The story of Hangeul

Most writing systems grew slowly over thousands of years. Hangeul did not. It was designed on purpose, by a king, so that ordinary people could read. That is why it is so logical, and why you can learn it in days.

A king who wanted everyone to read

Six hundred years ago, Koreans wrote with Chinese characters. Korean and Chinese are very different languages, and learning thousands of characters took years, so most farmers, servants and women could not read or write.

King Sejong the Great (세종대왕), the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty, decided to change that. He and his scholars finished a new alphabet in 1443 and announced it in 1446 in a book called Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음), “the correct sounds for teaching the people.” In its preface the king explains that common people could not write down what they wanted to say, and that he made the new letters so everyone could use them easily every day.

“A wise person can learn them before the morning is over, and even a slow learner can learn them in ten days.”From the Hunminjeongeum Haerye, the guide that explained the new letters

Not everyone was happy. Some officials argued that Chinese characters were the proper way to write. For centuries Hangeul was looked down on, though it spread among women and ordinary people. It became Korea's official script only in the late 1800s, and the name “Hangeul” itself was popularized in the early 1900s by the linguist Ju Si-gyeong (주시경). Today you can see King Sejong on the 10,000 won bill.

Consonants: pictures of your mouth

The basic consonants are drawings of what your mouth does when you make the sound. Picture a face seen from the side, looking to the left, and say each sound slowly while you look at the letter. Then extra strokes are added for related sounds, so each basic letter starts a small family.

Vowels: heaven, earth and person

The vowels are built from just three shapes, taken from old Korean philosophy: a round dot for heaven (the sky), a flat line for earth, and a standing line for a person between them.

Put the dot next to a line and you get a vowel. Over time the dot became the short stroke you see today.

Sejong's original alphabet had 28 letters. Four of them, including the heaven dot on its own, fell out of use, which leaves the 24 basic letters Koreans use today.

Hangeul Day: October 9

South Korea celebrates Hangeul Day (한글날, Hangeullal) every October 9, the day linked to the 1446 announcement. It is a national holiday, with events around the statue of King Sejong in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. North Korea marks its own alphabet day on January 15. The Hunminjeongeum Haerye book itself is on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.