1/ How Vowels Were Designed in Hunminjeongeum (Hangeul)

*The Korean script Hunminjeongeum refers to both (1) the writing system created by King Sejong and (2) the book authored by him explaining its principles. Over time, the script was called by various names until a scholar named Ju Si-gyeong coined the purely Korean term Hangeul, which has been used ever since.

1) Basic Characters (Heaven, Earth, and Human)

<aside> πŸ—£

The basic vowels in Hangeul were created based on the fundamental concepts of heaven (천, cheon), earth (지, ji), and human (인, in). This philosophical framework is known as "Cheon-Ji-In" (μ²œμ§€μΈ, 倩地人), which literally means "Heaven-Earth-Human" in Korean.

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제자 원리

2) Combining Basic Characters

<aside> πŸ—£

These basic characters (ㆍ, γ…‘, γ…£) were combined to create various vowels.

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<aside> πŸ”₯

Hands-on Practice: Writing Hangeul on Your Phone

Now that we've learned about the basic principles of Hangeul vowels, let's try writing them ourselves! Modern technology makes it easy to practice writing Korean - you can start right now with your cellphone. Here's how to set up Korean input on your device:

iOS Version

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Step 1

Go to [Settings] β†’ [Keyboard].

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Step 2

In [Keyboard], select β€˜Add New Keyboard’ and add β€˜Korean’.

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Step 3

Choose β€˜10-Key’ for the Korean keyboard.

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Step 4 Open an app like Messages or Notes and try typing in Hangeul.

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2/ The Principles Behind the Creation of Consonants in Hunminjeongeum (Hangeul)

1) Basic Characters

<aside> πŸ—£

The basic consonants in Hangeul were designed based on the shape of human speech organs. The shapes of the characters were created to visually represent where the sound is produced in the mouth or throat.

[μ°Έκ³ ] Unlike vowels, consonants are produced by obstructing the flow of air in various ways and at different positions in the vocal tract. The locations of these obstructions vary depending on the language. In Korean, there are five key points where air is obstructed. King Sejong modeled the shapes of the consonants after the appearance of these speech organs at each point of obstruction.

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