Orthographic and Phonological Representations in Hangul

Abstract

This chapter discusses the orthographic and phonological representations of the segments (consonants and vowels) in Hangul. In the development of the Korean alphabet in the fifteenth century, King Sejong not only implemented cosmological concepts (the trinity of the universe—the heavens, earth, and humankind) into the design of vowels (cosmos iconicity) and the articulatory organs into consonants (sound iconicity or phonological iconicity), but also employed systematic stroke-addition rules to extend the inventory of consonants and vowels. Discussed next is how the segments are represented by means of syllables, followed by the orthotactics and phonotactics of Korean syllables as prescriptive linguistic principles. The chapter also covers the Korean Abecedarium, which has changed over time. A historical debate over block writing versus linear writing (e.g., 복습 vs. ㅂㅗㄱ ㅅㅡㅂ) is reviewed. As one of the unique characteristics of Hangul as an alphabetic script, the flexibility of writing direction horizontally and vertically (e.g., 복습 vs. ) is also discussed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the compatibility between spoken language and Hangul.