[Korea] Help With Hangul Please?

[Mitch]

I'm trying to understand the hangul for TaeKwon Do, 태권도, with a view to being able to write it myself.

I've found this site (http://www.lifeinkorea.com/language/korean.cfm?Subject=writing) which shows the characters that combine to form blocks and also shows how to draw them.

I can follow the construction of Tae, 태, t' and then the a and ee symbols run together.

I can also follow Do, 도, d and o with the o underneath the d character.

Where I'm having brain fade is with 권. There looks to be a k/g character with an o character underneath, but with the tail of the o pointing down not up? I think that's an n underneath it all, but I'm not sure what the other character is down the side?

Can anyone provide a characte by character translation of that section so I can then see how to draw it?

Much appreciated and thanks again to Thomas for his help so far.

Mitch

[Thomas]

Generally Korean should be read as a series of syllable instead of letters. Each syllable is written (and read) left to right, top to bottom. It has to generally goes consonant-vowel-consonant, with a maximum of 4 characters per syllable. Check out http://www.langintro.com/kintro/toc.htm for good info

Now,
태권도 (Taekwondo) would be written/read as:
태 = 타 (ta) + 이 (ee) making a compound vowel 애... with the sound "-ay as in way"
권= 구 (koo) + 어 (eoh - sounds like a soft "o" sound) + the "n" sound for Koo-eoh-n... kwon
도 = d + harder "o" sound.

[Mitch]

Many thanks Thomas, much appreciated:)

Off to find an online source for a caligraphy brush in the UK!

Mitch

[klaasb]

Yes, and actually tae is wrong. The hanja used by TKD doesn't mean hand. They should have used taek instead.

[Thomas]

Yes, and actually tae is wrong. The hanja used by TKD doesn't mean hand. They should have used taek instead.
Hmmm... I'm not the sharpest with the hanja so take this with a grain of salt...

跆拳道 (태권도 - Taekwondo)

I know the 拳 (권 - Kwon) character is defined online as "주먹 권"... fist (punching) and 道 (도 - do) as "길 도" or "way". I had presumed that 跆 (태 - Tae) meant foot or kicking. Online dictionary lists 跆 (태 - Tae) as 밟을 태 (Palp Ul Tae), my dictionary defines this as "to step on, tread on, trample". My dictionary also lists 태껸 (Tae Kkyeon) as a term for the "kicking and tripping art as a sport" which would seem to indicate a meaning of "kicking" for Tae.

I'd be curious to know more though!

[klaasb]

Hmmm... I'm not the sharpest with the hanja so take this with a grain of salt...

跆拳道 (태권도 - Taekwondo)

I know the 拳 (권 - Kwon) character is defined online as "주먹 권"... fist (punching) and 道 (도 - do) as "길 도" or "way". I had presumed that 跆 (태 - Tae) meant foot or kicking. Online dictionary lists 跆 (태 - Tae) as 밟을 태 (Palp Ul Tae), my dictionary defines this as "to step on, tread on, trample". My dictionary also lists 태껸 (Tae Kkyeon) as a term for the "kicking and tripping art as a sport" which would seem to indicate a meaning of "kicking" for Tae.

I'd be curious to know more though!

The TAE in taekwondo does indeed have the meaning you found. There is no hanja for the TAEK in taekkyeon. It is a pure Korean word.

My guess would be that the general used TAE because it does have something to do with feet. But it makes the hanja used for TKD a bit awkward to say the least.

When I said 'hand' in my previous post I actually meant 'foot'.