Korean Letter

Korean Alphabet

History

Vowels Design

Consonant Design

Syllable System

Romanization

 

Romanization

 

Korean is difficult language to Romanize, given the variety of vowel and consonant phonemes and the complex rules for their realization. Of the Romanization systems that have been in use since the 19th century, the most widely accepted have been the McCune-Reischauer System (1939), and the Ministry of Education System (1959). The former has been used mainly in the United States and other Western countries, while the latter has been used in Korea.

In 1984, however, the Korean system was revised along the lines of the McCune-Reischauer System, with a few modifications, so that the two systems most widely used in Korea and the West were, in effect, the same.

There was, however, a drastic revision of Romanization system by the Korean Government in 2000, which, in effect, returned to the system of 1959. This was made necessary by the wide-spread use of the computer which required automatic transliteration in searching words. There also was the need to adopt a system which does not use diacritical signs as those seen in the McCune-Reischauer System.

 

 

Ganadara Alphabet

 

¤¡

¤¤

¤§

¤©

¤±

¤²

¤µ

¤·

¤¸

¤º

¤»

¤¼

¤½

¤¾

¤¿

°¡

³ª

´Ù

¶ó

¸¶

¹Ù

ȍ

¾Æ

ÀÚ

Â÷

Ä«

Ÿ

ÆÄ

ÇÏ

 

ga

na

da

ra

ma

ba

sa

A

ja

cha

ka

ta

pa

Ha

¤Á

°¼

³Ä

´ô

·ª

¸Ï

¹ò

»þ

¾ß

Àð

í

ļ

ÅË

ÆÙ

Çá

 

gya

nya

dya

rya

mya

bya

sya

ya

jya

chya

kya

tya

pya

hya

¤Ã

°Å

³Ê

´õ

·¯

¸Ó

¹ö

¼­

¾î

Àú

ó

Ä¿

ÅÍ

ÆÛ

Çã

 

geo

neo

deo

reo

meo

beo

seo

eo

jeo

cheo

keo

teo

peo

heo

¤Å

°Ü

³à

µ®

·Á

¸ç

º­

¼Å

¿©

Á®

ÃÄ

ÄÑ

Åß

Æì

Çô

 

gyeo

nyeo

dyeo

ryeo

myeo

byeo

syeo

yeo

jyeo

chyeo

kyeo

tyeo

pyeo

hyeo

¤Ç

°í

³ë

µµ

·Î

¸ð

º¸

¼Ò

¿À

Á¶

ÃÊ

ÄÚ

Åä

Æ÷

È£

 

go

no

do

ro

mo

bo

so

O

jo

cho

ko

to

po

Ho

¤Ë

±³

´¢

µÍ

·á

¹¦

ºÌ

¼î

¿ä

ÁÒ

ÃÝ

Äì

Åô

Ç¥

È¿

 

gyo

nyo

dyo

ryo

myo

byo

syo

yo

jyo

chyo

kyo

tyo

pyo

hyo

¤Ì

±¸

´©

µÎ

·ç

¹«

ºÎ

¼ö

¿ì

ÁÖ

Ãß

Äí

Åõ

Ǫ

ÈÄ

 

gu

nu

du

ru

mu

bu

su

U

ju

chu

ku

tu

pu

Hu

¤Ð

±Ô

´º

µà

·ù

¹Â

ºä

½´

À¯

Áê

Ãò

Å¥

Æ©

Ç»

ÈÞ

 

gyu

nyu

dyu

ryu

myu

byu

syu

yu

jyu

chyu

kyu

tyu

pyu

hyu

¤Ñ

±×

´À

µå

¸£

¹Ç

ºê

½º

À¸

Áî

Ã÷

Å©

Æ®

ÇÁ

Èå

 

geu

neu

deu

reu

meu

beu

seu

eu

jeu

cheu

keu

teu

peu

heu

¤Ó

±â

´Ï

µð

¸®

¹Ì

ºñ

½Ã

ÀÌ

Áö

Ä¡

Ű

Ƽ

ÇÇ

È÷

 

gi

ni

di

ri

mi

bi

si

I

ji

chi

ki

ti

pi

hi