The consonant letters fall into five groups, each with a basic shape, and one or more letters derived from this shape by means of additional strokes. In the Hunmin Jeong-eum Haerye account, the basic shapes iconically represent the articulations the , , , and take when making these sounds.
Simple Aspirated Tensepalatal ㅈ ㅊ ㅉvelar ㄱ ㅋ ㄲcoronal ㄷ ㅌ ㄸbilabial ㅂ ㅍ ㅃfricatives ㅅ ㅆ
The Korean names for the groups are taken from Chinese :
(아음, 牙音 a-eum "molar sounds")ㄱ g [k], ㅋ k [kʰ]Basic shape: ㄱ is a side view of the back of the tongue raised toward the velum (soft palate). (For illustration, access the external link below.) ㅋ is derived from ㄱ with a stroke for the burst of aspiration. (설음, 舌音 seoreum "lingual sounds"):ㄴ n [n], ㄷ d [t], ㅌ t [tʰ], ㄹ r [ɾ, l]Basic shape: ㄴ is a side view of the tip of the tongue raised toward the (gum ridge). The letters derived from ㄴ are pronounced with the same basic articulation. The line topping ㄷ represents firm contact with the roof of the mouth. The middle stroke of ㅌ represents the burst of aspiration. The top of ㄹ represents a of the tongue. (순음, 唇音 suneum "labial sounds"):ㅁ m [m], ㅂ b [p], ㅍ p [pʰ]Basic shape: ㅁ represents the outline of the lips in contact with each other. The top of ㅂ represents the release burst of the b. The top stroke of ㅍ is for the burst of aspiration. (치음, 齒音 chieum "dental sounds"):ㅅ s [s], ㅈ j [tɕ], ㅊ ch [tɕʰ]Basic shape: ㅅ was originally shaped like a wedge ∧, without the on top. It represents a side view of the teeth. The line topping ㅈ represents firm contact with the roof of the mouth. The stroke topping ㅊ represents an additional burst of aspiration. (후음, 喉音 hueum "throat sounds"):ㅇ ng [ʔ, ŋ], ㅎ h [h]Basic shape: ㅇ is an outline of the throat. Originally ㅇ was two letters, a simple circle for silence (null consonant), and a circle topped by a vertical line, ㆁ, for the nasal ng. A now obsolete letter, ㆆ, represented a , which is pronounced in the throat and had closure represented by the top line, like ㄱㄷㅈ. Derived from ㆆ is ㅎ, in which the extra stroke represents a burst of aspiration.Vowel design[]
Vowel letters are based on three elements:
A horizontal line representing the flat Earth, the essence of .A point for the Sun in the heavens, the essence of . (This becomes a short stroke when written with a brush.)A vertical line for the upright Human, the neutral mediator between the Heaven and Earth.
Short strokes (dots in the earliest documents) were added to these three basic elements to derive the vowel letter:
Simple vowels[]Horizontal letters: these are mid-high back vowels.bright ㅗ odark ㅜ uneutral ㅡ eu (ŭ)Vertical letters: these were once low vowels.bright ㅏ adark ㅓ eo (ŏ)neutral ㅣ iCompound vowels[]
Hangul never had a w, except for . Since an o or u before an a or eo became a [w] sound, and [w] occurred nowhere else, [w] could always be analyzed as a o or u, and no letter for [w] was needed. However, vowel harmony is observed: "dark" ㅜ u with "dark" ㅓ eo for ㅝ wo; "bright" ㅗ o with "bright" ㅏ a for ㅘ wa:
ㅘ wa = ㅗ o + ㅏ aㅝ wo = ㅜ u + ㅓ eoㅙ wae = ㅗ o + ㅐ aeㅞ we = ㅜ u + ㅔ e
The compound vowels ending in ㅣ i were originally . However, several have since evolved into pure vowels:
ㅐ ae = ㅏ a + ㅣ i (pronounced [ɛ])ㅔ e = ㅓ eo + ㅣ i (pronounced [e])ㅙ wae = ㅘ wa + ㅣ iㅚ oe = ㅗ o + ㅣ i (formerly pronounced [ø] )ㅞ we = ㅝ wo + ㅣ iㅟ wi = ㅜ u + ㅣ i (formerly pronounced [y] )ㅢ ui = ㅡ eu + ㅣ i
