Hangul Syllable Mang

Its meaning depends on the Korean word around it.

Alone, 망 can mean a net or mesh (網), or keeping watch (望). In compounds, the net sense also names organized networks: 통신망 is a communications network; 감시망 is a surveillance net. These are different Korean words with the same Hangul syllable, so 망 alone cannot settle the translation.

In 1446, Hangul's design described building each syllable block from an initial consonant, a vowel, and an optional final consonant. 망 is built from ㅁ, ㅏ, and ㅇ. The net word uses the Hangul reading of Hanja 網—Chinese characters used to write Korean. The 1527 Korean vocabulary book Hunmong Jahoe records Middle Korean 마ᇰ for the net word.

What does 망 mean when someone sends it?

A one-character message is ambiguous; check the phrase.

망을 봐 줘 asks someone to keep watch; 창문에 망을 쳤어 describes putting up mesh; 통신망이 느려 says the communications network is slow.

Translate the word around 망, not the syllable alone. If a message contains only 망, ask for the sentence.