Korean Introduction to Korean Language Syllabus

Introduction to Korean Language syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Introduction to Korean Language in Korean, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Understanding Hangul

   3 topics

   • History of Hangul
   • Structure of Hangul
   • Basic Hangul Characters
2. 2

   Korean Language Overview

   2 topics

   • Dialects in Korean
   • Formal and Informal Speech

Introduction to Korean Language flashcards for Korean

21 of 51 cards from the Introduction to Korean Language deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Who commissioned the creation of Hangul and in what year was it promulgated?

   King Sejong the Great (of the Joseon Dynasty) commissioned it; it was promulgated in 1446 through the document Hunminjeongeum.

2. What was the original name of the Korean alphabet when it was first introduced in 1446?

   Hunminjeongeum, meaning 'The Correct/Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People.'

3. In what year was Hangul completed, as distinct from its year of promulgation?

   It was completed/created in 1443 and officially promulgated (published) in 1446.

4. What was King Sejong's primary motivation for creating Hangul?

   To raise literacy among common people, since Classical Chinese (Hanja) was difficult and inaccessible to most ordinary Koreans.

5. What writing system did Koreans use before Hangul was invented?

   Classical Chinese characters (Hanja), including adapted systems like Idu and Hyangchal to write Korean using Chinese script.

6. What does the modern name 'Hangul' (한글) literally mean?

   'Great script' or 'Korean script' — the name was coined by linguist Ju Si-gyeong in the early 20th century.

7. What is the North Korean name for the Korean alphabet?

   Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글), whereas South Korea calls it Hangul (한글).

8. Why was Hangul often disparaged by the educated elite (yangban) after its creation?

   They favored Classical Chinese as the prestige script and dismissed Hangul with names like 'eonmun' (vernacular/vulgar script), viewing it as beneath scholars.

9. Which 1997 recognition did the Hunminjeongeum Manuscript receive from UNESCO?

   It was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 1997.

10. On what date is Hangul Day (Hangeul Proclamation Day) celebrated in South Korea?

    October 9th, commemorating the 1446 proclamation of Hunminjeongeum.

11. What is the guiding design principle behind the shapes of Hangul consonant letters?

    The basic consonants are shaped to depict the position/shape of the speech organs (articulators) used to produce each sound.

12. Hangul is classified as what type of writing system?

    A featural alphabet — its letter shapes encode phonetic features — that is written in syllabic blocks.

13. How many letters are in the modern (South Korean) Hangul alphabet?

    24 basic letters: 14 consonants and 10 vowels (plus additional compound letters formed from these).

14. How many total consonant and vowel sounds can Hangul represent when compound letters are included?

    40 letters total — 19 consonant letters (14 basic + 5 double) and 21 vowel letters (10 basic + 11 compound).

15. What are the three philosophical elements that the basic Hangul vowels are based on?

    The three elements of Eastern cosmology: heaven (ㆍ, a dot), earth (ㅡ, a horizontal line), and human (ㅣ, a vertical line).

16. How are Hangul letters arranged when writing a word?

    Letters are grouped into syllabic blocks, each block representing one syllable, arranged left-to-right (and top-to-bottom within the block).

17. What are the three possible positions within a Korean syllable block?

    Initial consonant (choseong), medial vowel (jungseong), and optional final consonant (jongseong / batchim).

18. What is the Korean term for the final consonant at the bottom of a syllable block?

    Batchim (받침).

19. What is the minimum required structure of a Korean syllable block?

    At minimum an initial consonant plus a medial vowel (CV); the final consonant is optional.

20. When a syllable begins with a vowel sound, which consonant is written as a placeholder in the initial position?

    ㅇ (ieung), which is silent in the initial position and acts as a null/placeholder consonant.

21. How is the block arranged when the vowel is horizontal (like ㅗ or ㅜ) versus vertical (like ㅏ or ㅣ)?

    With a horizontal vowel the initial consonant sits on top and the vowel below; with a vertical vowel the consonant sits to the left and the vowel to the right.

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