alphabetic system used for writing the Korean language. The system, known as Chosŏn muntcha in North Korea, consists of 24 letters, including 14 consonant and 10 vowel symbols. The consonant symbols are formed with curved or angled lines; vowel symbols are composed of vertical or horizontal straight lines together with short lines on either side of the main line.
The development of the Hangul alphabet is traditionally ascribed to Sejong, fourth king of the Yi dynasty; the system was made the official writing system for the Korean language in the mid-1440s by one of Sejong’s decrees. Because of the influence of Confucianism and of Chinese culture, however, Hangul was not used by scholars or Koreans of the upper classes until after 1945, when Korea ceased to be under Japanese rule.
Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.
If you think a reference to this article on "Hangul" will enhance your Web site,
blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article,
and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.
You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.
We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.
Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.