Hangul syllable 븈

It is one sound unit written as a block. Hangul jamo are the Korean alphabet’s consonant and vowel letters. In 븈, ㅂ starts the block, ㅠ sits below it as the vowel, and ㅋ closes it along the bottom.

How did Hangul begin?

Hangul was devised in 1443 and formally introduced in 1446. King Sejong’s court called the alphabet 훈민정음, usually translated “The Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People”; the work aimed to help people write spoken Korean.

The designers drew on Chinese phonology, a tradition of analyzing syllables into sound parts, to describe Korean syllables as an initial consonant, a vowel and a final consonant. Hangul letters represent sounds, but are grouped into blocks by syllable. Early uses included primers, practical books, translations of Confucian and Buddhist works, and literature. Hangul also recorded Korean readings of Chinese characters. In 1894, a decree made Korean the basis of laws and official orders, while allowing Chinese translation alongside.