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Article published In: Korean Linguistics
Vol. 20:2 (2024) ► pp.113–126

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Hangul — A hybrid orthography

 | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.

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Published online: 8 November 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/kl.00009.ogr
Abstract
Hangul is widely categorized as a classic example of a morphophonemic orthography, in which each morpheme receives a single spelling, even if its pronunciation varies from context to context. This paper makes the case that Hangul is in fact a hybrid orthography that adheres to a morphophonemic strategy for spelling consonants but adopts the conventions of a phonetic writing system for representing vowels. Various explanations for this arrangement are considered.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Two orthographies
    • 2.1A phonetic orthography
    • 2.2A morphophonemic orthography
  • 3.The hybrid character of Hangul
    • 3.1Vowel harmony
    • 3.2Epenthesis
    • 3.3‘Silent’ sounds
    • 3.4Contraction
    • 3.5Exceptions and irregularities
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (13)
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