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Origin of Hangul

Discover how a king created a special alphabet so everyone could read and write!

Images

Old Goguryeo city wall in Yanzhou

Old Goguryeo city wall in Yanzhou

openverse
Baiyan city walls
Old Goguryeo city wall in Yanzhou
국립중앙박물관 National Museum of Korea
Baiyan city walls
Baiyan city walls
Old Goguryeo city wall in Yanzhou
King Sejong the Great, true philosopher king, originator of Hangul, new personal hero of mine
Old Goguryeo city wall in Yanzhou
Old Goguryeo city wall in Yanzhou
Old Goguryeo city wall in Yanzhou
Baiyan city walls

Key Facts

Alphabet Name
Hangul (한글).
Created By
King Sejong the Great and his scholars.
Completion Year
Around 1443-1444.
Main Goal
To make reading and writing easier for everyone.
Fun Fact
Some Hangul letters look like the shapes of your mouth when you speak!

Meet the Amazing Hangul Alphabet!

Imagine a secret code that helps people talk with their mouths and write with their hands! That's Hangul, the special alphabet for the Korean language. It's not super old like dinosaurs, but it's still pretty amazing.

Before Hangul, writing was tricky, and not many people could do it. This new alphabet was made to be super easy, like learning your ABCs, so everyone could join the fun of reading and writing.

King Sejong's Big Idea!

A long, long time ago, Korea had a very smart and kind king named Sejong the Great. He saw that many people couldn't read or write because the old way of writing was too hard. So, he decided to invent a brand new alphabet! He worked with smart friends to create letters that looked like the shapes our mouths make when we talk. It was like a secret project to help all his people learn.

Why Hangul is Super Special!

Hangul is like a superhero alphabet because it was made just for the Korean language. The old way of writing used characters from China, which didn't fit Korean sounds very well. King Sejong wanted a writing system that was perfect for his people. This made reading and writing much easier for everyone, from farmers to kids, helping more people share their stories and learn new things.

Letters That Look Like Sounds!

The coolest thing about Hangul is how the letters are made. Some letters look like the shape of your tongue or lips when you make a sound! For example, the letter for 'g' looks like the back of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth. It's like the letters are little pictures of how we speak. This makes Hangul one of the most scientific and easy-to-learn alphabets in the world!

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Based on content from Wikipedia · Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0