Where does Hangul come from?
Hangul was created in the 15th century under King Sejong the Great and published in 1446 in a document called «Hunminjeongeum» – roughly «the correct sounds for teaching the people». Before that, Koreans wrote mainly with Chinese characters, which few people had the chance to learn. The new alphabet was meant to let everyone read and write.
South Korea celebrates Hangul Day every year on 9 October. You will also see the name spelt «Hangeul», which is the official South Korean romanisation.
How does the script work?
Each syllable is written as a small block made up of an initial consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant. So the letters are not simply placed side by side as in English, but stacked into a square.
One special case is the circle ㅇ. At the start of a syllable it is silent and simply holds the place; at the end it sounds like «ng». That is why 오징어 (ojingeo, squid) starts with a circle even though you don’t hear it.
Why dish names are spelt differently
Anyone writing Korean in Latin letters has to pick a romanisation. Since 2000 South Korea has used the «Revised Romanisation», but older systems and free spellings are still common. So you will find the same dish as bibimbap or bibimbab, japchae or japche, kimchi jjigae or kimchi jigae.
The Hangul spelling, on the other hand, is unambiguous. If you are looking up a dish or showing it to Korean friends, the Hangul name often helps more than any romanisation.
Example: reading 비빔밥 syllable by syllable
비빔밥 has three blocks. 비 = ㅂ (b) + ㅣ (i) → «bi». 빔 = ㅂ (b) + ㅣ (i) + ㅁ (m) → «bim». 밥 = ㅂ (b) + ㅏ (a) + ㅂ (p at the end of a syllable) → «bap». Together: bi-bim-bap. 비비다 means «to mix» and 밥 means «cooked rice», so bibimbap literally means «mixed rice».
Now try 김치: ㄱ (k/g) + ㅣ (i) + ㅁ (m) gives «gim», and ㅊ (ch) + ㅣ (i) gives «chi». Two blocks, and you have the best-known word in Korean cooking.
Bibimbap CHF 32.90 · Japchae CHF 28.90 · Kimchi Jjigae CHF 32.00
