Etymology

The traditional account^{[note 1]} states that ㅈ j is derived from ㅅ s by the addition of a stroke (ㅅ而ㅈ […] 其因聲加畫—in the 15th century, ㅈ represented the affricate [ts]). However, Gari Ledyard proposes that ㅈ ts was instead borrowed from Phagspa s, ultimately from Tibetan ས s, and that it was ㅅ s which was derived by removing a stroke from ㅈ ts. Perhaps Phagspa s was used for this ts value, rather than for Korean s, by analogy with the other borrowed letters ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ, from which other hangul letters were derived by removing strokes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [t͡ɕ] (an unaspirated alveolo-palatal affricate, i.e. similar to the English j or ch)