The Organic Principle of the International Korean Phonetic Alphabet

Based on the articulatory phonetic (or organic) principle, the Korean alphabet of 28 letters as invented by King Sejong in 1443 is not only systematic and scientifically oriented but also easy to learn and use in everyday life of the Korean people. The International Korean Phonetic Alphabet was devised by the present writer in 1971 by applying the organic principle much more extensively. Accordingly, the IKPA symbols are just as simple and easy to loam and memorize as the Korean alphabet, and at the same time they are much more consistent and logical than the IPA symbols which, having been derived mainly from Roman and Greek letters, are unsystematic mass of letters except in one respect, i.e., retroflex symbols. This paper describes the organic principles exploited in devising the International Korean Phonetic Alphabet and assesses its advantages.