Hangul syllable ssyu

It represents a Korean syllable, not a fixed message. 쓔 combines the tense consonant ㅆ and vowel ㅠ. In a Korean word, it contributes a sound while the whole word carries the meaning; alone, it usually reads as a fragment of Korean text. On a Korean Dubeolsik (two-set) keyboard, type it with Shift+T, then b.

A 1448 Middle Korean pronunciation dictionary, 동국정운, records the sequence 쓔ᇙ with a tone mark for the Korean reading of the Chinese character 術. A 1527 source gives another Middle Korean form. Together, these spellings show a historical pronunciation change.

Hangul began as a tool for Korean literacy

Hangul was created around 1443 and published in 1446 to make reading and writing Korean more accessible. Chinese characters and the systems for adapting them to Korean were difficult for many people to use. Hangul’s letters, called jamo, combine into syllable blocks that represent Korean sounds.

Hangul’s public status shifted across 1894, 1910 and 1945: it gained official national status in 1894, lost it under Japanese rule after 1910, and received renewed protection after 1945. Chinese characters used in Korean writing, called Hanja, and Korean methods for adapting them—Idu, Gugyeol and Hyangchal—are related earlier practices. Phags-pa, a Mongolian script, is a debated possible influence; Hangul’s syllable-block design is its own documented system.