Hunminjeongeum

First page of the Hunminjeongeum
Korean spelling
Korean alphabet :	훈민정음
Hanja :	訓 民 正音
Revised Romanization :	Hunminjeong-eum
McCune-Reischauer :	Hunmin Chŏngŭm

The Hunminjeongeum (German: The right sounds to instruct the people ) is the text with which King Sejong , the fourth ruler of the Korean Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), introduced the Korean alphabet . The creation of the script is dated to 1443 and the publication of the Hunminjeongeum to 1446. In the Hunminjeongeum, Sejong writes that the written Chinese language is difficult to learn and that its characters are unsuitable for rendering the national language in Korea, so that the common people are unable to express themselves in writing. He regrets this and has therefore created 28 new characters. The extent to which he actually participated in the creation of the font himself or merely acted as a patron with a rather moderate contribution of his own is just as controversial as the question of whether and which other fonts served as inspiration or models.

The Oct. 9 is the date of publication of Hunminjeongeum in South Korea as Hangul Day public holiday. In North Korea, the corresponding public holiday is celebrated on January 15th . On December 20, 1962, the Hunminjeongeum was declared National Treasure Number 70 in South Korea , and in 1997, at the request of Korea, it was included in the list of World Document Heritage by UNESCO.

In the Hunminjeongeum, the newly developed characters of the Korean script are presented and explained. The book consists of two parts, comprises 33 pages and is written in Chinese.

The first part, written by King Sejong, consists of a foreword in which he explains the reasons for the development of the alphabet, followed by the main part in which each of the 28 letters of the new alphabet is explained.

The second part, written by eight scholars, contains six chapters:

1. In the “ Explanation of the Form of the Letters ” the phonetic and philosophical principles on the basis of which the letters were created are explained.
2. The “ Explanation of the syllable sounds ” introduces the 17 consonants that occur at the beginning of the syllable.
3. The “ Explanation of the syllable nucleus ” describes the 11 vowels that can form the syllable nucleus.
4. The “ Explanation of the End of Syllables ” presents the consonants that appear at the end of the syllable.
5. The " Explanation of the Letter Combinations " demonstrates how syllable sounds, syllable cores and syllable endings are put together to form syllables.
6. The “ Examples for the use of the letters ” shows the writing of whole words with the new font.

At the end there is an afterword by the scholar Jeong In-ji (Chŏng Inji).

Chŏng Inji's preface to Hunminjŏngŭmhaerye

On behalf of King Sejong, Chŏng Inji wrote a foreword in Hunminjŏngŭmhaerye, in which the new script is introduced. Here is an excerpt from the foreword by Ch Vorng Inji:

“The possible variations of the 28 letters are endless. They are simple but useful. They are refined but understandable everywhere. Therefore, a wise person understands them before tomorrow is over. A stupid person can learn it in ten days. When you use it to translate scriptures you can understand their meaning, and when you use them to acknowledge a litigation matter you can understand the matter. The sounds can be distinguished according to clarity and dullness. With songs, the rhythm is more balanced. They have everything that is needed and anything can be achieved with them. Even the blowing of the wind, the cry of the crane, the cock's crows and the barking of dogs can all be recorded in writing. "

Original text

The introduction written by King Sejong in Classical Chinese states:

original	translation
國 之 語音 、 異 乎 中國 、 與 文字 不 相 流通 、	The language of our country is different from that of China and cannot be translated using (Chinese) characters.
故 愚民 、 有所 欲言 、 而 終 不得 伸 其 情 者 多 矣。	Therefore, there are many people among the uneducated people who want to say something but cannot express their intention even though they want to express their opinions.
予 為此 憫 然 、 新制 二十 八字 、 欲使 人人 易 習 、 便於 日用 耳。	I am saddened by this and have created 28 new characters and hope that they are easy for everyone to learn and use comfortably in everyday life.
ㄱ 、 牙 音 、 如 君 字 初 發聲。	ㄱ. Tooth sound. Like the initial sound of the character 君 .
並 書 、 如 虯 字 初 發聲。	Double spelling. Like the initial sound of the character 虯 .
ㅋ 、 牙 音 、 如 快 字 初 發聲。	ㅋ. Tooth sound. Like the initial sound of the character 快 .
ㆁ 、 牙 音 、 如 業 字 初 發聲。	ㆁ. Tooth sound. Like the initial sound of the character 業 .
ㄷ 、 舌音 、 如 斗 字 初 發聲。	ㄷ. Tongue sound. Like the initial sound of the character 斗 .
並 書 、 如 覃 字 初 發聲。	Double spelling. Like the initial sound of the character 覃 .
ㅌ 、 舌音 、 如 呑 字 初 發聲。	ㅌ. Tongue sound. Like the initial sound of the character 呑 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ King Sejong the Great: the Father of Literacy for Everyone (PDF file) UNESCO, accessed January 16, 2014 (English).
2. ^ Events on the Day of Hangeul 2013 , in: Visit Korea from October 4, 2013.
3. ↑ The Hunmin Chongum Manuscript | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved on August 26, 2017 .