Korean phrasebook written language · Written language in Korean phrasebook  TodayTourism All Destinations | Europe | Asia | North America | Africa | South America | Oceania | Hotels

Written language in Korean phrasebook


Written language in Korean phrasebook

A wise man can acquaint himself with them before the morning is over; a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days. --King Sejong on hangul
Korean is generally written using a native alphabet known as hangul (chosongul in North Korea and China). Designed by a committee and rather scary-looking at first, it's in fact a very logical alphabetic writing system far simpler than Chinese characters or even the Japanese kana syllabary, and it's well worth putting in the time to learn them if staying in Korea for more than a day or two. The basic idea is simple: hangul consists of letters called jamo combined into square blocks, where each block represents a syllable. The block is always in the order (consonant)-vowel-(consonant), stacked from top to bottom, where ㅇ is used as the first jamo if the first consonant is missing, and the space for the last consonant can be left empty is missing. For example, the word Seoul (서울) consists of the syllables seo (ㅅ s plus ㅓ eo, no final consonant) and ul (ㅇ plus ㅜ u plus ㄹ l). Tensed consonants are created by doubling the jamo (ㅅ s ? ㅆ ss) and y-vowel diphthongs have an extra dash tacked on (ㅏ a ? ㅑ ya). And that's pretty much it! Many Korean words can also be written using Chinese characters, known as hanja in Korean. These are still occasionally seen in newspapers, formal documents and official signs, but are in general rarely used and have even been completely abolished in North Korea. While they remain official in South Korea, their use is largely restricted to the elderly, and many youths are unable to recognize even their own names written in hanja.

The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Korean phrasebook


Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Korean phrasebook - updated Mar 2024

SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Korean phrasebook hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!


>>> SEARCH FOR DEALS <<<

WHERE TO TRAVEL NEXT IN 2020


Korean phrasebook Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

Europe | Asia | North America | Africa | South America | Oceania | All Destinations