What 료 means
The whole word tells you which sense -료 carries. In 수업료, -료 means a class fee; in 조미료, it refers to seasoning.
Why does 료 become 요 at the start of a word?
In South Korean standard spelling, word-initial 료 is written 요. In words of Chinese origin, the initial-sound rule changes 료 to 요 at the beginning: 요금 (“fee”) starts with 요, while 수업료 keeps 료 at the end. The spelling depends on the syllable’s position.
Worth knowing
- King Sejong’s Hangul was created in 1443 as a simple way to write Korean; a 1446 book explained its purpose and principles. Those mark the writing system’s history; 료 is one of its syllables.
Questions people ask
1Why can 료 fail an exact text match?
It can. Unicode can store the syllable as one precomposed character, 료, or as its equivalent consonant-and-vowel sequence, 료, so raw strings may compare differently. Normalize both to the same Unicode form, such as NFC (the composed form), before comparing.
How to type 료
Windows (Word)
Alt+XType B8CC, then Alt+X to get 료.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “hangul syllable ryo”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType b8cc, then Enter or Space.
HTML
료CSS
\B8CCCodes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
료
HTML hex
료
CSS content
content: "\B8CC";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%EB%A3%8C
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.