Hangul syllable cep

It writes one Korean syllable. Hangul jamo (Korean consonant and vowel letters) form the block; nearby text supplies its word-level meaning. Fonts vary its strokes, not its identity.

Hangul let people write Korean directly. Earlier, hyangchal, idu and gugyeol adapted Chinese characters to Korean, making literacy harder for people who could not read Chinese. A court record notes new letters in December 1443; the explanatory book Hunminjeongeum Haerye was completed in 1446.

In Joseon, Hangul was called eonmun; amkeul (“women’s letters”) was a disparaging label linked to women’s use. In the late 19th century, gungmun (“national writing”) accompanied its wider public and official role. Hangul later became the standard name.