Hangul Syllable Bwaegg

It is a Korean syllable; its word meaning depends on context.

Hangul is the Korean alphabet, and its component letters are called jamo. It groups consonants and vowels into syllable blocks. In 봮, ㅂ is the initial consonant, ㅙ the vowel, and ㄲ the final consonant. The Latin-letter name bwaegg identifies this syllable; a Korean word or sentence gives it a word meaning.

Where did Hangul syllable blocks come from?

They follow Hangul’s plan for writing Korean speech.

The earliest official record of Hunminjeongeum appears in the Sejong Annals in 1443. The Hunminjeongeum document from 1446 explained Hangul’s purpose and principles, how its letters combine, and how to use them. Korean was also written with Hanja—Chinese characters used in Korea—which did not directly represent Korean speech in the same way.

Older names for Hangul included jeongeum, eonmun, banjeol, gukmun, and gukseo. The name Hangeul appears in records from the early 1910s; in 1928, a public holiday took the name Hangeulnal. Hanja belongs to the history of writing in Korea, but it is not the visual ancestor of this Hangul block.

How do I type 봮?

Use a Korean IME and enter ㅂ, then ㅙ, then ㄲ.

An IME (input method editor) combines those component letters into one block. On a standard Korean two-set keyboard, enter ㅗ then ㅐ to form ㅙ.

Typeface designs can change the proportions and spacing of letters inside a Hangul block. The same text may therefore look slightly different across fonts.