Is Korean a syllabic alphabet or an alphabetic syllabary

Abstract

This article supplies a critical overview of Korean with respect to writing system, orthography, phonology, and morphology as well as the role of vowels for the purpose of clarifying inconsistently used terms in the literature. An inaccurate terminology may plague interpretations and conclusions drawn from research studies. The Korean writing system is unique in that it relies on the alphabetic principle but the visual representation and processing unit are syllable oriented. According to Rogers [(1995). Optimal orthographies. In I. Taylor and D. R. Olson (eds), Scripts and Literacy. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 45–58], an optimal writing system should be easily acquired by the beginning reader and efficient for the skilled reader. These criteria arguably are met for Korean Hangul. It is argued that Korean is best viewed as an alphabetic syllabary or alphasyllabary rather than as a syllabic alphabet. Supporting evidence for this perspective is provided.