Korean Letter

Syllable System

The creation of the Hunminjeongeum was truly a remarkable accomplishment. Creating consonants based on a person's speech organs and vowels based on the shapes of the sky, land, and man was truly a revolutionary and unprecedented process.

King Sejong and the scholars of the Jiphyeonjeon, creators of the Korean Alphabet, considered human sounds as being more than mere physical phenomena. They assumed that an invisible yet more powerful principle was the controlling force behind these phenomena. They adhered to the principle that human sounds and all universal phenomena are all based on Yin-yang (positive-negative) and Ohaeng (the five primary elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth). Hence, they thought it natural that there be a common link between sounds and music.

A Korean syllable is divided into three parts : Choseong (initial consonant), Jungseong (peak vowel), and Jongseong (final consonant). This is the basic framework that King Sejong and the Jiphyeonjeon scholars adhered to when creating the letters. Jongseong was not separately created and was a repetition of the Choseong. Therefore, Han-geul is capable of creating thousands of words by combining the consonants vowels.

Combining the Consonants and Vowels

Consonant + Vowel

Vowel : ㅏ(a) --- ㄱ+ㅏ=가(ga) ㄴ+ㅏ=나(na) ㄷ+ㅏ=다(da)

Vowel : ㅗ(o) --- ㄱ+ㅗ=고(go) ㄴ+ㅗ=노(no) ㄷ+ㅗ=도(do)

Vowel : ㅣ(i) ---- ㄱ+ㅣ=기(gi) ㄴ+ㅣ=니(ni) ㄷ+ㅣ=디(di)

Consonant + Vowel + Consonant

Consonant : ㄴ(n) --- ㄱ+ㅏ+ㄴ=간(gan) ㄴ+ㅏ+ㄴ=난(nan) ㄷ+ㅏ+ㄴ=단(dan)

Consonant : ㅁ(m) --- ㄱ+ㅗ+ㅁ=곰(gom) ㄴ+ㅗ+ㅁ=놈(nom) ㄷ+ㅗ+ㅁ=돔(dom)

Consonant : ㅇ(ng) --- ㄱ+ㅣ+ㅇ=깅(ging) ㄴ+ㅣ+ㅇ=닝(ning) ㄷ+ㅣ+ㅇ=딩(ding)

As the above examples clearly show, Han-geul with only 5 consonants and 3 vowels, is capable of expressing virtually any sound.

The Korean Language has a well-developed and expansive vocabulary, and therefore, it is very difficult to express fully in foreign letters. However, due to its scientific design, it is quite easy to approximate the sounds of foreign words in the Korean Alphabet. Following are some examples of English words expressed in Han-geul.

I (아이) am (엠) a (어) girl. (걸) Good morning (굿 모닝)

In particular, because of its simplicity and the rather small number of letters, Han-geul is very easy to learn even by foreigners. This fact clearly attests to the easy learnability and accessibility of the Korean Alphabet.

It is not uncommon for a foreigner to gain a working knowledge of Han-geul after one or two hours of intensive studying. In addition, because of its scientific design, Han-geul lends itself to easy mechanization. In this age of computers, many people now are able to incorporate computers into their lives without difficulties, thanks to a large number of programs written in Han-geul.