The English Language is something of a spelling nightmare, even to native speakers themselves. It is a culmination of multiple languages- primarily with West Germanic origins as well as has roots in romance languages (languages deriving from Latin) such as French. The English spelling system itself came from Latin which ultimately came from the Phoenician system of writing (which is the basis for other systems of writing such as Arabic). However, as the English system of spelling has remained quite conservative over the centuries, spoken English has not- leading to the disparity in how a word is written and its actual pronunciation. The rules of the language seem to be created just to be broken as every spelling rule has exceptions to it. With lots of unpronounced letters, memorization is key in tackling this system and even native speakers have difficulty with it, often having to concoct catchphrases such as “I before E except after C” which even has exceptions to itself such as in “science” or “weird”. A perfect poem capturing the illogiticies of the language, aptly named “The Chaos”, was written in 1922 and was a biting realization at the disparity between the written and spoken language. It is also regarded as one of the hardest poems to pronounce- even stumping English teachers from completing it without a hitch.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
-An excerpt fromThe Chaos (1922) by Gerard NolstTrenité
These shortcomings in English spelling has led to learning it as a foreigner to be an absolute nightmare. And when asked to native speakers on why something is spelled the way it is or written the way it is, the phrase “it just feels right” has become the most go-to answer they can come up with. Of course, the English language is not horrible. People have achieved literary works of art utilizing it, with Shakespeare being the most primal example. However, its illogical structure is very blatant to see, and acknowledged by both foreign and native speakers alike.
Of course, there are harder alphabets in the world to master. Chinese is the first go-to when one thinks of writing systems that are difficult to say the least. With an estimated 3,000 characters to even be able to read a basic newspaper, and with 8,000 characters needed to be considered well literate, it is a feat on its own- not even including the spoken language. Korea used to use this system as well, adopting it in the early ages, calling it Hanjato use as the system of writing for their language. However, Hanja had many shortcomings. After all, it was not meant to be used for the Korean language in its conception. Thus, for centuries, the Korean language and Chinese system of writing struggled to balance itself and with the vast amount of characters to learn, literacy was something only the wealthy could afford.
In the 21st century, we know Korea uses its own writing system instead of Chinese characters. So, how did this come to be? Where did the Korean alphabet come from? The answer lies in the 15th century during the reign of King Sejong, often referred to as King Sejong the Great, who was the 4th ruler of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). Noticing the huge gap in literacy and the inefficiency of the Chinese system, King Sejong is credited with developing the official Korean system of writing they use today, Hangul. Developed with several scholars, Hangul, originally called Hunminjeongeum literally meaning “Proper Sounds to Instruct the People”, was meant to be easy to learn- and it is. The alphabet, consisting of 24 characters (originally 28), was made with its 14 consonants reflecting the shape of the mouth when the sound is formed. In example, the consonant ㄱ which produces a ‘k’ sound represents the tongue and mouth shape in profile when forming the sound. A syllable consists of multiple elements. The first element in a single syllable is the initial consonant or, if it starts with a vowel, a small circle as a zero initial. Next, the ‘vowel nucleus’ is found either underneath or to the right, and then on the bottom, an optional final consonant called ‘batchim’ can be added. In example, the syllable한 or han is spelled with ㅎ(h), ㅏ(a), and ㄴ (n). Another example is the syllable 밤 or bam which is spelled with ㅂ(b), ㅏ(a), and ㅁ(m).
The reason the Korean writing system has been hailed one of the easiest, if not the easiest writing system to learn- something you could easily pick up in the span of one morning- is due part to this systematic spelling system but also because the characters are not flexible. In other terms, they mean what they mean. In English, if you read a new word, you may be unsure of the pronunciation because the vowels and consonants can be pronounced so many different ways, however in the Korean writing system, they are only pronounced one way. Without this disparity, even if you have never seen a word before, there is only one definitive way to pronounce it. This has contributed to Korean literacy rates to be among the highest in the world- close to 100%, whereas English speaking countries like the US remain lower.
With the conception of Hangeul, low-class Korean citizens were able to read and write. Korea also didn’t have to rely on a borrowed system that didn’t always quite match the needs of their spoken language. Although, even with this, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century, after Japanese occupation in Korea ended, that use of Hangeul became wide spread instead of Hanja,with a specific decline in the 1970s. Now it is the official writing system for both South Korea and North Korea (where it goes by the name Choseongeul) and even has designated holidays celebrating it, October 9th in the South and January 15th in the North. It is indeed a national pride and an amazing feat in terms of writing. And rightly so as Korea’s writing system continues to be one of the most logical systems in use today.
To learn further information, visit our Hangeul website http://sejong.prkorea.com/eng/main.jsp
Interested in learning the Korean alphabet? Print out the worksheets below to learn for yourself!
Written by: Lacey Bonner
Originally from the Washington DC metropolitan area, 3rd year student and Candidate for a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Candidate for Bachelor of Arts in the Korean Language at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, current exchange student for a 1-year period at Korea University and intern at VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)
image source < https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HMJE_1-1.svg >