The first page of the textHunminjeongeum Eonhae shows some obsolete Hangul letters in use
TheKorean alphabet, known asHangul internationally,Hangeul in South Korea, andChoson'gŭl in North Korea, was introduced with 28 main letters, which are calledjamo. Other extended vowels and consonants also existed or were later introduced but faded from use. Now, 24 main letters are in use for modern Korean.
A number of letters that became obsolete for Korean have previously and even currently seen use for other languages. For example,ㆍ is obsolete for Korean but used for theJeju language.
ㆁ ([ŋ]) is a consonant that represented anng sound. It has a stroke on top, added fromㅇ, anull or zero initial. They were often confused, as they are so visually similar.[2] In the 15th century, it was used in both as an initial and final consonant. It became final only at the start of the 16th century.[3] By the 17th century, the two letters functionally merged intoㅇ.[2]
ㅿ ([z]) is a consonant that was a voiced equivalent ofㅅ.[4][5] Its sound value is controversial, although most scholars believe it to have been[z] in Middle Korean.[6] Its use was generally restricted to the word medial position (i.e. inside a word), although it was sometimes used as the first initial consonant of a word.[7] It fell out of significant use to represent Korean by around the 1570s to 1580s. By this point, its corresponding phoneme had disappeared out of the language.[4][8]
ㆆ ([ʔ]) is a consonant that was aglottal stop. It has a stroke added fromㅇ. It was not used much. For Korean, it could be used to indicatepreglottalization before a tensed consonant.[9][10] It largely fell out of use by the end of the 15th century, after which its role was replaced byㅅ.[11]
ㆍ ([ʌ] or[ɐ][12]) is a vowel that was used for the Korean language, although it is still used for the Jeju language (there, it is pronounced[ɔ] or[ʌ]).[13] The letter's sound disappeared gradually from the 16th to 18th centuries, but remained in use in writing.[14][5][12] The first orthography to prohibit it was the 1930Hangul Orthography [ko].[15] The Korean Language Society's 1933Unified Hangul Orthography [ko] also called for its prohibition; its use largely ended with this orthography.[16][12][17] Its role has since been replaced with eitherㅡ orㅏ.[12]
ᅇ had an unclear sound value. It is graphically a doubled form ofㅇ. Lee and Ramsey argue it most likely was used to indicate that the "causative/passive morpheme began with avoiced velar fricative[ɣ]". It mainly occurred in compound verbs, for example괴ᅇᅧ orᄆᆡᅇᅵᄂᆞ니라.[18] Its final appearance was in the 1517Mongsan hwasangbŏbŏ yangnok ŏnhae (몽산화상법어약록언해;蒙山和尙法語略錄諺解[19]).[20]
ㆅ had an unclear sound value. It was an initial consonant and graphically a doubled form ofㅎ. It was introduced in theHunminjeongeum for use in Sino-Korean, but it was very rarely used.[21][10] Its use was limited to the syllableᅘᅧ ([xjə];lit.'pull').[20][18][10] Within several decades of the promulgation, it virtually ceased to be used at all.[21][10] According to Hong, the letter's final attestation is in the 1517Mongsan hwasangbŏbŏ yangnok ŏnhae.[22] Lee and Ramsey claim it continued to see minor use until the 17th century.[23] In the 17th century,ᅘᅧ came to be written asᄻᅧ.[18]ㆅ's function has been virtually entirely replaced byㅎ,ㅋ, orㅆ.[22]
ꥼ had an unclear sound value. It is graphically a doubled form ofㆆ. There are no records of this character ever being used.[24]
ㅥ is graphically a doubled form ofㄴ. It is attested to in theHunminjeongeum Eonhae in the phrase "다ᄔᆞ니라", but Lee and Ramsey argue this is an anomalous spelling variant of "단ᄂᆞ니라".[25] It appeared in the 1676 print ofCh'ŏphae sinŏ to phonetically transcribe the Japanese wordnan=no:나ᄔᅩ.[26]
ᄙ has been used to transcribe various foreign languages, including Russian.[27]
The light labial letters, also calledyŏnsŏ (연서;連書[28]), are briefly mentioned in theHunminjeongeum and expanded upon in theHaerye. They are graphically composed of the labial consonants with a smallㅇ underneath them.[25][29] All of them, except forㅸ, were only used for the transcription of Chinese.[25]
ㅸ ([β][30]) is graphically composed ofㅂ above aㅇ. It was an initial consonant used for native Korean sounds, not Chinese.[31]ㅸ largely disappeared from use by the 1460s[32][16] or by the mid 16th-century.[33] In most situations, itlenited (was replaced with a softer sound) and merged with the semivowel/w/. As examples,글ᄫᅡᆯ →글왈 (lit.'letter') and더ᄫᅥ →더워 (lit.'hot').[34] It was revived for use in Cia-Cia, where it represents thevoiced labiodental fricative.[35]
ㆄ is graphically composed of aㅍ above aㅇ. Linguist Sven Osterkamp argues it was possibly hardly audibly distinguishable fromㅸ, and that etymology would have helped determine which to use. It did not see much use, even to transcribe Chinese. Sin Sukchu, a prominent linguist of Chinese around the 15th century and head of many Hangul-related projects, felt that its corresponding theoretical sound did not exist then in Chinese. The letter saw sparse use to transcribe Japanese in the 1492 workIrop'a, but Osterkamp evaluated its use as "unsystematic".[36]
ᄛ is graphically composed ofㄹ above aㅇ. It was extremely rarely used, if at all. Ledyard identified a single possible usage in the workIrop'a, but that usage hasㅇ to the right ofㄹ.[37]
ㅱ is composed of aㅁ above aㅇ. It was used differently by different authors; some texts used it in either or both of the initial and final positions.[38] Its sound value is the subject of scholarly disagreement. Almost all scholars who've written about this issue have argued it possibly had different sounds in different positions, with various proposals about the sound values.[39] A number of scholars argue that, when it was used in the final position, its sound was functionally that of thesemivowel[w]. A number of 15th-century texts had grammatical particles used after vowel sounds applied after the letter when it was used in the final position, and it was often replaced by the vowelsㅜ ([wu]) andㅗ ([wo]).[40] When used as an initial, various scholars have argued that its sound was thevoiced labiodental nasal ([ɱ]), a lightvoiced bilabial nasal ([m]), or avoiced labiodental approximant semivowel ([ʋ]).[39]
◇ ([w]) is a consonant invented byPak Sŏngwŏn [ko] in his 1747 workHwadongjŏngŭm t'ongsŏgun'go (화동정음통석운고;華東正音通釋韻考).[41] Scholars believe the character's function overlapped with that ofㅱ.[41] It was used for the transcription of Chinese.[42][41]
ᄼ ([s,ɕ]),ᄽ ([z,ʑ]),ᅎ ([ts,tɕ]),ᅏ ([dz,tʑ]),ᅔ ([tsʰ,tɕʰ]) andᄾ ([ʂ]),ᄿ ([ʐ]),ᅐ ([tʂ]),ᅑ ([dʐ]),ᅕ ([tʂʰ]);[43] theformer five are pure dental and latter five are palatal-supradental sibilants [ko][a] (치두음;齒頭音 and정치음;正齒音). They were exclusively used to transcribe Chinese. They were not a part of the originalHunminjeongeum orHaerye; it is unclear exactly when they were introduced. They appear in the introduction to the textSasŏng t'onggo (사성통고;四聲通攷),[46] which was possibly published before 1455,[47][48] and are attested to in the 1459Wŏrin sŏkpo [ko] edition of theHunminjeongeum.[49] They do not appear in any other version of theHunminjeongeum. Scholars assume some scholar other than Sejong, possiblySin Sukchu, invented these letters and included them in these texts.[50] They are attested to in the 1800 textHwadong ŭmwŏn (화동음원;華東音源) by Hong Hŭijun (홍희준;洪羲俊).[51]
The 1908 textAhakp'yŏn (아학편;兒學編) used unusual heterogeneous horizontal clusters beginning withㅇ to transcribe English. For example, it usedᅋ ([f]) to transcribe "knife":나이ᅋᅳ.[36]
The letters considered acceptable for use as final consonants have changed over time. TheHaerye stipulates that eight basic consonants can be used as finals:ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ,ㅁ,ㅂ,ㅅ, andㅇ. In particular, it argues thatㅅ is sufficient to represent the sounds of the dental sibilantsㅈ,ㅿ, andㅊ in the final position.[52][53] The use of these eight finals was strictly abided by in the 15th and 16th centuries, except for in the early worksYongbiŏch'ŏn'ga andWŏrin ch'ŏn'gangjigok [ko], which were both published in 1447, around the promulgation of Hangul. The unusual orthography in those early texts possibly reflects an early dispute over orthography that was soon resolved. For heterogenous final clusters, there were six in common use (excluding those that include thesaisiot):ㄳ,ㅧ,ㄺ,ㄻ,ㄼ, andㅭ.[54]
Unusual vowel clusters have seen use to transcribe foreign languages. For example, in the 1768 textMongŏ yuhae (몽어유해;蒙語類解), vowel clusters likeᅾ andᅟᆓ were used to transcribe Mongolian.[55]
ᆢ is a vowel that is graphically a doubled form ofㆍ. It was described as having a heavier and longer sound thanㆍ. It was introduced inSin Kyŏngjun [ko]'s 1750 workHunmin chŏngum unhae [ko].[41][56][17] It was also described inYu Hŭi [ko]'s 1824 textŎnmunji [ko]. The intended sound can still be heard in theJeju language today, for example in the verb "ᄋᆢᆯ다" (in standard Korean "열다"; "to open").[56][57] Its sound value likely overlapped with that ofᆝ.[58]
ᆖ is graphically a doubled form ofㅡ. It was introduced inChi Sŏgyŏng [ko]'s 1905New Edition of National Writing (신정국문;新訂國文) and meant to represent a combined sound ofㅡ andㅣ. This character, along with the rest of Chi's orthography, was promulgated into law, but swiftly met with backlash and never fully implemented.[59][60] In 1907, the government appointed aNational Language Research Institute [ko]. In 1909, that organization proposed a number of changes to the orthography, including the rejection ofᆖ. Their proposal was never implemented due to Korea's rapid loss of sovereignty around this time.[59][61]
ᆜ is a combined vowel consisting of, in this order,ㅣ andㅡ. By contrast,ㅢ is pronounced in the order ofㅡ andㅣ. It was briefly mentioned in theHaerye as perhaps being useful for transcribing the speech of children or of dialects, but not needed for standard Korean. It was otherwise rarely used.[58]
ᆝ is a combined vowel consisting of, in this order,ㅣ andㆍ. Likeᆜ, it was introduced in theHaerye as unnecessary for standard Korean but potentially useful otherwise. It was rarely used. Its sound value likely overlapped with that ofᆢ.[58]
ㆇ (combinedㅛ andㅑ) andㆊ (ㅠ andㅕ) were introduced in theHaerye for the exclusive use in transcribing Chinese.[62][63]
^Yang, Hyojung; Lim, Soonbum; Ahn, Byunghak (2023).고문헌 집자를 통한 옛한글 글꼴 디자인 토대 연구 [A Foundational Study on Archaic Hangeul Character Font Design through Old Literature Review].Journal of Basic Design & Art (in Korean).24 (1). Korean Society of Basic Design & Art: 162 – viaDBpia.
Park, Chang-won (2015-08-31).Hangeul: The Korean Alphabet. Translated by Cho, Yoon-jung; Han, Mi-sun. Ehwa Womans University Press.ISBN979-11-85909-68-4.
유효홍 (April 2010).순경음 'ㅱ'의 종성 표기에 대하여 [On the use of the light labial 'ㅱ' as a final consonant].국어사연구 (in Korean).10. 국어사학회:233–269.
홍윤표 (2016).한글 자모의 명칭과 배열순서에 대한 역사적 연구 [A Historical Study of the Names and Alphabetical Orders of Hangul Letters].한국어사 연구 (in Korean).2. 국어사연구회:259–321.ISSN2383-4978 – viaDBpia.
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