Hangul syllable Cwi

Use a Korean IME: press c, then n, then l.

On the standard 2-set Dubeolsik layout, c is ㅊ; n and l are ㅜ and ㅣ, which the IME combines as ㅟ. If Korean input is off, those keys remain Latin letters.

Unicode also permits 취 as the canonical sequence of two separate Hangul letters, 취. NFC can compose them as 취, while NFD exposes the two parts; this matters when a search or program compares exact code-point sequences.

What does 취 mean by itself?

It has no single fixed meaning alone.

취 is one syllable, so the rest of its word supplies the meaning. It appears in 취미 (“hobby”), 취소 (“cancellation”), 취업 (“employment”), 취향 (“preference”), and 취하다 (“to take” or “become intoxicated”). Alone, it is a piece of Korean spelling, not a complete translation.

Why does 취 look like a square block?

Hangul arranges its letters into square syllable blocks.

Before Hangul, Korean writing used Chinese characters, with systems such as idu (이두), gugyeol (구결), and hyangchal (향찰) adapting those characters to write Korean speech or show how Chinese texts were read in Korean. Work on the new script culminated in 1443. In 1446, a proclamation called Hunminjeongeum (“Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People”) introduced it as an easier way to write Korean.

Early Hangul appeared in Buddhist and Confucian works; practical books and public information spread after the late 16th century, and Hangul became Korea’s official national writing system in 1894.