The Hunmin Jeongeum Haerye, the treatise introducing the principles behind the Korean alphabet written by its inventor King Sejong in 1446, explains that this glyph was derived from the "outline of the root of the tongue blocking the throat" (presumably in profile of a person facing left), reflecting the velar nature of the consonant /k/.
Gari Ledyard proposes that Sejong derived ㄱ from the 'Phags-pa letterꡂ(k) by dropping the interior box shape. Ledyard gives evidence that Sejong was inspired by 'Phags-pa for the basic glyph forms, although he changed the shapes of the letters drastically in order to enhance the simplicity and rationality of his script, and the ultimate shape of the letters may indeed have been influenced by that of the speech organs (Ledyard 1997).
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Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "between vowels, after nasals and liquids" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.IPA(key): [ɡ]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "after stops" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.IPA(key): [k͈]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "before stops, or word-finally" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.IPA(key): [k̚]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "before nasals" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.IPA(key): [ŋ]
Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "next to <span class=\"IPA\">/h/</span>" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E.IPA(key): [kʰ]
기역 (giyeok), the first jamo (letter) of hangeul, the Korean writing system.
Usage notes
In contemporary Korean, when ㄱ (g) is placed on the side, it curves as in the examples of 기 (gi), 길 (gil), 김 (gim), 경찰 (gyeongchal), 건강 (geon'gang), 건물 (geonmul), 게임 (geim), 개 (gae), 검정색 (geomjeongsaek), 안경 (an'gyeong), etc. However, when ㄱ (g) is placed on top or bottom, it retains its original look, as in the examples of 고려 (goryeo), 관심 (gwansim), 공부 (gongbu), 구상 (gusang), 권력 (gwollyeok), 금발 (geumbal), 금 (geum), 금융 (geumyung), 박다 (bakda), 먹다 (meokda), 죽다 (jukda), etc. This was done in the modern era to make the character look more balanced.
