computer science

Korean language and computers

Korean language and computers is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Korean language and computers rather than just read about it. In short: The writing system of the Korean language is a syllabic alphabet of character parts (jamo) organized into character blocks representing syllables. The character parts cannot be written from left to right on the computer, as in many Western languages.

Key takeaways

Korean language and computers belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Korean language and computers to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Korean language and computers from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The writing system of the Korean language is a syllabic alphabet of character parts (jamo) organized into character blocks representing syllables. The character parts cannot be written from left to right on the computer, as in many Western languages. Every possible syllable in Korean would have to be rendered as syllabic blocks by a font, or each character part would have to be encoded separately. Unicode has both options; the character parts ㅎ (h) and ㅏ (a), and the combined syllable 하 (ha), are encoded.

Character encoding

In RFC 1557, a method known as ISO-2022-KR for seven-bit encoding of Korean characters in email was described. Where eight bits are allowed, EUC-KR encoding is preferred. These two encodings combine US-ASCII (ISO 646) with the South Korean standard KS X 1001:1992 (previously named KS C 5601:1987). Another character set, KPS 9566 (similar to KS X 1001), is used in North Korea. The international Unicode standard contains special characters for the Korean language in the Hangul phonetic system. Unicode supports two methods. The method used by Microsoft Windows is to have each of the 11,172 syllable combinations as code and a preformed font character. The other method encodes letters (jamos) and lets the software combine them correctly. The Windows method requires more font memory but allows better shapes, since it is complicated to create stylistically correct combinations (preferable for documents). Another possibility is stacking a sequence of medial(s) (jungseong) and a sequence of final(s) (jongseong) or a Middle Korean pitch mark (if needed) on top of the sequence of initial(s) (choseong) if the font has medial and final jamo with zero-width spacing inserted to the left of the cursor or caret, thus appearing in the right place below (or to the right of) the initial. If a syllable has a horizontal medial (ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ or ㅡ), the initial will probably appear further left in a complete syllable than in preformed syllables due to the space that must be reserved for a vertical medial, making aesthetically poor what may be the only way to display Middle Korean hangul text without resorting to images, romanization, replacement of obsolete jamo or non-standard encodings. However, most current fonts do not support this. The Unicode standard also has attempted to create a unified CJK character set which can represent Chinese (Hanzi) and the Japanese (Kanji) and Korean (Hanja) derivatives of this script through Han unification, which does not discriminate by language or region in rendering Chinese characters if the typographic traditions have not resulted in major differences in what a character looks like. Han unification has been criticized.

Hangul type, Korean typewriters

While the first Korean typewriter (한글 타자기, Hangeul tajagi) is unclear, the first moa-sseugi style (모아쓰기, the form of Hangul where consonants and vowels come together to form a syllabic block; The standard form of Hangul used today) typewriter is thought to be first invented by Korean-American gyopo Lee Won-Ik (이원익) in 1914, where he modified a Smith Premier 10 typewriter's type into Hangul. Alongside Lee Won-ik's, Horace Grant Underwood's 1913 US-patented Hangul type, the Underwood, and another Korean-American Kim Jun-Sung's Hangul type are also brought up when discussing the first Moa-Sugi type. In 1929, the first Dubeolsik typewriter was made by Song Ki-Ju, a student studying abroad in the US, gaining attention from the Donga ilbo; however, it no longer exists. In 1934 he showcased another type, which was a modification of the Underwood portable. Song's 1934 typewriter is stored in the Hangul museum as the oldest existing Korean typewriter. The invention led to the development of other typewriters in 1945 by Kim Joon Sung and 1950 by Kong Byung Woo. In 1949, eye doctor Kong Byung-Woo made the first practical Hangul type able to write both in Moa-Sugi and horizontally.

Modern text input

On a Korean computer keyboard, text is typically entered by pressing a key for the appropriate jamo; the operating system creates each composite character on the fly. Depending on the Input method editor and keyboard layout, double consonants can be entered by holding the shift key. When all jamo making up a syllabic block have been entered, the user may initiate a conversion to hanja (or other special characters) using a keyboard shortcut or interface button; South Korean keyboards have a key for this. Subsequent semi-automated hanja conversion is supported in varying degrees by word processors. When using a keyboard with another language, most operating systems require the user to type with an original Korean keyboard layout; the most common is Dubeolsik. In other languages, such as Japanese, text can be entered on non-native keyboards with romanization. Operating systems like Linux support romaja input; typing "seonggye" results in Korean: 성계. In this configuration, ㄲ is obtained by "gg" rather than ⇧ Shift+G. This allows keying "jasanGun" to obtain Korean: 자산군, instead of keying "jasangun" (which would provide Korean: 자상운).

Before Korean division Korean text input is related to Korean typewriters (타자기) before computers. according to Jang Bong Seon, Horace Grant Underwood made a Korean typewriter during the first decade of the 20th century. In 1927, Song Ki Joo invented the first Dubeolsik typewriter in Chicago.

After division South Korea originally had a Nebeolsik standard, but Dubeolsik became standard in 1985.

Hanja Some Korean fonts do not include hanja, and word processors do not allow a user to specify which font to use as a fallback for any hanja in a text; each hanja sequence must be manually formatted for a desired font.

Pitch marks and vertical text Vertical text is supported poorly (or not at all) by HTML and most word processors. This is not an issue for modern Korean, which is usually written horizontally; until the second half of the 20th century, however, Korean was often written vertically. Fifteenth-century texts written in hangul had pitch marks to the left of syllables which are included in Unicode, although current fonts often do not support them.

Programs Programs designed for Korean language-related use include:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Korean language and computers

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Korean language and computers claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Korean language and computers before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Korean language and computers ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Korean language and computers

In research: Korean language and computers appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Korean language and computers in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Korean language and computers is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics CJK input methods, Character encoding, Communications in Korea, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Korean language and computers outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Korean language and computers in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Korean language and computers means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Korean language and computers out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Korean language and computers in simple terms?

Why does Korean language and computers matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Korean language and computers?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Korean language and computers.