Araea (letter)
| Araea | |
|---|---|
| ㆍ | |
 | |
| Usage | |
| Writing system | Hangul |
| Type | Alphabet |
| Sound values | [ʌ]; [ɐ]; [ɔ] |
| In Unicode | U+318D, U+119E |
| Other | |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 아래아 |
| RR | araea |
| MR | araea |
Araea (letter: ㆍ; name: 아래아) is an archaic vowel letter of the Korean alphabet, Hangul. It was associated with either an open-mid back unrounded vowel ([ʌ]), an open back rounded vowel ([ɒ]), or an open-mid back rounded vowel ([ɔ]). While the letter is no longer used in modern orthographies for the Korean language, it is used for the Jeju language.[1][2]
Its name, araea (아래아; lit. lower a), is derived from the fact that it is an a sound (like ㅏ) but placed on the bottom of charts for the learning of Hangul (panjŏl).[3]
The letter disappeared from use in two stages: first with its merger into ㅡ in non-initial syllables around by the 16th century, and second with the merger of ㅡ with ㅏ in initial syllables by the 18th century.[4][5] Still, it continued to be a part of orthography even into the 20th century, long after its sound had disappeared from the language.[1] The colonial government's 1912 Hangul Orthography for Use in Elementary Schools and 1921 Summary of the Hangul Orthography for Use in Elementary Schools allowed its continued use for Sino-Korean vocabulary. However, the 1930 Hangul Orthography prohibited it.[6] The Korean Language Society's 1933 Unified Hangul Orthography also called for its prohibition; its use largely ended with this orthography.[7][1][8] Its role has since been replaced with either ㅡ or ㅏ. Still, even into the 1960s, there were stores in South Korea that advertised cigarettes (now spelled "담배") as "담ᄇᆡ".[1] The letter is still used for the Jeju language, where it is pronounced [ɔ] or [ʌ].[2]
Computing codes
[edit]| Preview | ㆍ | ᆞ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unicode name | HANGUL LETTER ARAEA | HANGUL JUNGSEONG ARAEA | ||
| Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex |
| Unicode | 12685 | U+318D | 4510 | U+119E |
| UTF-8 | 227 134 141 | E3 86 8D | 225 134 158 | E1 86 9E |
| Numeric character reference | ㆍ |
ㆍ |
ᆞ |
ᆞ |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d 홍윤표 2019, p. 74.
- ^ a b Lee & Ramsey 2011, p. 156.
- ^ 홍윤표 2019, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Lee & Ramsey 2011, pp. 158, 262–263.
- ^ 강신항; 유창균. 자모 (字母). Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Academy of Korean Studies. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
- ^ King 1997, pp. 239–240.
- ^ Ahn 2018, p. 270.
- ^ Lee & Ramsey 2011, p. 263.
Sources
[edit]- 홍윤표 (2019-12-13). 한글 [Hangul] (in Korean) (Ebook ed.). 세창출판사. ISBN 978-89-8411-924-6.
- Ahn, Pyong-hi (2018) [2007]. Studies in Hunminjeongeum. Translated by Jung, Ha-yun (English ed.). National Hangeul Museum. ISBN 979-11-89438-00-5.
- Kim-Renaud, Young-Key, ed. (1997). The Korean Alphabet: Its History and Structure. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1989-7.
- King, Ross. "Experimentation with Han'gŭl in Russia and the USSR, 1914–1937". In Kim-Renaud (1997).
- Lee, Ki-Moon; Ramsey, S. Robert (2011). A History of the Korean Language. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511974045.
External links
[edit]
The dictionary definition of ㆍ at Wiktionary
