A Guide To Korean Characters. Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja

02016·8.57 MB·English

A
ARACTERS
:;3ReadihLa; nd Writing
:H angul and Hanja
" C ' .I'
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HOLLYM -
I
i
HANG&-IN-A-HURRY CHART 11
HANG&-IN-A-HURRY CHART I
Vowels
Consonants
tI Basic Consanants I S(ttwreos bseadsi Cc oconnsosonnaanntst s I A(ssg~oirrta litneedC a odndseodn taon ts 1I Basic Vowels ("vIo" wDeli p#h6t ahdodnegds "(sYh"o rDt liipnhet hadondgeds (Ocothmerb Diniapthiothnos onfg s
a written together) basic consonants) to basic vowels) to basic vowels ) various vowels)
01 01 01
1. a la. ae ib. ya St\ wa
(father) (hat) . (water)
4
0] O)) 4
2. 6 2a. e 2b. yi( wae
(hut) (se_t) (w_et)
9 4 3
3. o 3a. oe 3b. yo ~6
(heme) (w_et) (w_on)
4. l- 4a. ui 4b.-$ YU
(plume) (E)
-
5. 0 6 5a. 51 iii
(we)*
(so_o~* )
8. ;ng (final;
no sound
6. 01 i
as initial)
( k t )
*
'Pronounce without pursing the lips.
lo. h The written with each vowel is an unvoiced consonant
"0"
which functions to indicate where an initial consonant maybe
'Slightly different than basic consonant number six.
affixed to the vowel when writing a syllable. See the inside
Basic consonants k, t, p, and ch are ~ronounceda s g, d, b,
back cover for information on forming syllables.
and j, respectively, when occurring as medials. Stressed con-
sonaots are pronounced with more stress by far than their
unvoiced English counterparts, g, d, b, s, and j. Aspirated -
consonants are said with an unabashed explosion of air. Initial
"r" is pronounced akin to its Spanish counterpart.
-
A
A Guide to
KOREAN
CHARACTERS
Reading and Writing
Hangiil and Hanja
SECOND REVISED EDITION
by
BRUCE K. GRANT
HOLLY M
For Audrey
Michele
Denise
Mirae
Bruce
Maynard
Monique
and Taylor
Copyright @ 1982, 1979
by Bruce K. Grant
All rights reserved
First published in 1979
Reprinted in 1989
by Hollyrn International Corp.
18 Donald Place
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07208 U.S.A.
Published simultaneously in Korea
by Hollym Corporation; Publishers
14-5 Kwanchol-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul, Korea
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]
ISBN: 0-930878- 13-2
Printed in Korea
PREFACE
This book was designed as a guide for those who wish to
learn written Korean. It presents for the first time in English
the information necessary to read and write hangiil, the
Korean alphabet, and the 1,800 Chinese characters taught
in Korean schools. A Guide to Korean Characters contains
simplified charts explaining hang5l and models showing
exactly how to write each of the 1,800 Basic Characters. Sam-
ple vocabulary words, selected on the basis of frequency of
use, are included for each character. This handbook also
functions as a character dictionary since its entries are ar-
ranged in stroke-count order and it contains both a radical
and a phonetic index.
I am very grateful to those who have helped in the prep-
aration of A Guide to Korean Characters. Mr. Cho PyTing-ha
was indefatiguable, and the writing models in the text are
examples of his graceful calligraphy. Dr. Ch6n Y6ng-ch'd
and Mr. Yi Pang-h5n kindly read the entire manuscript and
made many useful suggestions. I am indebted to Mr. Chu
Shin-wgn, Chief Editor at Hollyrn Corporation: Publishers, for
his patient guidance. I alone, of course, am responsible for
errors.
Seoul. Korea Bruce K. Grant
July 1979
CONTENTS
PREFACE 7
INTRODUCTION
The Korean Writing System
Hints on Learning Hangu'l
History of Chinese Characters
The Six Categories of Chinese Characters
Hints on Learning Hanja
Explanation of a Sample Character Entry
Writing Characters
Glossary
THE 1,800 BASIC CHARACTERS 25
APPENDICES 33 3
Korean Surnames 335
Easily Confused Characters 336
Commonly Abbreviated Characters 33 7
Characters with Multiple Readings 338
The 900 Middle School Characters in Textbook Order 339
INDEX
How to Use a Character Dictionary
Radical Index
Phonetic Index
SELECTED BIBLlOGRAPHY
ENDPAPER CHARTS
~an~ill-in-a-hurrCyh arts insidejront cover
Hangill Writing Models inside back cover
syllable Writing Models
INTRODUCTION
THE KOREAN WRITING SYSTEM
Korean is a member of the Altaic family of languages and
is very similar to Japanese. It has been spoken on the Korean
peninsula for more than 2,000 years but has enjoyed an in-
digenous writing system since only the fifteenth century.
Chinese exerted an early influence on Korean, and loan words
from the Chinese now comprise about sixty percent of the
Korean vocabulary.
Chinese is essentially uninflected, while Korean is poly-
synthetic. So different, in fact, are the two languages that
Chinese and English have more in common than do Chinese
and Korean. Ancient Koreans found Chinese ideographs
unsuited to phonetically represent their richly inflected lan-
guage, so they adopted written Chinese itself. Literate
Koreans wrote one language, classical Chinese, and spoke
another, Korean, until the dawn of the twentieth century, a
period in excess of 1,500 years.
In 1440, King Sejong of the Yi Dynasty set a group of
scholars to the task of inventing a means of writing the Ko-
rean language. The resulting phonetic alphabet was prom-
ulgated in 1446 but did not enjoy widespread use. Hangiil, as
it is now called, is perhaps the most scientific alphabet in
general use in the world.
In 1972, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea
directed that 1,800 Sino-Korean characters, hanja, be taught
in all middle and high schools in the nation. These are com-
monly called the Basic Characters, and each is treated in this
book. Modern Korean is written in a mixed script in which
hanja is used for Chinese loan words and hangiil for purely
Korean items.
The Korean alphabet is so simple that its sixteen totally
11
INTRODUCTION lNTRODUcrION
distinct letters can be learned in minutes with the aid of the Forms of Chinese Characters
hangiil-in-a-hurry charts at the inside front cover of this book.
Use these charts to decode hangal appearing in the book
and elsewhere until it becomes entirely familiar to you. The
charts at the inside back cover illustrate how to write each
hangGI letter and how to combine the letters into sylla-
bles.
Korean consonants are pronounced much as they are in
English, though they annoyingly assume different shades of
sound when they appear as initials, medials, or finals. The five
stressed consonants are pronounced with greatest possible
stress but with no expulsion of air. For example, "tt" ( r-c ) is
pronounced akin to the d of don't inUDon't do that!'' The
aspirated consonants are pronounced with a heavy expulsion
of air. The "k' "( 3 ) is similar, for example, to the k of kill
in ill that rattlesnake!" Vowels are pronounced essentially
as noted on the inside front cover. Access to a native speaker
is recommended for refined pronunciation.
HISTORY OF CHINESE CHARACI'ERS
1n.ancient China, pieces of bone and shell were incised with
characters and then heated. The resulting cracks among the
characters were used by oracles to foretell the future. Thou-
sands of such "oracle bones" have been unearthed. The char-
acters on them, the oldest extant, date from about 1,400 B.C.
Virtually all principles for the formation of ideographs are
evident on the oracle bones, suggesting a long period of de-
velopment prior to 1,400 B.C. After that time, characters
underwent a continuing evolution of form that ended about
2,000 years ago with the development of the "square char-
acters" still used today. The following chart traces four char-
acters through this evolution and illustrates character styles
which a modern reader is likely to encounter. Dates are very
approximate.
INTRODUCIlON
two or more existing characters whose combined meanings
THE SIX CATEGORIES OF CHINESE CHARACTERS
provide a clue to the denotation of the compound. The* S imple
Characters traditionally have been classified into Six Cate- Compound resulting from the union of R (sun) and (tree)
gories according to how they were originally fabricated or how is R. The new character is pronounced 3-( tong), and signifies
they later accrued meaning. An understanding of these cate- ''east," taking its meaning from the "sun" rising from behind
gories can bring a sense of order to the beginning reader who a "tree" in the "east." A Simple compound is best learned
is likely to be bewildered by a forest of seemingly unrelated by relating its meaning to that of its constituent elements. Of
graphs. Moreover, the characteristics of the different types of the graphs classified by Ch2ng Ch'iao, 740 were Simple
hanja suggest varying learning strategies for their mastery. Compounds.
The Sung Dynasty scholar, Ch6ng Ch'iao, apportioned 24,235
Category Four: Phonetic Compounds
characters to the Six Categories, and his results provide an
About ninety percent of the characters of Ch2ng Ch'iao,
indication of the relative size of each category. (Kwtin, page
21,811 hanja, are Phonetic Compounds. These graphs can
2. See Bibliography.)
be characterized as semi-ideographic and semi-phonetic since
Category One: Simple Pictographs
each is composed of a semantic element which furnishes a hint
Simple Pictographs were the first type of character to the general meaning of the compound and a phonetic
fabricated by the ancient Chinese. They picture objects, such element which provides a direct clue to its pronunciation.
as tree,*. The trunk, branches and roots of a tree can be seen The phonetic clue in the vast majority of Sino-Korean char-
even in this modern form of the character. Another Simple acters is a significant potential mnemonic aid but is widely
Pictograph is (sun). This stylized character was originally regarded as of limited value. Chinese lexicography obscures
round, and the line in its center represented rays of sunshine. the phonetic relationships among characters, and some
Only 608 of the characters classified by Cheng Ch'iao are Phonetic Compounds which share an identical phonetic ele-
Simple Pictographs, but they are important because many of ment have differing readings either because they were not
them are the building blocks from which other hanja are made. originally homophonous or because their pronunciations
A Simple Pictograph is easily learned by associating its diverged during centuries of phonetic and dialectic
shape and meaning. evolution. Nevertheless, it is likely that the phonetic
Category Two: Simple Diagrams clue is underexploited rather than overexploited by students
of hanja .
Simple Diagrams were among the earliest characters made
and depict relationships for which no picture can readily be Category Five: Derived Meanings
drawn. Two common examples are I: (up) and (down). The
Derived Meanings originally belonged to one of the first
diagrammatic nature of this pair is readily apparent. Simple
four categories of characters. The evolution of Chinese gen-
Diagrams are best learned by associating shape and meaning.
erated a need to assign abstract meanings to characters with
Ch$ng Ch'iao allotted 107 of his characters to this category.
concrete denotations. Graphs of this type took on abstract
Category Three: Simple Compounds meanings but maintained their original denotation as well. An
A subsequent development in the history of characters, Sim- example is 9,ori ginally a Simple Pictograph of a man sitting
ple Compounds are truly ideographic. They were made from with crossed legs. Its derived meanings are "exchange, com-
INTRODUrnON
INTRODUCTlON
municate, intercourse, mix, join." This leap in meaning is characters into available selections of written Korean . The
comprehensible to anyone who has watched old Korean
vocabulary words accompanying each character in this book
gentlemen sit cross legged by the hour and "communicate"
can also supply a measure of meaningful context. The 900
with cronies. Chtng Ch'iao assigned 372 of his characters to
middle school characters in the appendix can be useful
this category. Its characters are best learned by relating their
because the most common and frequently used characters
original and derived meanings. appear in this list in the order they are first learned by Korean
Category Six: Arbitrary Meanings pupils.
Early attention to radicals, the 214 characters under which
Characters of this type also belonged to one of the first four
categories and took on additional denotations, but they sur- all others are listed in hanja dictionaries, is recommended for
rendered their original meanings altogether. An example all. Familiarity with the radicals is requisite to the full use
is jff , a Simple Pictograph of a growing stalk of grain. Other of a dictionary, and many radicals are numbered among the
characters possessed the same meaning, but there was no discrete graphs which comprise all others. The radicals can
character for "to come," which was pronounced the same as be found in the radical index of this handbook.
% . As a homophone, % was pressed into service to denote A student of hacia will find it valuable to develop the habit
"to come" and has maintained only that meaning for millenia. of estimating to which of the Six Categories a target character
Graphs of this category account for 598 of the characters of belongs since this will enable him to choose an appropriate
ChSng Ch'iao. They are best learned arbitrarily. learning strategy for it. Consult the preceding section of the
Introduction for suggestions on learning strategies for each of
the Six Categories of Chinese characters.
HINTS ON LEARNING IiANJA
The vast majority of characters, perhaps ninety percent of
all hanja, belong to the Phonetic Compound category. Each
There is no royal road to learning characters, but the task
graph of this type mntains an internal clue to its own pro-
is not as difficult as it may appear, either. The sheer number
nunciation. One beginning student schooled himself to look
of hanja is daunting; large character dictionaries may run to
for this internal phonetic clue, and, on a quiz, successfully
50,000 entries. But no one need learn anything like this ridic-
matched readings to eleven of thirteen Phonetic Compounds
ulous number, and fewer than 300 discrete graphs compose all
he had not previously encountered. The student will be well
others. A study in Taiwan showed that the most common 400
advised to make it a practice to estimate the reading of a target
characters in use there comprised fully seventy-three percent
character, whether newly-encountered or unrecalled, by
of all written material. (DeFrancis, page xix.)
assigning to it the pronunciation of its major component
The learning of Chinese characters will unavoidably entail
elements.
some memorization. Homemade flash cards and repeated
A forthcoming handbook by the present editor will contain
writing of characters can be valuable memorization aids. Any-
some 2,000 characters arranged in sets. Each graph in a set
thing, including hanja , is easier to learn when approached as
contains the same phonetic element and shares an identical
part of a meaningful context. Those already participating in
or similar reading as well. The mnemonic value of a set of
a Korean language program can easily meld specific informa-
characters which both look and sound alike can be appreciated
tion about the 1,800 Basic Characters into their language
by perusing the following chart.
materials. Those undertaking independent study can meld
16