Hangul Syllable Goh

곻 is the older Korean word for “nose”; modern Korean uses 코.

A written example appears in Seokbo Sangjeol, a Korean text dated 1447.

The National Institute of Korean Language traces the elephant word from 고키리 (15th–19th centuries), through 코키리 (17th–19th centuries), to 코끼리 (20th century onward). It analyzes 고키리 as 곻 (“nose”) + 길- (the Korean stem meaning “long”) + -이 (a noun-forming ending). Here, final ㅎ adds a puff of air to the next ㄱ, shifting the first syllable from 고 to 코; a later change to the tighter, tense consonant ㄲ produced modern 코끼리.

Why does Hangul write 곻 as one block?

One block groups an initial consonant, a vowel, and a final consonant.

Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, was created in 1443; Hunminjeongeum, a guide explaining its principles, was published in 1446. It offered a simpler way to write Korean than older methods that adapted Chinese characters, with easier learning and everyday use as its aim.

Before Hangeul, methods such as Idu, Gugyeol, and Hyangchal used Chinese characters to record Korean. Those are earlier writing methods, not parts of 곻: this block combines ㄱ as its initial consonant, ㅗ as its vowel, and ㅎ as its final consonant.