The Korean language is classified as a member of the Ural-Altaic family (other
members of this family include the Mongolian, Finnish, and Hungarian languages.)
Until the early 1400s, most documents were written in classical Chinese characters
(known in Korean as Hanja). As the idiographs are difficult to learn, only
the educated people could read and write. King Sejong, the 4th ruler of the
Joseon dynasty (1392-1910), set up a special
committee of scholars in 1443 to create a new writing system specifically
suited to the Korean language.
The result was Hangul (meaning 'the one script'). It originally contained 28
symbols, although 4 have dropped out of use. The alphabet
has 10 vowels and 14 consonants. The consonants represent the simplified outlines
of the parts of the mouth and tongue used to pronounce them. The vowels are
associated with elements of the philosophy of the Book of Changes.
In 1994, Discovery magazine described Hangul as the most logical language writing system in the world. The simplicity of Hangul led Korea to become one of the most literate countries in the world. U.S. novelist Pearl Buck said that Hangul is the simplest writing system in the world and likened King Sejong to Leonardo da Vinci. Even though Hangul is a system of phonetic symbols, it is categorized as new level of feature system, the first and the only in the world. On Oct. 1, 1997, UNESCO designated Hunminjeongeum as world archive property. Koreans commemorate the creation of Hangul each year on October 9.
The Hangul Characters
Before you begin learning the language, you should take some time to practice
writing Hangul.
The symbols are combined into blocks, each one representing a single syllable.
Each syllable must start with a consonant, although the iung is silent in
the initial position. Text is arranged either in the traditional vertical
fashion, with columns reading from right to left (as in some newspapers and
old books) or in rows reading left to right (as in most modern novels and
magazines). The alphabet may appear complicated, but it is actually easy
to learn. Once you are familiar with the characters, looking up words in
a dictionary becomes easy.
When speaking Korean, you use formal or informal words and phrases, depending on
the status of the person to whom you are talking. For example, you generally use
informal speech to children and formal speech to older people. It is better to err
by being too formal rather than showing disrespect. However, Koreans do not expect
foreigners to be fluent and will usually excuse minor mistakes.
To aid the traveler and expatriate, Life in Korea has created several pages
of useful phrases and vocabulary. To truly
learn the Korean language, you should enroll in any of the numerous courses offered
by Korean universities and private organizations.
We also encourage you to try the excellent resources at Learn Korean Now.
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