Hangul syllable ddalb

As of 2026, 딻 has no established standalone Korean word meaning.

The label ddalb describes its jamo—Hangul's letter pieces: tense ㄸ, vowel ㅏ, and final ㄼ. That recipe shows how the block is assembled, not a separate definition; any lexical meaning would depend on the surrounding Korean text.

How did Hangul develop?

Hangul is a Korean writing system built from reusable letter blocks.

King Sejong created Hangul in 1443; the 1446 book Hunminjeongeum explained its purpose and principles. It addressed a practical barrier: Chinese characters did not fit Korean speech neatly, and learning to write through them was inaccessible to many people.

Hangul's public role shifted: it became an official national writing system in 1894 and lost that status under Japanese rule in 1910. Earlier Korean writing practices—Idu, Gugyeol, and Hyangchal—used Chinese characters to represent Korean. They give context for Hangul's emergence; 딻 follows Hangul's own letter-block design. Later preservation and spelling work helped restore Hangul's public use.

Why does 딻 look different or disappear in a font?

Different Hangul fonts draw the same block with different proportions and placement.

The outlines, sizes, and positions of its parts can vary by font without changing the character. If 딻 appears as a box or blank, the active font lacks this glyph; a font with Hangul coverage can display it.