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The vowels are based on sky, land, and human, which are regarded as the fundamental elements of the world according to Oriental philosophy. The basic vowels are composed of <., ㅡ, andㅣ>. The <.> represents the round shape of the sky and <ㅡ> represents the flat shape of the land, while <ㅣ> represents the standing shape of a human.

The vowels are based on these three characters, and they were made according to the principle of combination. For example, [.] and [ㅡ] are combined to make [ㅗ] or [ㅜ]. Also, [ㅣ] and [.] are combined to make [ㅏ] and [ㅓ].

Among the vowels, [ㅗ], [ㅏ], [ㅜ] and [ㅓ] are the original combined characters, while [ㅛ], [ㅑ], [ㅠ] and [ㅕ] are the secondary combined characters. The original combined characters

are based on the sound values assigned to [.](sky) and [ㅡ](land), while the secondary combined characters are made by adding the sound value of [ㅣ](human).
The ten vowel characters, their sound values and phonetic symbols are as follows.

The vowels can also be divided into positives and negatives.

In ancient Korean culture it was believed that things on the right hand side have a positive meaning, while things on the left are negative. For this reason, left-handedness was discouraged in traditional Korean society. In addition, things on top were viewed as bright and positive while things on the bottom were seen as dark and negative. This notion also serves to give words that are almost the same totally different connotations.? For example, regarding ‘밝다’(bright), ‘ㅏ’ represents a bright feeling. However, regarding ‘어둡다’(dark), ‘ㅓ’ and ‘ㅜ’ represent a dark feeling. Such feelings are even expressed in similar words. Among the words expressing the same colors, such a phrase as ‘파랗고 노란’ is used to express light blue and yellow, while such a phrase as ‘퍼렇고 누런’ is used to express dark blue and yellow. Knowing this will make it easier for students of Korean to understand why words that sound so much the same could have such different connotations.

<More>

The Origins of Hangeul & The Structure of Korean

The Making and Pronunciation of Beginning Consonants

The Making and Pronunciation of Vowels

The Principle and the Reading Method of Syllables