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Reference sources

 

  The content of this page can be seen better if a font that supports old Korean letters is installed.

  If the screen does not look normal, download and install Hangeul fonts for old Korean language from the link below.

​

 For Windows: http://ftp.ktug.org/KTUG/hcr-lvt/windows/hcr-lvt-win.zip

 For Linux and android: http://ftp.ktug.org/KTUG/hcr-lvt/Hamchorom-LVT.zip

 For Mac and iphone: http://ftp.ktug.org/KTUG/hcr-lvt/mac/hcr-lvt-mac.zip

 


 


1. The Hunmin Jeongeum - Writing system for the 15th century Korean


​1.1. more basic letters

1.2. Differences in consonant pronunciation

1.3. Differences in vowel pronunciation

1.4.Discontinued pronunciation notation

1.4.1. Labials ㅸ, ㆄ, ㅱ, ㅹ

1.4.2.  ㆅ and ㆀ​

1.5. Differences in syllable structure

1.6. Tone notation using side dots

1.7.  Modified characters for Chinese pronunciation


2. Examples of foreign languages transcribed into Hangeul during the Joseon Dynasty


2.1. Chinese

2.2. Manchu

2.3. Mongol

2.4. Japanese


​

1. The Hunmin Jeongeum - Writing system for the 15th century Korean


 ​Hunmin Jeongeum is the original name of Hangeul when it was first created by King Sejong in the 15th century. The sound structure of the Korean language of the 15th century was more complex than that of modern Korean, so Hunmin Jeongeum had more characters and could represent more complex syllable structures.

 Modern Korean language has undergone many changes: its sound structure has become simpler and Hangeul system for contemporary Korean has become simpler as well. Contemporary Hangeul system for Korean language has limitations in representing various languages of the world. That's why the Hangeul Festa 2023​ decided to allow the use of the Hunmin Jeongeum style writing system . We hope the participants can have more freedom in rewriting their language in Hangeul.

Now, let's find out the differences between the Hunmin Jeongeum and the modern Hangeul.


1.1. more basic letters


While Modern Korean has 24 basic letters (14 consonants 10 vowels), Hunmin Jeongeum had 28 basic letters (17 consonants 11 vowels): three additional consonant letters (ㅿ, ㆁ, ㆆ) one additional vowel letter (ㆍ).

 

letter 

 pronunciation

 examples

  

 /z/​

(little brother) /a zʌ/,  (fox) /jəzɯ/​

(fox leather) /jəz ɯj gas/

  

Many scholars believe that /z/ existed in 15th century Korean, 'ㅿ' was used to represent this sound.​

 

 

letter 

 pronunciation

example

  

  /ŋ/​

(bell)/ba ŋol/,   (racoon dog) /rə ŋul/

(owl) /bu həŋ/, (tadpole) /ol ʦaŋ/ 

  

 

In modern Korean, '​' has no sound when used as an syllable initial consonant and has a /ŋ/ sound when used as a syllable final consonant. However, in Hunmin Jeongeum, '​' was a letter with no sound in both initial and final positions. In Hunmin Jeongeum, '​' was used as a character to represent /ŋ/ in the final position. It was also used in the initial position as you can see above, ​

 

 

letter 

 pronunciation

 example

 

 /ʔ/

​(one) /ʔil/

​(to do) /holʔ/ 

  

 This letter was rarely used, and it was used for representing Sino-Korean pronunciations for very weak glottal sounds. Among the four basic characters that are no longer used in modern Korean, this character disappeared the fastest.

​

 

letter 

pronunciation

 example

/ ʌ /​ 

 (moon) /dʌl/,  (rice) /bsʌl/,  (one) /hʌna/

 (butterfly) /nabʌj/  (mosquito)/mogʌj/

 

 The currently disappeared vowel letter 'ㆍ' is conventionally called 'Arae A' in Korean. Many scholars believe that the sound represented by this letter was /ʌ/.​

​

  

1.2. Differences in consonant pronunciation​

 

 

In modern Korean, the consonants 'ㅅ', 'ㅈ', 'ㅊ' end with [-t] sound in the final position. However, in 15th century Korean, 'ㅅ', 'ㅈ', 'ㅊ' were pronounced as [-s]. 

 

letter 

syllable initial in Hunmin Jeongeum 

syllable initial in contemporary Hangeul

syllable final in contemporary Hangeul​​

 syllable final in contemporary Hangeul

ㅅ 

 s-​ 

 s-​ 

-s

-t

ㅈ 

 ʣ-​ 

 ʥ- 

 -s

-t​

ㅊ 

 ts-​ 

 ʨ- 

 -s

 -t​

 

 

 

 

1.3. Differences in vowel pronunciation

 

In modern Korean, the combination of certain vowel characters represents new vowels. However, in 15th century Korean, vowel letters could be read by combining the original vowel sounds.

  

 letter

 Hunmin Jeongeum

contemporary Hangeul system

ㅐ 

 /aj/

 /ɛ/

ㅔ 

/əj/​

/e/

ㅚ

 /oj/​

 /ø ~ we/​

ㅟ

/uj/

 /y ~ wi/​

ㅙ

/wai/

 /wɛ/​

ㅞ

/wəj/

 /we/

ㆎ

 /wʌj/

not used

 

   

 

 

1.4.Discontinued pronunciation notation

 

There were some pronunciation notations in the 15th century Korean that are no longer used.

 

1.4.1. Labials ㅸ, ㆄ, ㅱ, ㅹ

 

 letter

 pronunciation

example 

 

 /β ~ v/ 

 (easily) /su βi/

 

 /f/ 

 

 

 /w/ 

  /gaw/ 

 

 /v‘/

 

 

 In Hunmin Jeongeum, it was explained that to represent fricative sounds distinct from ㅂ, ㅍ, ㅁ, and ㅃ, one could add ㅇ under each character. Among them, the only character used in Korean writing was ㅸ. When representing syllable final pronunciations of Chinese '-w', 'ㅱ' was used as the final consonant. It is difficult to find actual usage examples for the other characters.

 

​

1.4.2.  and 

 

letter

pronunciation

example

 

 /çː/ 

  (pull) /çːjə da/

 /x/ 

  (洪: wide) /xoŋ/ 

 

 /jː/ 

  (be loved) /goj jːə/ 

 

 ㆅ and ㆀ were extremely rare. ㆅ was mainly used for representing ideal Chinese pronunciation. ㆀ was the rarest letter and only used for the passive form of some verbs.

 

 

 

 

 

1.5. Differences in syllable structure

 

In modern Korean, up to two consonant characters can appear in the syllable initial medial positions. However, in the 15th century Korean, up to three consonant letters were allowed in the syllable initial syllable final positions. 

 

 용례

 발음

 (rice) 

 /bsʌl/

  (rooster)

 /dʌrg/

 (aperture)

 /bsgɯm/

  (time)

 /bsdaj/

 (rooster’s time: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.)

 /dʌrgs bsdaj/ 

 

  

 

 

1.6. Tone notation using side dots

 

In 15th century Korean, there were four tones: low, rising, high and checked tones which were determined by the final consonant. Dots were placed on the left side of the letters to represent tones.

 

 

 tone

number of dots

 example

low

 none

high

1

rising

2

 

  

 

1.7.  Modified characters for Chinese pronunciation

 

In the 15th century Korean, there were modified characters used specifically for indicating Chinese pronunciation. These modified characters were created to represent the sounds /s/, /z/, /ts/, /dz/, /tsʰ/, /ɕ/, /ʑ/, /tɕ/, /dʑ/, /tɕʰ/.

 

The modified characters for Chinese pronunciation in the 15th century Korean were as follows:

 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /s/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /z/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /ts/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /dz/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /tsʰ/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

 

 

Additionally, for the sounds /ɕ/, /ʑ/, /tɕ/, /dʑ/, /tɕʰ/, the following modified characters were used:

 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /ɕ/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /ʑ/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 ​This character was used to represent the sound /tɕ/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /dʑ/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

  

 This character was used to represent the sound /tɕʰ/ in Chinese pronunciation.​ 

 

These modified characters were only used in the context of indicating Chinese pronunciation.




2. Examples of foreign languages transcribed into Hangeul during the Joseon Dynasty

 


To train interpreters during the Joseon Dynasty, Sa-Yeok-Won, the bureau of translation foreign language education compiled textbooks for learning foreign languages. 

These textbooks transcribed the pronunciation of each foreign language in Hangeul, which varied slightly from language to language, even within the same language, depending on the nature intent of the textbook. 

Here are some examples.

 

 

2.1. Chinese


​

 


2.2. Manchu

 

​

 

 

 

2.3. Mongol

 ​

 

 

2.4. Japanese

 

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

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