MANNAM Korean: Different Names for Hangeul

Hello, MANNAM friends!

The other day, I posted about Hangeul Day and I'm going to let you know more about Korean today.

This is a story about changing names of Korean letters.

I would like to share it with you.

When Han-geul was first invented, it was named 'Hoon Min Jung Um(훈민정음)' by King Sejong. It means "The true sound(letters) to be used to teach people". However, the noble people at that time did not welcome the advent of Han-geul, and since they were imbued with the view that China is the center of the world, they kept an attitude of despising Han-geul compared to Chinese characters and writings.

Therefore, Chinese characters and writings were called 'Jinseo(진서)-meaning true letters' whereas Han-geul was often called 'Unmun(언문)' And there are some views that Han-geul was called 'Amkul(암클)' because it was mainly used by women, or 'Ahatkul(아했글)' because it was only for the use of children who did not learned Chinese characters. However, we cannot confirm whether the names were actually used because there is no clear record of use of the names 'Amkul' or 'Ahatkul'.

During the civilization period, names like 'Jung Um(정음)', 'Gook Mun(국문)' were often used due to the high valuation of Han-geul, letters native to Korea, as people began to cherish national spirit. Joo Shi Kyung seems to be the first who named Korean letters 'Han-geul'. Joo Shi Kyung devoted himself to educating and studying Korean language and letters with great affection for them. He began to use terms such as 'Han Nara Gul(한나라글), Han Nara Mal(한나라말), Han Mal(한말)', and he changed the names of 'Bae Dal Mal Gul Mot Um(배달말글 몯음)' or 'Chosun O Kangsup Won(조선어 강습원)' to 'Han-geul Mo(한글모)', 'Han-geul Bae Got(한글배곧)', and he also wrote 'Han-geul Pul Iee(한글풀이)' for the children's magazine 'Aidle Boy(아이들보이)'(1913. 9) The name 'Han-geul' was generalized since then.

The source : The National Institute of the Korean Language