Hangeul: Consonants
Hangeul is an easy reading and writing system that is designed phonetically. Like the American alphabet, it consists of its own consonants and vowels. It is also listed alphabetically. There are 19 basic consonants that have their own name to distinguish what sound it makes and 21 basic vowels.
In the picture it shows you the specific sounds each consonant and vowel makes. Hangeul goes by sound and when put together, it may vary in pronunciation and style. Just like the American alphabet, to form words you need a consonant and a vowel. The Korean alphabet are put into syllable based units. One character can consist up to 4 characters in one unit.
Ex: 괜 (ㄱ+ㅗ+ㅐ+ ᄂ)
19 Consonants and their names
ㄱ-기역 (giyeok)
ㄲ-쌍 기역 (ssang giyeok)
ㄴ-니은 (ni eun)
ㄷ-디귿 (di geut)
ㄸ-쌍 디귿 (ssang digeut)
ㄹ-리을 (ri eul)
ㅁ-미음 (mi eum)
ㅂ-비읍 (bi eub)
ㅃ-쌍 비읍 (ssang bieub)
ㅅ-시옷 (shi ot)
ㅆ-쌍 시옷 (ssang shiot)
ㅇ-이응 (ee eung)
ㅈ-지읒 (ji eut)
ㅉ-쌍 지읒 (ssang jieut)
ㅊ-치읓 (chi eut)
ㅋ-키읔 (ki euk)
ㅌ-티읕 (ti eut)
ㅍ-피읖 (pi eup)
ㅎ-히읗 (hi eut)
To read and write hangeul is very simple. You put together the consonants and the vowels. Writing it is a little different from writing the American alphabet
It's easy to read and write the basic consonant+vowel. Here's a couple examples:
ㄴ+ㅏ= 나 <-- This means I or me (informal) "Na"
ㄴ+ㅓ= 너 <-- This means You (informal) "Neo"
There are also the basic consonant+vowel+Consonant. Here's a couple examples:
ㅎ+ㅏ+ ㄴ= 한 <-- This means one "Han"
ㅅ+ㅏ+ㄴ= 산 <-- This means mountain "San"
Then there's the consonant+vowel+consonant+consonant. Here's an example:
The phrase 괜찮아 (gwaen-chanh-ah) means "it's okay" The second syllable "찮" is an example of consonant+vowel+consonant+consonant
ㅊ+ㅏ+ㄴ+ㅎ= 찮
In the picture it shows you the specific sounds each consonant and vowel makes. Hangeul goes by sound and when put together, it may vary in pronunciation and style. Just like the American alphabet, to form words you need a consonant and a vowel. The Korean alphabet are put into syllable based units. One character can consist up to 4 characters in one unit.
Ex: 괜 (ㄱ+ㅗ+ㅐ+ ᄂ)
19 Consonants and their names
ㄱ-기역 (giyeok)
ㄲ-쌍 기역 (ssang giyeok)
ㄴ-니은 (ni eun)
ㄷ-디귿 (di geut)
ㄸ-쌍 디귿 (ssang digeut)
ㄹ-리을 (ri eul)
ㅁ-미음 (mi eum)
ㅂ-비읍 (bi eub)
ㅃ-쌍 비읍 (ssang bieub)
ㅅ-시옷 (shi ot)
ㅆ-쌍 시옷 (ssang shiot)
ㅇ-이응 (ee eung)
ㅈ-지읒 (ji eut)
ㅉ-쌍 지읒 (ssang jieut)
ㅊ-치읓 (chi eut)
ㅋ-키읔 (ki euk)
ㅌ-티읕 (ti eut)
ㅍ-피읖 (pi eup)
ㅎ-히읗 (hi eut)
To read and write hangeul is very simple. You put together the consonants and the vowels. Writing it is a little different from writing the American alphabet
It's easy to read and write the basic consonant+vowel. Here's a couple examples:
ㄴ+ㅏ= 나 <-- This means I or me (informal) "Na"
ㄴ+ㅓ= 너 <-- This means You (informal) "Neo"
There are also the basic consonant+vowel+Consonant. Here's a couple examples:
ㅎ+ㅏ+ ㄴ= 한 <-- This means one "Han"
ㅅ+ㅏ+ㄴ= 산 <-- This means mountain "San"
Then there's the consonant+vowel+consonant+consonant. Here's an example:
The phrase 괜찮아 (gwaen-chanh-ah) means "it's okay" The second syllable "찮" is an example of consonant+vowel+consonant+consonant
ㅊ+ㅏ+ㄴ+ㅎ= 찮
History Of Hangeul
Throughout the early stages of Korea from the stone ages all the way to the 14th century of the Choson dynasty, the people of Korea did not have their own writing system. They used a Chinese script to read and write called “Hanja”. The people were heavily influenced by the Chinese culture and traditions. However, In the 15th Century, “Hangul” was created which was a script the Korean people could call their own. King Sejong was the fourth monarch of the Choson dynasty and under his rule, Hangul was created. In 1446, the new Korean script was promoted as the “Hunminjeongeum” which meant the proper or correct sounds of the instruction of the people (Kim, Nathan). Hangul is a more modern name for the script today. King Sejong mainly had the script created for the comfort of his people. He believed that the Chinese characters and sounds were different from that of his people and proposed that a new writing system be created to help the lower classes, especially the women, be able to express themselves freely and to learn easily just like everyone else. King Sejong said, “As the language of our nation does not fit easily with characters [i.e. Chinese characters], our people cannot communicate in a free manner. We considered this to be a woeful state of affairs and created 28 new letters, so all of you should be able to utilize them with ease and make your life more comfortable” (Kim, 44). Hangul was needed because there were linguistic and social problems with using the Chinese script to read and write. The Chinese characters were useful when conveying meaning. There was a “separation between the written language and the spoken language, Chinese characters were too difficult for common people to learn”(Kim, Nathan). Also, the people needed a more phonetic system because the Korean language just like the Japanese language is polysyllabic whereas the Chinese language is monosyllabic. Polysyllabic is a word that has more than three syllables and monosyllabic is a word that carries only one sylllable. The new script would be a more efficient way for the Korean people to express their language. King Sejong was noted a phonetician and was also famous in technology, military, and humanitarian work. Hangeul is based on sound when combining any of the consonants with one of the vowels. Hangeul is an easier writing system to learn because it is very similar to the American alphabet, but complex when fully speaking and different in writing. Hangeul would be a gateway for Korean literature to be expressed more fully and accurately because it allowed the people to write down the correct sounds of their language as it was spoken. According to Kim, Hangul was “created in secret because of resistance from aristocracy” (Kim, Nathan). The aristocracy were against the idea of using another script. They wanted to keep the traditional Chinese characters. However, the creation of the “Hunminjeongeum” was still carried out and recieved many opposition from the literary elite. Hangul was mainly used by the lower-class and women (Kim, Nathan). From this point on, Hangul faced many hardships and was looked down upon by the elite at the time. In 1504, Hangul was opposed by the tenth monarch of the Choson dynasty. King Yeonsangun made Hangul forbidden to study. It wasn’t until the Gabo reform of 1894 when Korea was starting to modernize, when Hangul was adopted in official documents, but Hangul still struggled to be used by the people. October 9th is Hangeul day in South Korea and January 15th is when North Korea celebrates the promulgation of Hangeul. King Sejong's statue is one of Korea's most treasured national monument. The statue is located in front of the Gwanghwamun gate also known as Gwanghwamun square.