Writing systems

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 3 introduces the history of writing in Korean and Japanese, which involves borrowing of the Chinese script and syntax and development of different writing systems more suitable to the morphosyntax and phonology of the two languages. Several methods of adapting Chinese characters to write texts (e.g., by changing word order and adding auxiliary elements to mark grammatical functions) were attempted by Koreans and shared with Japanese. The Japanese developed syllabic phonographic scripts, i.e., Hiragana and Katakana, by the 10th century by simplifying Chinese characters and established a writing system in which both the Chinese and phonographic characters are used. The Koreans stayed closer to the authentic Chinese writing until they invented an alphabetic phonographic script Hangŭl in the 15th century, which allowed Korean texts to fully represent Korean morphosyntax and phonology. In principle, Korean texts are written solely in Hangŭl without mixing Chinese characters today.