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| Narae |
Korean people have their own language and unique Korean alphabet system called Hangeul. Hangeul is considered to be one of the most efficient alphabets in the world, and it is also praised from many language scholars for its scientific design, and simplicity. It was created by King Sejong the Great (the 4th King of the Joseon Dynasty) in 1443. The first Korean alphabet was referred to as "Hunminjeongeum" in 1446, which means "Proper Sounds to Instruct the People" So "Hunminjeongeum" was the original name of the Korean alphabet, which was renamed Hangeul in the 20th century. |
| Jessica |
| Why did King Sejong the Great invent Hangeul? |
| Narae |
Before its creation, Korean people had been using Chinese characters to express their thoughts but it could not fully express the words and meanings of Korean thoughts. Moreover common people had no way to express their thoughts and feelings because of the difficulty of Chinese characters. King Sejong felt great sympathy for the people, and that's why "Hunminjeongeum" was created. When it was first created, it had 28 letters in all, of which only 24 letters are used today. Koreans celebrate October 9th as Hangeul Day to commemorate the invention of the writing system.
In 1997, "Hunminjeongeum" was registered as the "Memory of the World'by UNESCO. There is also a prize called "King Sejong Literacy Prize", which is given annually to a country or an organization for its efforts for outstanding and meritorious achievement in contributing to the fight for literacy. |
| Jessica |
I read a news article that described Hangeul as one of the easiest alphabets to learn in the world. |
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| Narae |
Yes, right. Hangeul is very famous for its simplicity. The reason that the illiteracy rate of Koreans is extremely low is that they use Hangeul, a simple alphabetic system. Some scholars called it "Morning letters" because it could be learned in one morning. It is not surprising for a foreigner to gain a basic knowledge of Hangeul only after one or two hours of intensive studying. |
| Jessica |
Wow, that's so interesting! I'd better start learning Hangeul before I go to Korea! , , |
| Narae |
Good luck! It will be very helpful if you learn some Korean starting with the alphabet before coming. |
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Because of many people on the go, booking tickets in advance is highly recommended for weekend travel, especially train tickets. It will also be wise to not plan to travel too far during Seollal and Chuseok, for most Koreans will be on the roads or the railway going to visit their hometowns. |
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24 letters of Korean alphabet
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| Made up of 14 Consonants |
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Made up of 10 Vowels |
(g,k) |
(n) |
(d,t) |
(r,l) |
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(a) |
(ya) |
(eo) |
(yeo) |
(m) |
(b,p) |
(s) |
(n,g) |
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(o) |
(yo) |
(u) |
(yu) |
(j) |
(ch) |
(k) |
(t) |
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(eu) |
(i) |
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(p) |
(h) |
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