inventions of writing by

our species; the only

one still in use

mǎ ‘horse’

: Oracle Bone Graph -> Modern graph

Early Writing in Korea

Classical Chinese + Vernacular Korean

Sejong the Great (1397-1450)

: The Korean Alphabet

Correct Sounds for

Enlightening the People

- Invented 1443

- Promulgated 1446

Designed on scientific principles

phonetics

phonology

(cosmology)

“The wise can learn it

in a morning,

the

stupid in a week.”

Alveolar Sounds ( relating to or denoting the bony ridge that contains the sockets of the upper teeth.)

n, d, t, l

same place of

articulation

Letter Shape Principles

letter shapes

derived from

single base form

Syllable Block Principles

B U S A N

ᄇ ᅮ ᄉ ᅡ ᄂ

Two Syllables

B U S A N

ᄇ ᅮ ᄉ ᅡ ᄂ

Syllable Block Principles

B U S A N

ᄇ ᅮ ᄉ ᅡ ᄂ

부 산

Use of Hangul

Following its invention, Hangul was not widely used

until the early 20th century

Classical Chinese, written in Chinese characters,

remained the standard written language from the

15th through 19th centuries

Written Korean supplanted Classical Chinese only in

the 20th century

Written Korean used a mixed-script system of

Chinese characters and Hangul until quite recently

Korean written syllables

A written syllable block is structured this way:

Initial at the top or

top left: s

Vowel below or

right of initial: a

Final at bottom: n

#한국어

#hangul

#koreanprinciples