TheKorean alphabet is the modernwriting system for theKorean language. It is known asChosŏn'gŭl[a] inNorth Korea,Hangul internationally, andHangeul[b] in South Korea. The script's original name wasHunminjeongeum.[c]
Before Hangul's creation, Korea had been usingHanja (Chinese characters) since antiquity. As Hanja was poorly suited for representing the Korean language, and because its difficulty contributed to highilliteracy, Joseon kingSejong the Great (r. 1418–1450) moved tocreate Hangul. The script was announced around late 1443 to early 1444 and officially published in 1446 via the textHunminjeongeum and its companion commentaryHunminjeongeum Haerye. While Hangul saw gradual adoption among both the elite and commoners, it was looked down upon by the elite for centuries. It only began to receive societal acceptance in the late 19th century. It is now the predominant script for Korean in both Koreas and among theKorean diaspora. It is also used to write theJeju language, and to a limited degree, theCia-Cia language of Indonesia.
Hangul orthography has changed over time and differs between North and South Korea. Modern Korean-language orthographies use 24[d] basic letters, which are calledjamo. These 14 consonants and 10 vowels can be combined to yield 27 additional letters; a total of 51. They are arranged in syllable blocks consisting of an initial consonant, a vowel, and an optional final consonant. The syllables can be arranged invertical or horizontal rows, although the latter practice has become dominant.Hangul punctuation is now largely similar to Western punctuation, with some differences.Spaces between words or phrases are a modern feature of Hangul.
Hangul letters were designed to be graphically simple, and traditionally consisted of only straight lines, dots, and circles. The shapes of 5 basic consonants are based on those ofhuman speech organs. Most of the other basic consonants, which are considered to correspond to "harsher" sounds than those 5, are derived by adding additional lines to those letters to indicate progressively harsher sounds. There are anumber of other hypothesized inspirations for the letter shapes, but these are still debated.
The script has received significant praise from international linguists and historians. It is now a significant point of pride for Korean people.
The Korean alphabet has been referred to by various names since its invention. Its original name wasHunminjeongeum (훈민정음;訓民正音;Hunmin chŏngŭm; 'Correct Sounds for the Instruction of People').[1]
Internationally, the script goes byHangul. This spelling has been adopted as a word in the English language[2] and is used by organizations like theInternational Organization for Standardization (which gives it the four-letter codeHang and numeric code286).[3]Hangul is an ad-hoc romanization of the South Korean name for the script; South Korea's preferredRevised Romanization system renders this asHangeul (한글). The name meansscript of Han, whereHan is one of thenames of Korea.[4] The name appeared some time around the early 1910s.[5][6]
In North Korea, the nameHangul was briefly used until it was replaced byChosŏn'gŭl in 1949. This is in part due to differing preferences for names of Korea: North Korea refers to the whole of Korea asChosŏn, while South Korea usesHanguk.[7]
The script also historically went by a variety of other names, includingŏnmun (언문;諺文;lit. vernacular script),[8]panjŏl (반절;反切),[9] andkungmun (국문;國文; 'national script').[10]
Hangul is aphonographic script: a writing system wheregraphemes represent the sounds of a language. It is also analphabet.[11] The script is often described as "syllabic" because of how its letters are grouped into syllables(see§ Syllable blocks),[12] although linguistJohn DeFrancis is skeptical of this.[13] Several linguists have instead argued for calling it an "alphabetic syllabary", "syllabic alphabet", or "alpha-syllabary".[14] While Hangul was originally a morephonemic script (where spelling is strictly tied to pronunciation), modern Hangul has become moremorphophonemic (where some pronunciation changes are not reflected in spelling) over time(seeHangul orthography § Buncheol vs. yeoncheol debate).[15]
Some scholars argue that Hangul is what is called a "featural script": a writing system where the shapes of the symbols encode phonological features of the spoken language they represent. The term was coined by Sampson in a 1985 book, wherein he argued Hangul was featural. This argument is largely based on theHaerye's explanations for the derivations of the letter shapes.[19]
In a 1989 book, DeFrancis praises Hangul but questions Sampson's classification of Hangul as featural. He argues that Hangul encodes too few features of Korean and that most people literate in Hangul do not actively learn or process the featural principles used to construct the shapes of the letters.[20] In a 1997 book, Chin-Woo Kim rebuts DeFrancis's argument. He argues that DeFrancis relies on a count of Korean's features that is too high, and that other scholars provide lower counts. He also argues that, even if one accepts that most do not learn or perceive Hangul's featural aspects, that does not mean such aspects do not exist. Kim also claims that scholars argue Hangul is not a featural script because it does not neatly abide byJakobsonian distinctive features.[21] In the same book, linguistYoung-Key Kim-Renaud argues against a featural label. She argues it should be considered that the derivation rules are applied to varying quality and that some symbols represent or contribute to multiple significantly different sounds. Kim-Renaud gives the example of the dot: the dot is used as a vowel (ㆍ) and a component in other vowels (e.g. two of them inㅑ). When used as a component, it does not carry the meaning of the dot vowel.[22] Linguists Pae, Winskel, and Kim argue that the featural designation is difficult tofalsify, debatable, and uncertain.[23] Linguists Taylor and Taylor argue that not all of Hangul's letters are derived from articulatory features and their shape communicates little to learners and users of Korean.[24] Linguist Dimitrios Meletis feels that the label is given too much attention, and that the stroke addition rule and philosophical concepts behind the letters are not purely featural.[25]
First page of theHunminjeongeum, which formally introduced Hangul
Due to a lack of records, it is unknown when work on Hangul first began, nor what that process looked like.[29] Joseon kingSejong the Great (r. 1418–1450) was responsible for Hangul's creation, and most scholars believe he was significantly personally involved in creating it.[30] Hangul was first introduced, likely in a mostly complete form, to Sejong's court in the 12th month of 1443 of theKorean calendar (around December 30, 1443 to January 28, 1444 in theGregorian calendar).[31] Work then began on applying the script and developing official documentation for it. Part of this effort resulted in the creation ofYongbiŏch'ŏn'ga, the first ever piece of Hangul literature.[32]
The sounds of our country's language are different from those of theMiddle Kingdom and are not confluent with the sounds of characters. Therefore, among the ignorant people, there have been many who, having something they want to put into words, have in the end been unable to express their feelings. I have been distressed because of this, and have newly designed twenty-eight letters, which I wish to have everyone practice at their ease and make convenient for their daily use.[35]
— Sejong the Great,Hunminjeongeum, preface
Critics of Hangul emerged soon after its introduction. They argued that a native Korean script was too far a departure fromChinese civilization, which they insisted Korea should be deferent to in aConfucian manner.[36] Modern historians have argued that elitism and self-interest were other motivators for anti-Hangul elite; literacy in Hanja was then seen as a status symbol and general literacy was seen as potentially harming their social positions.[37]
While Sejong had attempted to spread Hangul throughout the government and society, his efforts had limited success.[38] Hangul was only rarely used during the 15th century; its use was largely centered in Seoul, among people close to the royal family and court.[39] It only began to spread outside of Seoul in the 16th century.[40] Women and Buddhists were significant early adopters of the script. While Hangul was rarely taught in traditional Confucianist curricula, it was often taught by women in the home.[41]
King Yeonsangun (r. 1495–1506) persecuted the use of Hangul during the 1504second literati purge [ko], after learning that criticisms of him had been written in the script.[42] In the 16th century, the government agencyBureau of Interpreters became a significant center for Hangul scholarship, with one of its membersCh'oe Sejin still being revered today for his lasting contributions to the script and Korean linguistics.[43]
Hangul orthography experienced significant changes in the script's early history. Around the time of Hangul's promulgation, an apparent dispute between whether to use aphonemic or morphophonemic orthography resulted in an apparent victory for the morphophonemic faction; among that faction was Sejong himself.[44]A number of letters gradually stopped seeing significant use by the late 16th century, including the base lettersㅿ andㆆ.[45] By the 17th century, the lettersㅇ andㆁ had merged into one.[46]Tone markings [ko] for Hangul stopped being used around the 16th century.[47] The chaotic 1592–1598Imjin War caused significant disruption and inconsistencies to Hangul orthography that persisted and even worsened into the late 19th century.[48]
Hangul popular literature andsijo poetry began to flourish around the 17th century.[49] The landmark novelHong Gildong jeon was published around the beginning of the century.[50]
On November 21, 1894, the Joseon government decreed pure Hangul to be the country's preferred script for administrative documents, although mixed script was also allowed.[59] This edict was apparently enforced to varying degrees, as exclusive Hangul was rare in many documents even until the beginning of the colonial period.[60] Joseon was succeeded by the Korean Empire in 1897. On July 19, 1905, the Korean Empire approved the first official orthography for Hangul: theNew Edition of National Writing (신정국문;新訂國文).[61] Ultimately, this orthography proved controversial and was not put into significant practice.[62]
In 1910,Korea was colonized by the Empire of Japan. The Korean language and script saw varying degrees of repression during the colonial period.[63] After the 1919March First Movement protests, the Japanese colonial government eased suppression of Korean culture in a phenomenon now dubbedcultural rule [ja;ko]. Hangul use and reform significantly expanded as a result.[64]
This period saw significant orthographic reform efforts. The colonialGovernment-General of Chōsen published the first Hangul orthography to be put in common practice in 1912 (revised in 1921 and 1930).[65] TheKorean Language Society (KLS) published its landmark 1933Unified Hangul Orthography [ko] (UHO). The orthographies of both North and South Korea are currently based on this one.[66] These orthographies ended the use of the vowelㆍ, although that vowel's sound had long since disappeared from the language.[67] The KLS also establishedHangul Day in 1926.[68] With the rise of theSecond Sino-Japanese War, colonial repression of Hangul and the Korean language increased. The KLSwas arrested en masse and tortured beginning in 1942. Hangul reform activity significantly slowed until the 1945 liberation.[69]
Soon after the liberation, both North and South Korea pushed to increase literacy, which had remained low during the colonial period. Within a decade, a significant majority of Koreans in both Koreas became literate in at least Hangul.[76] The Koreas also pushed to eliminate Hanja from writing. North Korea eliminated Hanja in 1949, although it continued to be used and taught thereafter.[77] South Korea oscillated between the elimination and preservation of Hanja for decades afterwards.[77] In the 1990s, newspapers switched to using mostly Hangul.[78]
The 1960s saw the rise of computers and thecomputerization of Hangul in South Korea.[79] Such efforts lacked a standard until 1974, when KS C 5601 (predecessor to the currentKS X 1001) was published.[79] In 1995, South Korea adopted ISO 10646-1, theUniversal Coded Character Set, as its standard, in KS C 5700.[80][81]
A Hangul internet slang culture has also developed. For example, single characters have been used to convey meaning, which is typically not allowed in mainstream orthographies. For example,ㅋ indicates the sound oflaughter andㅠ is a visual representation ofcrying.[82] In the late 2010s, theyaminjeongeum trend emerged. It substitutes similar looking letters and syllables in words, like substituting the nonsense word댕댕이 (daengdaengi) for멍멍이 (meongmeongi; 'doggy').[83][84]
Hangul has remained in significant use among parts of theKorean diaspora in China. In theYanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture andChangbai Korean Autonomous County, it is an official writing system.[85] One 2004 book claimed that around 81% of the Korean population in China is literate in Hangul.[86] Hangul sees a moderate degree of use in Japan. In the mid 20th century,Chōsen gakkō andKankoku gakkō [ja], schools aligned with North and South Korea respectively, were significant centers of Hangul education in Japan. Now, a significant majority ofethnic Koreans in Japan attend regular Japanese schools and have low Korean language ability and Hangul literacy. Otherwise, Hangul is often used for the numerous South Korean tourists, who form a significant proportion of tourists to the country. The rise of theKorean Wave around the beginning of the 21st century has corresponded with a rise in Korean language education for Japanese people.[87] The Korean Wave has also impacted interest inKorean and Hangul in the United States, with numerous universities and language learning tools likeDuolingo teaching the subjects.[88]
Letters in the Korean alphabet are calledjamo (자모;字母).[89] Hangul letters generally have more consistent pronunciations than those of other scripts.[90]
The current mainstream Hangul orthographies for Korean use 24 basicjamo: 14 basicconsonants (자음;子音;jaeum; 'child sound'[91]) and 10 basicvowels (모음;母音;moeum; 'mother sound'[92]).[89][93] The basic letters can be modified and combined to yield 51jamo in total. Duplications result in 5 additional consonants (ㄲ,ㄸ,ㅃ,ㅆ,ㅉ), and modifications and combinations result in 11 additional vowels (ㅐ,ㅒ,ㅔ,ㅖ,ㅘ,ㅙ,ㅚ,ㅝ,ㅞ,ㅟ,ㅢ)[94] and 11 additional heterogeneous consonant digraphs (ㄳ,ㄵ,ㄶ,ㄺ,ㄻ,ㄼ,ㄽ,ㄾ,ㄿ,ㅀ,ㅄ).[f] South Korea considers Hangul to have 24 letters (only counting basic letters) and North Korea 40 (not counting 11 heterogeneous consonant digraphs).[96][7]
Rather than use different shapes for initial and final consonants representing the same sounds, Hangul uses the same consonants. Some consonants are not typically used as final consonants, however.[97]
Below are the Hangul consonants that are in current use for Korean. They have different pronunciations as well as transcriptions inRevised Romanization depending on whether they are in the initial or final part of a syllable block.
^ㅇ, when used as an initial consonant, issilent. It is used as a placeholder. In RR, it is typically not transcribed. In thereversible variant of RR, it is transcribed as a hyphen ("-").[99]
Even thoughvowel length has been a feature of many historical and currentdialects of Korean since the invention of Hangul, mainstream forms of Hangul have never indicated vowel length. Similar is true for many other scripts for languages with vowel length.[106]
Hangul vowels have been consistently named after the sound they produce, for exampleㅑ is namedya.[107]
The names of the consonants have varied across time and now between North and South Korea.[108]
In South Korea, most consonant names follow aㅣ으 spelling pattern, where the consonant being named appears in the beginning of the first syllable and end of the second. For example,ㅂ is namedbieup (비읍). There are three exceptions:ㄱ is namedgiyeok (기역),ㄷ is nameddigeut (디귿), andㅅ is namedsiot (시옷). These inconsistencies are the result of approximate Hanja transcriptions of these names in the 16th century. South Korea decided to keep these traditional spellings; these spellings had been used for centuries and had become a part of Korean culture. Doubled consonants have the prefixssang (쌍) attached to the name of the letter being doubled. For example,ㅆ is namedssangsiot (쌍시옷).[109][110]
The shape ofㄱ resembles the shape of the tongue (red line) when pronouncing the letter's sound.
Hangul letters were designed to be graphically simple, and originally consisted of only straight lines, dots, and circles.[112] TheHunminjeongeum Haerye provides explanations of how the shapes of Hangul letters were derived. The shapes of 5 basic consonants are based on those ofhuman speech organs during the production of the letter's sound:[113]
ㄱ depicts the root of thetongue blocking the upperpalate
From these five, most of the other consonant shapes are derived. In most cases, lines are added to the letters to represent related sounds that are considered more "severe" or "harsh". For example,ㄱ (/k/) →ㅋ (/kʰ/).[114]
The rest of the vowels are derived from these three letters, for exampleㅏ is a combination ofㅣ andㆍ (the dot was originally drawn detached from the line, but has since become an attached short line).[116] Other philosophical concepts are linked to the vowels and consonants, although modern scholars have expressed skepticism of the concepts, and by proxy, their link to Hangul.[117]
Since Hangul's creation, scholars have also argued that perhaps other scripts may have influenced Hangul as well, although this is still debated.[118] Chinese characters almost certainly had some influence on Hangul's design, for example in the syllable block format.[119] There are avariety of hypotheses, with theʼPhags-pa hypothesis in particular having some traction among modern scholars.[120][121]
The ordering of the letters has varied across time and now between North and South Korea.
The 11,172 characters in theHangul Syllables Unicode character block followa sort order specified in the South Korean national standardKS X 1026-1 [ko]. That order accounts for the various Hangul Unicode code points, including obsolete letters.[122]
Modifications and combinations of initial consonants and vowels are placed at the end of the order. Final consonants follow the same order as initial, but combinations of consonants are inserted into that order and are sorted by the second consonant.[129]
Modifications and combinations of letters are placed just after the primary or initial parent letter. Such modifications and combinations are then sorted according to the previously established orderings. E.g.ㄱ is followed byㄲ andㅘ byㅙ.[129]
A number of letters and letter combinations are no longer in use for transcribing Korean, although some are still actively used for transcribing other languages.[132] This includes the base consonantsㆁ,ㅿ, andㆆ, as well as the base vowelㆍ,[133] although that last letter is still used for theJeju language.[134] Examples of obsolete doubled letters includeᅇ,[135]ㆅ,[136] and the doubled vowelᆢ.[137] A number of now obsolete letters were virtually exclusively used for transcribing Chinese, like thepure dental and palatal-supradental sibilants [ko] (ᄼ,ᄽ,ᅎ,ᅏ,ᅔ andᄾ,ᄿ,ᅐ,ᅑ,ᅕ)[138] and most of thelight labial letters (e.g.ㆄ,ᄛ,ㅱ,ㅹ), althoughㅸ was used for Korean.[139] Clustered consonants have also changed. Clusters mixing different letters were once acceptable for initial consonants, with some clusters even including up to three letters, likeㅴ, which was used inᄢᅳᆷ (lit.'crack, opening').[139] A number of letters were invented in the centuries following Hangul's invention, for exampleᆖ (a doubled form ofㅡ) was invented in the 1900s.[140]
A sample of Hangul writing using the South Korean orthography. Letters are arranged in syllable blocks, spacing is used, and most punctuation used is similar to that of the West, with the exception of thetilde (~) for number ranges.
Thedepth of current Hangul orthographies is a subject of some disagreement. Many scholars argue current orthographies have a relativelyshallow or transparent orthography, in that pronunciation generally closely corresponds to what is written. Their complexities are often the product of sound changes in the Korean language over time as well asmorphophonemic orthographic practices (changing some spellings to reflect the function or meaning of some words).[142] Some have described current orthographies as deep because of the morphophonemic practices.[143]
Hangul letters are arranged into syllable blocks in a principle calledmoasseugi (모아쓰기;lit. gathering together and writing).[144] Each syllable block is broadly divided into two or three components: an initial consonant (초성;初聲;choseong), vowel (중성;中聲;jungseong; also called "medial"), and optional final consonant (종성;終聲;jongseong; also called받침;batchim).[145] Final heterogenousdigraph consonant clusters are orthographically considered to be two different letters combined, but phonologically considered to be a single letter.[146] When no initial consonant sound is needed, thezero initial consonantㅇ is used.[147]
In modern orthographies, to construct a syllable block, the following rules are applied in order:[148]
Write the initial consonant.
Place the vowel depending on the appropriate condition below:
If the vowel has a long vertical stroke (ㅏ,ㅑ,ㅓ,ㅕ,ㅐ,ㅒ,ㅔ,ㅖ, orㅣ), write it to the right of the initial.
If the vowel has a long horizontal stroke (ㅗ,ㅛ,ㅜ,ㅠ,ㅡ), write it below the initial.
If the vowel is a combination and begins with a long horizontal stroke followed by a long vertical stroke (e.g.ㅢ), place the initial above the horizontal stroke.
If there is a non-zero final consonant, it is written at the bottom. If the final consonant is a combination, place the letters side by side.
Assuming consonant clusters are treated as single letters, following the above steps yields the following possible consonant blocks:[149]
initial
medial
initial
medial
initial
med. 2
med. 1
initial
medial
final
initial
medial
final
initial
med. 2
med.
final
Hangul letters currently used for Korean (19 initial consonants, 21 vowels, and 28 final consonants) can be combined to yield 11,172 syllables.[h][151] However, many of those syllables virtually never see use in natural language; scholars have argued that only around 2,000 are used in Korean.[152]
Several scholars have argued that the syllable block structure was likely inspired by and makes Hangul resemble the form of Chinese characters,[119] and that their similar form aids compatibility in writing them together in mixed script.[153]
Several scholars have argued that the syllable block structure is a good fit for the phonology and speech cadence of Korean. Several have also argued that the limited number of syllable shapes, with vowels and consonants in consistent positions, makes Hangul easier to read and learn.[154] Taylor and Taylor argue that the syllable block structure is especially helpful to young children learning Korean and for people with disabilities that affect reading.[155]
In general, words are spelled as they sound in the respective standard Korean dialect, with most exceptions being due tomorphophonemic word-formation rules. For example,하늘 (haneul; 'sky') is spelled the way it is pronounced.[i] However,먹어 (meogeo; 'to eat') has this spelling despite being pronounced머거. This is because it follows a word-formation rule that preserves the spellings of the stem verb먹 and the particle어. Other exceptions also exist, for example relating to pronunciation differences between stem words when pronounced alone and when attached to particles that begin withㅇ.[160]
Hangul has used varying punctuation over time and now in both North and South Korea. Modern Hangul now uses a mix of modern Western, Korean, and East Asian punctuation.[162]
South Korean punctuation largely follows Western practice, with some exceptions.[163] Examples of exceptions include 『 』 or≪ ≫; either of these sets of characters can be put around titles of works. Also, thetilde (~) can be used to indicate ranges of numbers or dates, as well as distances.[164]
Spaces are used in Hangul. As with most other scripts, practices around spaces are somewhat arbitrary and ambiguous because it is difficult to define what aword is. Spacing is considered to be one of the most difficult aspects of Hangul orthography; many native Korean speakers do not use spaces properly or sometimes even at all.[165] In general, spaces are inserted between lexical clusters calledeojeol (어절;語節). These lexical clusters can be subdivided into various other categories.[166][167] Eacheojeol can consist of a word and its subsequent corresponding particles or compounds. For example, "학교에 간다" consists of twoeojeol separated by a space. The first is "학교" (lit.'school') with an attachedadpositional particle "에". The second is "간다", aconjugated verb.[168]
North Korean punctuation is similar to Western practice. Differences include the lack of Westernquotation marks (e.g. "), which are replaced byguillemet (≪ ≫).[169] Like South Korea, it recommends the tilde (~) for ranges of numbers or dates.[170] Recommendations are also given for vertical writing. Vertical writing punctuation is largely the same as horizontal, but guidance is given on the placement and rotation of some punctuation marks.[171]
North Korean spacing rules result in fewer spaces and more compound words when compared to South Korea's.[172]
Historically, Hangul syllable blocks were arranged vertically (top to bottom, right to left). Over the course of the 20th century, horizontal writing (left to right, top to bottom) became dominant in both Koreas.[54] South Korea allows both horizontal and vertical writing, while North Korea officially prefers horizontal writing.[173] Lee and Ramsey argue that the syllable block structure of Hangul aids the adaptability of the script to both directions of writing.[174]
Thestyle of Hangulwriting has changed over time. Originally, Hangul letters were drawn highly geometric and regular. They were thus awkward to write with brushes. Their style gradually changed in response to that issue.[112] Aesthetic considerations have also impacted Hangul style. The sizes and shapes of letters in syllable blocks are typically altered depending on the format of the syllable block, in order to make letters relatively proportionally sized.[175]
Hangul has been implemented for use oncomputers in a number of ways. The implementations fall into two broad categories: the composition model (also calledJohab [ko]) and the precomposed model (also calledWansung [ko]). Johab considers syllables to be a combination of letters, while Wansung renders syllables as entire fixed blocks.[177]Unicode implements both Johab and Wansung[178] and implements Johab using several mathematical tricks that allow for efficient composition and decomposition of syllables.[178] In mainstream Unicode, while contemporary Hangul for Korean can all be rendered using Wansung,archaic letters and syllables are rendered using Johab. Particular fonts may be needed in order to display archaic letters properly.[179]
In especially the 1990s and 2000s, as Unicode had yet to support archaic Hangul fully,Private Use Areas were often used for that purpose. After official Unicode support was added, such use has waned.[180]
There are a number of other coded character set standards that were used largely historically,[citation needed] although they continue to see some use. The South Korean government maintainsKS X 1001 andKS X 1002. North Korea maintainsKPS 9566. China maintainsGB 12052. There is also theUnified Hangul Code, a private standard by the companyMicrosoft.[181]
For typing Hangul, there are a number of keyboard layouts in use. The current most common layout is calleddubeolsik [ko]. In this layout, consonants are on the left of the keyboard and vowels on the right, and no distinction is made between keys for initial and final consonants.[182] North and South Korea have different versions ofdubeolsik.[183] For the South Koreandubeolsik there is a designated key or keystroke used to toggle between Hangul and Latin input modes.[184]
TheJeju language was traditionally not written. Hangul has since become used to write it.[189] Two orthographies are in current use: one created in 1991 by the Jeju Dialect Research Society (제주방언연구회) and another created in 2014 by the provincial government.[190] Hangul orthography for Jeju is relatively similar to those for Korean, with one notable difference being the use of the vowelㆍ, which is no longer used for Korean. Spelling is attempted to be made to be morphophonemic, although there is some uncertainty around how to do this.[189]
Entries from the 1908 textAhakp'yŏn. Here, Hangul is used to transcribe Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and English (in order, within each cell, from top right to left, then bottom).
Since its creation, Hangul has been used to encode the sounds of other languages. It was designed to be able to transcribe bothKorean andChinese of the time. To accomplish this, additional consonants were created exclusively to transcribe Chinese;[191] these consonants have often been revived or repurposed for use in other languages. Before the modern era, Hangul was also used to transcribeJapanese,Ryukyuan, andManchu.[192] Beginning around the 19th century, Hangul was used to transcribe Russian[193] and English.[194]
Since 1986, the South KoreanNational Institute of Korean Language has provided official guidance on how to approximately render a number of non–Korean languages into South Korean standard Hangul, particularly for seamless use alongside the Korean language.[195][196] A number of scholars have attempted to modify Hangul to be able to represent the sounds of every language, similar to theInternational Phonetic Alphabet.[197]
Efforts have been made to make Hangul the primary script for various languages. Some South Korean linguists have been encouraging ethnic groups without scripts for the languages to adopt Hangul. In the 1990s, a Hangul-based alphabet was devised for theLahu language of China and Southeast Asia, but this did not see significant adoption.[198] In October 2012, a pilot program was launched for Hangul to be taught to speakers of theGhari andKwaraqae languages of theSolomon Islands. The program was halted less than a year after its launch due to a lack of funding.[199]
Beginning in the late 2000s, efforts began to be made by the South Korean private organizationHunminjeongeum Society to have Hangul be used for theCia-Cia language of Indonesia. That language did not already have a script in significant use for it. While Hangul was not legally made an official script for the language due to Indonesian legal restrictions, the local government ofBaubau partnered with the Hunminjeongeum Society and several other organizations to promote the use of Hangul for Cia-Cia. A number of local schools taught the script.[203][204] The program was not financially supported by the South Korean or Indonesian governments. It experienced several difficulties in the early 2010s,[205] although it continued to operate. It saw renewed activity and support in the early 2020s.[206] Hangul has since continued to be taught and used in the area.[207]
The sister of aTwa leader from easternDemocratic Republic of Congo visited South Korea in 2015 for a cultural exchange event. She learned that Hangul was used for the Cia-Cia language in Indonesia, and thought it would help her people, who speak theChitembo language, estimated to be spoken by 500,000 to 700,000 people. South Korean linguists developed a version of the alphabet for Chitembo over the next few years, which previously had no writing system. Korean language teachers inLos Angeles, California taught the alphabet toprimary school teachers fromBunyakiri in Congo. The school teachers, along with South Korean missionaries, taught it to people in the region. They found that children could write their names within half an hour, while adults took longer, but reported that hundreds of them have been able to learn the adapted Hangul.[208]
LinguistJohn DeFrancis wrote that "scholars are in general agreement on the excellence of the Korean alphabetic script".[209] Hangul has been described by various linguists and historians as the best or among the best actively used writing systems,[210][211] as well as a landmark intellectual achievement in Korean and human history.[212][213] Hangul is a significant aid for modern scholars interested in thehistorical linguistics of the Korean language. Scholarly understanding of historical Korean sharply improves right at the invention of Hangul.[214] Several linguists have argued that Hangul is distinguished among writing systems in common use in that it was created, designed to suit the Korean language and be easy to learn, and original in a number of ways.[215]
When Westerners first began encountering Hangul in the 19th century, a number of them evaluated it glowingly and bemoaned that it was not yet respected by Koreans themselves.[216][217] Since then, Hangul has become a major source of pride for Korean people.[218]
^24 is the letter count used by international and South Korean scholars. North Korea considers the alphabet to have 40 letters, although both Koreas use the same set of letters.See§ Letter counts.
^Idu and Kugyŏl sometimes match single Chinese characters to multisyllabic Korean words.[16]
^In general, horizontal consonant clusters are calledbyeongseo (병서;竝書). Digraphs that are composed of duplicate consonants (e.g.ㄲ) are calledgakjabyeongseo (각자병서;各自並書). Clusters where the consonants differ are calledhabyongbyeongseo (합용병서;合用竝書).[95]
^The initialㅇ is introduced in North Korea's officialCompendium of Korean Language Norms [ko] afterㅅ.[123] Some non–North Korean scholarly sources also use that ordering.[124] This ordering placesㅇ at the end because, when it is an initial, it does not produce its own sound.[7][125] In 1999, North Korea submitted a proposal toUnicode andISO (that was eventually rejected) that placesㅇ at the end of the order for initial consonants.[126]
^This is derived from multiplying the number of initial consonants, vowels, and final consonants together. Of the total, 399 are just consonant and vowel pairs.[150]
^There is no need to spell it한을, as하늘 is already a whole word and not a stem with particle.[159]
^고한솔; 임재우 (October 8, 2017).롬곡롬곡·댕댕이·띵곡…'야민정음' 아세요 [Romgokromgok, daengdaengi, ttinggok... Do you know of 'yaminjeongeum'?].The Hankyoreh (in Korean).Archived from the original on May 24, 2025. RetrievedNovember 2, 2025.
^Kim, Kuk (2009).한글 세벌식 자판의 세 가지 유형과 남북 통합 설계 [Three Modes of Three Sets Type Korean Keyboards and Unified Designs for North and South Koreas].Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management.37 (4): 52.Archived from the original on March 19, 2025. RetrievedNovember 8, 2025.
^강영봉 (June 16, 2018).'제주어 표기법'에 대한 단상 [Brief Thoughts on "Jeju Language Orthography"](PDF). 제주어 표기법 토론회 (in Korean). pp. 12–14.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 30, 2023. RetrievedNovember 3, 2025.
^洪惟仁 (2010)."閩南語書寫法的理想與現實" [Idealism vs. Reality: Writing Systems for Taiwanese Southern Min](PDF).臺灣語文研究 (in Chinese).5 (1): 89,101–105. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on March 8, 2017. RetrievedJanuary 14, 2022.
^楊允言; 張學謙; 呂美親 (2008).台語文運動訪談暨史料彙編 [Compilation of Historical Materials and Interviews on the Written Taiwanese Movement] (in Chinese). Taiwan: 國史館. pp. 284–285.ISBN9789860132946. Archived fromthe original on September 26, 2022. RetrievedJanuary 14, 2022.
^Dong Zhongsi (董忠司),「台灣閩南語槪論」講授資料彙編, Taiwan Languages and Literature Society
^Livaccari, Chris (October 24, 2025)."The World's Most Incredible Alphabet".Asia Society.Archived from the original on March 20, 2025. RetrievedOctober 24, 2025.In an interview shortly before his death in 1999, [James D. McCawley] noted that 'Hangul is the most ingeniously devised writing system that exists, and it occupies a special place in the typology of writing systems.'
Pae, Hye K.; Winskel, Heather; Kim, Say Young (2025a). "An Introduction to the Korean Language and the Special Status of the Korean Alphabet". InPae, Winskel & Kim (2025).
Hwang, Jiwon K. "Hangul as a Sound Representation System: Efficacy and Innovation". InPae, Winskel & Kim (2025).
Pae, Hye K. "From Oligoliteracy to Literacy for All Citizens: The Korean Alphabet as the Engine Behind the Rise of Korea". InPae, Winskel & Kim (2025).
Kim, Joonwoo; Lee, Wonjae; Song, Jisoo; Kim, Jeahong; Nam, Kichun; Kim, Sangyub. "Korean Eojeol Representation and Lexical Processing". InPae, Winskel & Kim (2025).
Kim, Young-Suk Grace. "Learning to Read in Korean: An Application of the Direct and Indirect Effect Model of Reading (DIER)". InPae, Winskel & Kim (2025).
Meletis, Dimitrios. "What Hangul Means for Grapholinguistics: Theoretical Implications of a 'Unique' Writing System". InPae, Winskel & Kim (2025).
Winskel, Heather. "Does Korean Hangul Qualify as an Alphasyllabary? A Comparison with Brahmi-Derived Scripts". InPae, Winskel & Kim (2025).
Park, Chang-won (August 31, 2015).Hangeul: The Korean Alphabet. Translated by Cho, Yoon-jung; Han, Mi-sun. Ehwa Womans University Press.ISBN979-11-85909-68-4.
Ahn, Pyong-hi (2004)."世宗의 訓民正音 創製와 그 協贊者" [On Se-jong's creation of Hunminjeongeum(訓民正音) and his supporters].국어학 (in Korean) (44). 국어학회:3–39.Archived from the original on May 16, 2025. RetrievedNovember 2, 2025.
조선말규범집 [Compendium of Korean Language Norms] (Report) (in Korean). 국어사정위원회. 2010.Archived from the original on August 2, 2025. RetrievedOctober 26, 2025 – viaWikisource.
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