Some Characteristics of Hanmal and Hangul from the viewpoint of Processing Hangul Information on Computers

In this paper, we discussed three cases to see the effects of the characteristics of Hangul writing system. In applications such as computer Hangul shorthands for ordinary people and pushbuttons with Hangul characters engraved, we found that there is much advantage in using Hangul. In case of Hangul Transliteration, we discussed some problems which are related with the characteristics of Hangul writing system. Shorthands use 3-set keyboards in England, America, and Korea. We saw how ordinary people can do computer Hangul shorthands, whereas only experts can do computer shorthands in other countries. Specifically, the facts that 1) Hangul characters are grouped into syllables (syllabic blocks) and that 2) there is already a 3-set Hangul keyboard for ordinary people allow ordinary people to do computer Hangul shorthands without taking special training as with English shorthands. This study was done by the author under the codename of 'Sejong 89'. In contrast like QWERTY or DVORAK, a 2-set Hangul keyboard cannot be used for shorthands. In case of English pushbuttons, one digit is associated with only one character. However, by engraving only syllable-initial characters on the phone pushbuttons, we can associate one Hangul "syllable" with one digit. Therefore, for a given number of digits, we can associate longer words or more meaningful words in Hangul than in English. We discussed the problems of the Hangul Transliteration system proposed by South Korea and suggested their solutions, if available. 1) We are incorrectly using the framework of transcription for transliteration. To solve the problem, the author suggests that a) we include all complex characters in the transliteration table, and that b) we specify syllable-initial and -final characters separately in the table. 2) The proposed system cannot represent independent characters and incomplete syllables. 3) The proposed system cannot distinguish between syllable-initial and -final characters.