HunMinJeongEum

世宗御制訓民正音 : King SeJong graciously makes the HunMinJeongEum created

國之語音 異乎中國 與文字 不相流通 故 愚民 有所欲言 而終不得伸其情者 多矣 予 爲此憫然 新制二十八字 欲使人人 易習 便於日用耳

The sounds of our country's language are different from those of Chinese, and are not confluent with the sounds of Chinese characters. Therefore, among the innocent people, there have been many who, having something to put into words, have in the end been unable to express their feelings. I have been distressed because of this, and have newly designed twenty-eight letters, which I wish to have everyone practice at their ease and adapt to their daily use.

You can see (and listen to) the original text written in Korean and Chinese at this site.

You can also see (and listen to) the original text written in Chinese at this site.

 

King SeJong (世宗莊憲英文睿武仁聖明孝大王 세종장헌영문예무인성명효대왕) himself with his scholar-officials creates the unique writing system for the Korean language in the year of 1443, and names it HunMinJeongEum (訓民正音 훈민정음) which means The Correct Sounds to Teach (or to Instruct) the People. He promulgates the system with the same titled book HunMinJeongEum (訓民正音 훈민정음) at the 9th October in the year of 1446. For the details of the system 訓民正音, scholars usually refer to the book 訓民正音. The text 訓民正音 is often called as 訓民正音解例 (훈민정음해례, which means Theoretical and Analytical Explanations of the Structure of the Korean Alphabets, or Explanations and Examples of the Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People) or as 原本訓民正音 (원본훈민정음, which means The Original Text on HunMinJeongEum). The existence of 訓民正音解例 makes the system 訓民正音 very unique : the text 訓民正音 explains with examples not only the motive of the creation, but also the fundamental principles and underlying philosophy of the creation. It means Korean letters are created based on philosophical and methodological blueprint with integrated cultural power by then. This is the very typical example of produce from deductive characteristics of Korean people. (cf. Koreans are, at least unconsciously, of very strong tendency towards reductionism.)

As you may know, HunMinJeongEum analyzes syllables into three parts, i.e. initial consonant (初聲 초성), middle vowel (中聲 중성), and final consonant (終聲 종성). So you can think it is very easy to romanize them, and you may. But you must remember, troublesome officialdom is everywhere. Hmm...to return from the digression... : For romanization of Korean characters, there are 2 dominant systems available : McCune-Reischauer System and Yale Romanization System. To get a grip, refer to the ToReadHanGeul. Sort of official materials also can be get from the Information regarding Romanization of Hangeul page. If you can understand the Korean language, check the 한글기계화 and 거북이한글로마자표기법. If you can understand the Japanese language, checking this page may make a help to you. Also check for the TheNaming and 표기원칙 especially for the whole http://www.koreanrock.com system.

As far as I know, there is no unique Korean writing system for numbers : Korean people usually use Arabic (1, 2, 3, 4, ...), Chinese (一, 二, 三, 四, ...), and Roman (I, II, III, IV, ...) ways of expressing numbers together.

And, if you want somewhat donnish information, please refer to the followings :

• Writing Systems: A Linguistic Introduction by Geoffrey Sampson
• The Korean Language (Suny Series in Korean Studies) by Iksop Lee, S. Robert Ramsey
• The Korean Language by Ho-Min Sohn
• The Korean Alphabet : Its History and Structure by Young-Key Kim-Renaud
• The Korean Alphabet of 1446 : Hunmin Chongum by Sek Yen Kim-Cho
• A Reference Grammar of Korean : A Complete Guide to the Grammar and History of the Korean Language by Samuel E. Martin
• A History of the Korean Language by Ki-Moon Lee, Robert Ramsey
• A Reference Grammar of Korean by Samuel E. Martin
• The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin (esp. PART XIII)
• "The origin of Korean alphabet Hangul" by Sangbaek Yi, in <A History of Korean alphabet and movable types> by Ministry of Culture and Information, Republic of Korea, 1970
• <The Korean Language Reform of 1446> : Ph.D dissertation of Gari Ledyard who is now a professor of Columbia University
• Harvard Bibliography of Korean Studies

Here are some useful links :

• http://www.omniglot.com/writing/korean.htm
• The Romanization of Korean

• Publishing pre-1933 orthography Korean text on the web
• The Korean Language Society : 한글학회
• The Hangul Foundation 한글 재단
• Korea Society
• Korean Studies Related Links at Harvard
• International Phonetic Association
• http://www.iic.edu/frame_071.html
• Grandes Alfabetos

• Grand Bell Language Laboratory : Don't panic :-)

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