Hangul Syllable Ryek

In a Korean input method, type ㄹ, then ㅖ, then ㅋ. The input method puts ㄹ in the opening consonant position, ㅖ as the vowel, and ㅋ as the final consonant, then displays the parts together as one square Hangul syllable block. A Latin-only keyboard will not compose it.

What does 롘 mean?

It is one Korean syllable; the word around it gives the meaning. The Unicode label “RYEK” is generated from the component jamo names. It labels the parts; it does not translate the syllable into English.

The Sejong Sillok, the Joseon royal chronicle, records Hangul’s creation in 1443. Hunminjeongeum Haerye, a book explaining the new letters and their design, followed in 1446. Hangul was designed for Korean speech that Chinese characters then in use did not represent well, with the aim of making writing easier to learn. The script also had names such as jeongeum, eonmun, and gukmun; records use Hangeul in the 1910s, and the name spread more widely after 1928. Korean writing also used Hangul alongside Hanja, Chinese characters used for Korean. Unified Hangeul spelling rules were announced in 1933 and revised in 1988, during a shift toward Hangul-only writing.