Look a little closer
Unlike scripts whose shapes changed without a surviving design record, Hangeul has a document explaining who created it, why and according to what principles. King Sejong created 28 letters in 1443, and the 1446 Hunminjeongeum Haerye described their design and use.
Five basic consonants were modeled on the shapes or positions of speech organs during articulation. The explanations connect ㄱ with the tongue root at the throat, ㄴ with the tongue touching the upper gum, ㅁ with the lips, ㅅ with the teeth and ㅇ with the throat.
Related sounds were represented by adding strokes to basic forms. A sound produced at the same place with stronger aspiration could receive a systematically expanded letter. Visual resemblance therefore signals a relationship in pronunciation.
The basic vowels began with a dot for heaven, a horizontal stroke for earth and a vertical stroke for humanity. Arranging and combining these elements generated additional vowels. The original dot later changed in form, but traces of the combinational system remain.
Letters are arranged into square syllable blocks rather than written only as a flat sequence. Individual symbols represent sound units, while initial consonant, vowel and possible final consonant share one block that displays the structure of a Korean syllable.
Calling Hangeul scientific is most precise when it refers to these documented design choices rather than vague praise. Observation of speech organs, systematic stroke addition, vowel combination and syllable blocks make relationships between shape and sound unusually explicit.
