Idu script
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox Korean name Template:Korean writing Template:Table Hanzi
Idu (Template:Korean) was a writing system developed during the Three Kingdoms period of Korea (57 BC-668 AD) to write the Korean language using Chinese characters ("hanja"). It used Hanja to represent both native Korean words and grammatical morphemes as well as Chinese loanwords. The script, which was developed by Buddhist monks, made it possible to record Korean words through their equivalent meaning or sound in Chinese. It was used primarily to write official documents and the imperial examinations from 958 AD-1894 AD.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The term idu may refer to various systems of representing Korean phonology through hanja, which were used from the early Three Kingdoms to Joseon periods. In this sense, it includes hyangchal,<ref name=Oxford>Template:Cite book</ref> the local writing system used to write vernacular poetry<ref name=Oxford /> and gugyeol writing. Its narrow sense only refers to idu proper<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or the system developed in the Goryeo (918–1392), and first referred to by name in the Jewang ungi.
HistoryEdit
The Idu script developed during the Three Kingdoms period of Korea between 57 BC-668 AD. It was used for writing official documents and the imperial examinations from 958 AD-1894 AD. The Idu script was used to write both native Korean expressions as well as Chinese characters (Hanja) that still retained their original meaning and Chinese pronunciation (loanwords). The basic words were commonly Chinese in origin, written in Hanja, and pronounced approximately in the same way as in Chinese (on). However unlike Classical Chinese, the Idu script also incorporated Korean words and Korean grammatical morphemes represented using Hanja that only retained their pronunciation but not their original meaning. They were used purely for their phonetic values to represent Korean expressions. The Idu script was written in Korean grammatical word order.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Aside from writing official documents and imperial examinations, the Idu script was also used to clarify Chinese government documents written in Classical Chinese so that they could be understood by Korean readers,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> to teach Koreans Classical Chinese, and to translate Chinese documents such as the Ming legal code and the Essentials of agriculture and sericulture (Nongsan jiyao) (ordered by the King Taejong in 1414).<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>
ExampleEdit
The following example is from the 1415 book Yangjam Gyeongheom Chwaryo (Template:Korean, lit. 'Collected Summary of the Experiences of Silkworm Cultivation').
| Literary Chinese | 蠶陽物大惡水故食而不飮 |
|---|---|
| Idu transcription | 蠶Template:Grey陽物Template:Grey水氣Template:Grey厭却桑葉Template:Grey喫破Template:Grey飮水Template:Grey |
| Old Korean | Template:Script/Korean |
| Modern Korean | 누에Template:Grey 양물Template:Grey, 물기Template:Grey 싫어해, 뽕잎Template:Grey 먹Template:Grey, 물을 마시지 Template:Grey. |
| Meaning | Silkworm is Yang (positive) animal, it doesn't like water's gi, so it eats mulberry leaves but does not drink water. |