Hunminjeongeum

Hunminjeongeum is also the original name for Hangul.

Hunminjeongeum
Korean name
Hangul	훈민정음 (modern Korean) / 훈민져ᇰᅙᅳᆷ (original name)
Hanja	訓民正音
Revised Romanization	Hunminjeong(-)eum
McCune–Reischauer	Hunminjŏngŭm

Hunminjeongeum (lit. The Correct/Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People) is a document describing an entirely new and native script for the Korean language. The script was initially named after the publication, but later came to be known as hangul. It was created so that the common people illiterate in hanja could accurately and easily read and write the Korean language. Its supposed publication date, October 9 1446, is now Hangul Day in South Korea.

Content

The publication is written in Classical Chinese and contains a preface, the alphabet letters (jamo), and brief descriptions of their corresponding sounds. It is later supplemented by a longer document called Hunminjeongeum Haerye. To distinguish it from its supplement, Hunminjeongeum is sometimes called the "Samples and Significance Edition of Hunminjeongeum" (훈민정음예의본; 訓民正音例義本).

The Classical Chinese (Hanzi/Hanja) of the Hunminjeongeum has been partly translated into Middle Korean. This translation is found together with Worinseokbo, and is called the Hunminjeongeum Eonhaebon.

The first paragraph of the document reveals King Sejong's motivation for creating hangul:

• Classical Chinese (Original):

國之語音
異乎中國
與文字不相流通
故愚民 有所欲言
而終不得伸其情者多矣
予爲此憫然
新制二十八字
欲使人人易習便於日用"耳"(矣)

• Mix of hanja (classical Chinese) and Hangul (Eonhaebon):^[1]

• Rendered into Korean written in Hangul (Eonhaebon):^[1]

• Translation:

“

Because the speech of this country is different from that of China, it [the spoken language] does not match the [Chinese] letters. Therefore, even if the ignorant want to communicate, many of them in the end cannot state their concerns. Saddened by this, I have [had] 28 letters newly made. It is my wish that every man may easily learn these letters and that [they] be convenient for daily use

”

.

Versions

The manuscript of the original Hunminjeongeum has two versions:

• Seven pages written in Classical Chinese, except where the Hangul letters are mentioned, as can be seen in the image at the top of this article. Three copies are left:
  • The one found at the beginning of the Haerye copy
  • The one included in Sejongsillok (세종실록; 世宗實錄; "The Sejong Chronicles"), Volume 113.
• The Eonhaebon, 36 pages, extensively annotated in hangul, with all hanja transcribed with small hangul to their lower right. The Hangul were written in both ink-brush and geometric styles. Four copies are left:
  • At the beginning of Worinseokbo (월인석보; 月印釋譜), an annotated Buddhist scripture
  • One preserved by Park Seungbin
  • One preserved by Kanazawa, a Japanese
  • One preserved by the Japanese Ministry of Royal Affairs

See also

• Korean language

References

1. ^ ^{a b} KTUG.or.kr. "Hunminjeongeum Eonhaebon". http://faq.ktug.or.kr/wiki/uploads/hunmin.uni. Retrieved 2006-07-14.  Linked from KTUG's Hanyang PUA Table Project. Based on data from The 21st Century Sejong Project

External links

• Scanned copy of the Eonhae
• The Hunmin Chongum Manuscript - UNESCO Memory of the World International Register web page
• National Memory Heritage Service provides the pictures of the book.