The Korean Alphabet: Its History and Structure

Young-Key Kim-Renaud

Published by University of Hawaii Press 1997

The Korean Alphabet

Its History and Structure

Young-Key Kim-Renaud

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824845278

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Korean alphabet, commonly known as han'gul, has been called one of the greatest intellectual achievements of humankind. Experts agree that few writing systems can match its simplicity and efficiency, its elegance and intelligence.

The only alphabet completely native to East Asia, han'gul distinguishes itself among writing systems of the world with its scientific qualities and unusual linguistic fit to the Korean language. Most strikingly, the theoretical underpinnings of the language, as well as the time and circumstances of its creation, are clearly known and recorded. Han'gul was invented in 1443 and promulgated in 1446 by King Sejong (1418-1450), sage ruler of the Yi dynasty (1392-1910).

This volume, the first book-length work on han'gul in English by Korean-language specialists, is comprised of ten essays by the most active scholars of the Korean writing system. An instructive commentary by eminent linguist Samuel Martin follows, offering perceptive comments on the essays as well as a discussion on Martin's own research findings on the script.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
1. INTRODUCTION Young-Key Kim-Renaud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. THE INVENTOR OF THE KOREAN ALPHABET Ki-Moon Lee Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
3. THE INTERNATIONAL LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND OF THE CORRECT SOUNDS FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE PEOPLE Gari Ledyard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
4. THE PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE INVENTION OF THE KOREAN ALPHABET Pyong-Hi Ahn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
5. GRAPHICAL INGENUITY IN THE KOREAN WRITING SYSTEM: WITH NEW REFERENCE TO CALLIGRAPHY Sang-Oak Lee Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
6. THE VOWEL SYSTEM OF THE KOREAN ALPHABET AND KOREAN READINGS OF CHINESE CHARACTERS Sinhang Kang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
7. THE INVENTION OF THE ALPHABET AND THE HISTORY OF THE KOREAN LANGUAGE S. Robert Ramsey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
8. THE STRUCTURE OF PHONOLOGICAL UNITS IN HAN'GǓL Chin W. Kim Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
9. THE PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS REFLECTED IN THE KOREAN WRITING SYSTEM Young-Key Kim-Renaud Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
10. ORTHOGRAPHIC DIVERGENCE IN SOUTH AND NORTH KOREA: TOWARD A UNIFIED SPELLING SYSTEM Ho-min Sohn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
11. EXPERIMENTATION WITH HAN'GǓL IN RUSSIA AND THE USSR, 1914-1937 Ross King Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
12. COMMENTARY Samuel E. Martin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
APPENDIX l:A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE KOREAN ALPHABET Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
APPENDIX 2: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HUNMIN CHONG'UM AND HUNMIN CHONG'UM HAERYE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
APPENDIX 3: PHOTOGRAPHS OF A PAGE OF A NORTH KOREAN NEWSPAPER AND A PAGE OF A SOUTH KOREAN NEWSPAPER Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
APPENDIX 4: COMPARISON OF ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
CONTRIBUTORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 336

eBook

Published: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 9780824845278