110: Cultural Post #4

[Becky Chen]

“Hangul” is the formal writing system used in both North and South Korea. It is an alphabet so it consists of consonants and vowels. However, back in the 1500s, Hangul did not exist and Korea did not have any writing system-communication was mostly oral. If a Korean desired to read and write, they learned Chinese. However, only wealthy and educated Koreans had access to study Chinese, leaving the majority of Koreans illiterate. Thus, many Koreans experienced frustration in not being able to communicate their thoughts and feelings in written words. Even for the literate Koreans, Chinese script could not fully express the words and thoughts unique to the Korean spoken language. All of this changed in 1446 when King Sejong invented Hangul, a simple writing system that allowed even the poorest Koreans to read and write. Out of the 28 original letters of Hangul, only 24 are used today. The basic Korean syllable is divided into three parts: ch’osong (initial consonant), chungsong (peak vowel) and chongsong (final consonant). Some Korean words vary from this structure, such as those that have final vowels instead of final consonants. In the end, Hangul has revolutionized many aspects of Korean society. Some say that one of the main reasons that South Korea advances in computing so quickly is because Hangul can be easily entered into PCs and phones. One of the country's greatest achievements, however, is its boost in literacy rates: nowadays, illiteracy is practically nonexistent in Korea due to the learnability of Hangul.