Yetgeul › Korea
Hunminjeongeum (The Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People)訓民正音
The book in which King Sejong made the twenty-eight letters and set down why he made them and how they are used. It carries the royal preface, which opens “The speech sounds of our country differ from those of China,” together with the Explanation of the Making of the Letters, which sets out how the letters were formed. Nowhere else in the world is there a case of the maker of a script setting down its principles in his own hand.
The whole of the Haerye edition, nine chapters, has been translated (two chapters of the Yeui, six of the Haerye, and one preface by Jeong Inji). The Korean letters and the old Korean words are part of the original, so even the tone marks are left as they are. The passage in brackets at the end of the 例義 (漢音齒聲…) is not in the Haerye edition but only in the vernacular version; it is in the source text, so it is left as it is. The three graphs 「訓民正音」 of the title at the very end of the volume were taken out.
Explanations and Examples
- Jeong Inji’s preface鄭麟趾序 · 6 passages · 558 Chinese characters
- Examples of the letters in use用字例 · 1 passages · 254 Chinese characters
- Explanation of combining the letters合字解 · 5 passages · 608 Chinese characters
- Explanation of the final sounds終聲解 · 3 passages · 423 Chinese characters
- Explanation of the medial sounds中聲解 · 3 passages · 232 Chinese characters
- Explanation of the initial sounds初聲解 · 2 passages · 150 Chinese characters
- Explanation of the making of the letters制字解 · 11 passages · 2,168 Chinese characters
Text and Principles
- Examples and meanings例義 · 2 passages · 340 Chinese characters
- The royal preface御製序 · 1 passages · 54 Chinese characters