Hangul Syllable Taes

It is not a standalone Korean word. The block read as taes packs initial ㅌ, vowel ㅐ, and final ㅅ, called 받침, into one square. The jamo supply the sound; the surrounding word supplies the meaning.

Hangul was completed in 1443 and publicly promulgated in 1446 to give Korean an easier, more efficient writing system than Chinese characters. So 탯 was not invented as a symbol with its own definition; it is one combinable block in that system, alongside its jamo ᄐ, ᅢ, and ᆺ.

Its relatives are the other Hangul blocks, not pictures or icons. No independent pictorial, religious, political, or chat reading for 탯 surfaced in the sources checked as of 2026.

Why is 탯 in 탯줄?

The ㅅ marks a compound spelling, not a symbol meaning. Korean orthography lists 탯줄 among examples of 사이시옷, the extra ㅅ written in certain compounds. The whole word 탯줄 means “umbilical cord”; 탯 alone does not carry that definition.

When you meet 탯 in text, read the full word first. Treating the lone block as a reaction or pictogram misses the grammar that put the final ㅅ there.

How do I type 탯?

Use a Korean IME and enter the jamo in order. On the standard two-set Dubeolsik keyboard, press X for ㅌ, O for ㅐ, then T for ㅅ: x-o-t. The IME fuses them into 탯; copy it from the palette above for one-off use.

Typing the parts as 탯 does not make a new meaning. Unicode treats that decomposed jamo string and the precomposed 탯 as equivalent forms, although programs can still differ in storage, selection, or display.