By Andrew Klein

Dedicated to my wife, who loves languages and understands their infinite potential.

I. Introduction: The Alphabet That Was Designed

Most writing systems in human history evolved over centuries, shaped by countless anonymous users. But one major writing system is the exception.

It did not evolve. It was designed.

In 1443, King Sejong the Great of the Joseon dynasty created Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음) — “The Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People.” In 1446, it was officially promulgated.

Sejong’s motivation was not academic. It was compassionate. He saw that the common people could not read the complex Chinese characters used by the elite. Only a small number of educated Koreans could master them. The vast majority were illiterate, unable to express themselves or defend themselves against injustice.

So Sejong created a script that was:

· Easy to learn — “a wise man can learn it in a morning; a fool in ten days”

· Based on the shape of speech organs — the basic consonants mimic the shape of the mouth, tongue, and throat when producing the sounds

· Composed of 28 letters — 17 consonants and 11 vowels

· Philosophically grounded — three basic vowels symbolise Heaven, Earth, and Humanity

Sejong’s creation was an act of radical compassion — a democratisation of knowledge. He imagined a society where everyone, regardless of status or gender, could read, write, and communicate freely.

Hunminjeongeum proves that language can be a tool of liberation, not a mechanism of control.

II. The Hyoid Bone: The Physical Basis of Sound

Sejong observed the shape of the mouth to design his letters. But language does not begin in the mouth. It begins deeper — in a small, horseshoe-shaped bone in the throat.

The hyoid bone is the attachment point for muscles of the tongue, larynx, and pharynx. Without it, complex speech would not be possible.

In 1989, a complete Neanderthal hyoid bone was discovered in the Kebara Cave in Israel — dated to approximately 60,000 years ago. Its structure was found to be almost identical to that of modern humans.

Because the internal structure of bone reflects the mechanical loads it experiences in life, this discovery strongly suggests that Neanderthals were anatomically capable of fully modern speech.

The relationship between the hyoid and language is not one-way:

· The hyoid shaped the ability to make sounds.

· The sounds — and the need to communicate — shaped the evolution of the bone.

It is a dance. A feedback loop. A pretzel.

III. Language as a Weapon of Politics

Hunminjeongeum shows language’s liberating power. But language can also be used as a tool of control.

3.1 Weasel Words: The Politics of Ambiguity

A 2026 study of Australia’s Voice Referendum found that the outcome was shaped by linguistic devices — ambiguity, metaphor, and framing. Political discourse uses weasel words to manufacture consent or opposition.

Weasel words are the tools politicians use to obscure terrible realities. They make you think you understand something when in fact you have only heard a carefully crafted shell.

3.2 The Mistranslation of “Jihad”

No single word has been more weaponised than “Jihad.” It has been widely mistranslated as “holy war” and framed as “inherently wrong, dangerous, and evil.” This mistranslation risks demonising an entire group of people and treating every use of the word as suspicious.

In reality, “Jihad” has a rich and complex meaning in Islam, including the inner spiritual struggle. Yet Western media has reduced it to a synonym for violence.

3.3 Euphemisms and Orwellian Language

· “Collateral damage” — a phrase that makes civilian deaths acceptable.

· “Attrition” — a word that makes the destruction of cities sound like a business process.

· “Welfare dependency” — a linguistic frame imported from the US to justify welfare cuts.

These euphemisms normalise suffering. They strip language of meaning — and when language is stripped of meaning, truth itself begins to collapse.

IV. Zhengming: Language Must Say What It Means

In Chinese philosophy, there is a concept: 正名 (zhèng míng) — “the rectification of names.” It is the idea that language must reflect reality. That words must mean what they say. That truth must be preserved.

When language is abused — diluted by weasel words, distorted by euphemisms, hijacked by deliberate mistranslation — the principle of zhengming is betrayed.

V. AI and the Future of Language

Language can also be shaped by technology. The consulting firm ThinkPlace (now part of the Synergy Group) published a benchmark survey on “How Australians Feel About the Rise of AI.”

The survey asked important questions: Would you entrust your freedom to an AI or a human jury? Your health to an AI or a human doctor?

But the deeper question is: Who frames these questions? Who chooses the language? When governments commission consultancies to “measure” public sentiment about AI, who defines the measurement? Is it a genuine consultation, or an attempt to pre-determine the outcome through language itself?

This is another example of how language shapes our understanding of technology — and thus our acceptance of the future.

VI. Conclusion: Language Is Existence

What King Sejong understood in 1443 remains true today: language determines who is heard and who is silenced; who is empowered and who is controlled.

When we accept euphemisms like “collateral damage,” we accept the reality they conceal. When we allow weasel words to blur political discourse, we allow truth to be eroded. When we reduce “Jihad” to a single word of violence, we allow fear to override understanding.

But Hunminjeongeum offers another possibility: a world where knowledge is democratised — where a king designed a script so that the humblest subject could read and write.

Language can be a weapon or a bridge.

A cage or a key.

Which we choose determines what we become.

Andrew Klein

References

1. National Hangeul Museum. Permanent Exhibition: Hunminjeongeum, The Design of a Writing System Beyond Millennia.

2. Origin of Hangul. Wikipedia.

3. 训民正音. 维基百科.

4. Kim-Cho, S. Y. (2002). Hunminjeongeum. Bloomsbury Academic.

5. D’Anastasio, R., et al. (2013). Micro-biomechanics of the Kebara 2 hyoid and its implications for speech in Neanderthals.

6. Gabsi, Z. (2026). Consent by ambiguity: political rhetoric and media framing in Australia’s Voice Referendum. Journal of Language and Politics.

7. Weasel word. Wikipedia.

8. The Mis/translation of Jihad Verses in the Holy Quran.

9. Guide for Western journalists covering Islam.

10. ThinkPlace. (2023). Benchmark survey on Australian responses to the rise of Artificial Intelligence.

11. 言必信，行必果.