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Hangul
The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as Chosŏn'gŭl (North Korean: 조선글), and in South Korea, it is known as Hangul (South Korean: 한글). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs used to pronounce them. They are systematically modified to indicate phonetic features. The vowel letters are systematically modified for related sounds, making Hangul a possible featural writing system. It has been described as a syllabic alphabet or alphabetic syllabary as it combines the features of alphabetic and syllabic writing systems, though it is not technically an abugida.
Hangul was created in 1443 by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty. The alphabet was made as an attempt to increase literacy by serving as a complement to Hanja, which were Chinese characters used to write Literary Chinese in Korea by the 2nd century BCE, and had been adapted to write Korean by the 6th century CE.
Modern Hangul orthography uses 24 basic letters: 14 consonant letters and 10 vowel letters. There are also 27 complex letters that are formed by combining the basic letters: five tense consonant letters, 11 complex consonant letters, and 11 complex vowel letters. Four basic letters in the original alphabet are no longer used: one vowel letter and three consonant letters. Korean letters are written in syllabic blocks with the alphabetic letters arranged in two dimensions. For example, Seoul is written as 서울, not ㅅㅓㅇㅜㄹ. The syllables begin with a consonant letter, then a vowel letter, and then potentially another consonant letter called a batchim (받침). If the syllable begins with a vowel sound, the consonant ㅇ (ng) acts as a silent placeholder. However, when ㅇ starts a sentence or is placed after a long pause, it marks a glottal stop. Syllables may begin with basic or tense consonants but not complex ones. The vowel can be basic or complex, and the second consonant can be basic, complex or a limited number of tense consonants. How the syllables are structured depends solely if the baseline of the vowel symbol is horizontal or vertical. If the baseline is vertical, the first consonant and vowel are written above the second consonant (if present), but all components are written individually from top to bottom in the case of a horizontal baseline.
As in traditional Chinese and Japanese writing, as well as many other texts in East and Southeast Asia, Korean texts were traditionally written top to bottom, right to left, as is occasionally still the way for stylistic purposes. However, Korean is now typically written from left to right with spaces between words serving as dividers, unlike in Japanese and Chinese. Hangul/Chosŏn'gŭl is the official writing system throughout both North and South Korea. It is a co-official writing system in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County in Jilin Province, China. Hangul has also seen limited use by speakers of the Cia-Cia language in Buton, Indonesia.
The Korean alphabet was originally named Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음; 訓民正音) by King Sejong the Great in 1443. Hunminjeongeum is also the document that explained logic and science behind the script in 1446.[citation needed]
The name hangeul (한글) was coined by Korean linguist Ju Si-gyeong in 1912. The name combines the ancient Korean word han (한), meaning great, and geul (글), meaning script. The word han is used to refer to Korea in general, so the name also means Korean script. It has been romanized in multiple ways:
After the division of Korea, North Koreans call the alphabet Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글), after Chosŏn, the North Korean name for Korea. A variant of the McCune–Reischauer system is used there for romanization.[citation needed]
Until the mid-20th century, the Korean elite preferred to write using Chinese characters called Hanja. They referred to Hanja as jinseo (진서; 眞書) meaning true letters. Some accounts say the elite referred to the Korean alphabet derisively as amkeul (암클) meaning women's script, and ahaetgeul (아햇글) meaning children's script, though there is no written evidence of this.
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Hangul
The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as Chosŏn'gŭl (North Korean: 조선글), and in South Korea, it is known as Hangul (South Korean: 한글). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs used to pronounce them. They are systematically modified to indicate phonetic features. The vowel letters are systematically modified for related sounds, making Hangul a possible featural writing system. It has been described as a syllabic alphabet or alphabetic syllabary as it combines the features of alphabetic and syllabic writing systems, though it is not technically an abugida.
Hangul was created in 1443 by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty. The alphabet was made as an attempt to increase literacy by serving as a complement to Hanja, which were Chinese characters used to write Literary Chinese in Korea by the 2nd century BCE, and had been adapted to write Korean by the 6th century CE.
Modern Hangul orthography uses 24 basic letters: 14 consonant letters and 10 vowel letters. There are also 27 complex letters that are formed by combining the basic letters: five tense consonant letters, 11 complex consonant letters, and 11 complex vowel letters. Four basic letters in the original alphabet are no longer used: one vowel letter and three consonant letters. Korean letters are written in syllabic blocks with the alphabetic letters arranged in two dimensions. For example, Seoul is written as 서울, not ㅅㅓㅇㅜㄹ. The syllables begin with a consonant letter, then a vowel letter, and then potentially another consonant letter called a batchim (받침). If the syllable begins with a vowel sound, the consonant ㅇ (ng) acts as a silent placeholder. However, when ㅇ starts a sentence or is placed after a long pause, it marks a glottal stop. Syllables may begin with basic or tense consonants but not complex ones. The vowel can be basic or complex, and the second consonant can be basic, complex or a limited number of tense consonants. How the syllables are structured depends solely if the baseline of the vowel symbol is horizontal or vertical. If the baseline is vertical, the first consonant and vowel are written above the second consonant (if present), but all components are written individually from top to bottom in the case of a horizontal baseline.
As in traditional Chinese and Japanese writing, as well as many other texts in East and Southeast Asia, Korean texts were traditionally written top to bottom, right to left, as is occasionally still the way for stylistic purposes. However, Korean is now typically written from left to right with spaces between words serving as dividers, unlike in Japanese and Chinese. Hangul/Chosŏn'gŭl is the official writing system throughout both North and South Korea. It is a co-official writing system in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County in Jilin Province, China. Hangul has also seen limited use by speakers of the Cia-Cia language in Buton, Indonesia.
The Korean alphabet was originally named Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음; 訓民正音) by King Sejong the Great in 1443. Hunminjeongeum is also the document that explained logic and science behind the script in 1446.[citation needed]
The name hangeul (한글) was coined by Korean linguist Ju Si-gyeong in 1912. The name combines the ancient Korean word han (한), meaning great, and geul (글), meaning script. The word han is used to refer to Korea in general, so the name also means Korean script. It has been romanized in multiple ways:
After the division of Korea, North Koreans call the alphabet Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글), after Chosŏn, the North Korean name for Korea. A variant of the McCune–Reischauer system is used there for romanization.[citation needed]
Until the mid-20th century, the Korean elite preferred to write using Chinese characters called Hanja. They referred to Hanja as jinseo (진서; 眞書) meaning true letters. Some accounts say the elite referred to the Korean alphabet derisively as amkeul (암클) meaning women's script, and ahaetgeul (아햇글) meaning children's script, though there is no written evidence of this.