Korean Alphabet

Korean Alphabet

 

The 한글(Hangeul) consists of nineteen consonants and twenty-one vowels.

 

  1. Consonants  

 

   [g]          gloves

    [que]       queue (strong voiceless sound of ㄱ)

    [k]          cake

 

   [n]          nice      

 

    [d]          design

   [th, dd]    think, thank (pronounce without sticking out the tongue)

   [t]           talent

 

 

   [라(r), 갈(l)]       Ramen, love

 

    [m]                mother

 

    [b]                 boy

 

   [bb]               the mixed sound of ㅂ [b] and ㅍ [p]

    [p]                 pie (Korean doesn’t have f sound)

 

 

    [s]                 street

   [S]                 strong voiceless sound of ㅅ

 

 

    [아ϕ (silent), 강 η (ng)]  aunt,  young

 

 

    [j]                  job

    [jj/tzh]             the mixed sound of ㅈ [j] and ㅊ [ch]

    [ch]               church

 

 

    [h]                 house

 

 

*** Korean doesn’t have the [f] [v] [z] [x] and [th] sounds.

 

 

 

2) Vowels

     

        ♪Listen to the alphabet at www.icanspeakkorean.com.

 

 

    [a]                palm

 

    [ya]                yacht

 

 

    [uh, eo]          a cat

 

    [yuh, yeo]        yawn

 

 

   [o]                 oil

 

    [yo]                yo-yo

 

 

    [u]                 cookie

   

    [yu]                you

 

 

    [eu]               written

 

 

    [i]                  feel

 

 

    [ae]               command

 

    [e]                 commend

 

 

    [yae]              yay

 

    [ye]                yes

 

 

   [wa]                           combination of  ㅗ + ㅏ

                                        pronounce ㅗ +ㅏat the same time

 

 

   [wi]                           combination of  ㅜ + ㅣ

                                      pronounce ㅜ + ㅣat the same time

 

 

   [weo]                                    war

                                                  combination of  ㅜ + ㅓ

                                                  pronounce ㅜ + ㅓat the same time

 

 

   [wae]                                    wedding

                                                   combination of ㅗ + ㅣ

                                                  *but it is pronounced as [wae]

 

 

   [wae]                                    wedding

                                                   combination of  ㅗ + ㅐ

                                                   pronounce ㅗ + ㅐat the same time

           

 

   [wae]                        wedding

                                       combination of  ㅜ + ㅔ

                                       pronounce ㅜ + ㅔat the same time

 

 

   [eui]                           combination of  ㅡ + ㅣ

                                        pronounce ㅡ + ㅣat the same time

 

                      Pronunciation

 

  • ㅐ[command] = ㅔ[commend] are pronounced almost the same.

 

  • ㅒ[yay] =ㅖ[yes] are pronounced almost the same.

 

  • ㅚ = ㅙ = ㅞ [wedding] are pronounced the same.

 

 

Let’s practice the consonants

Write the consonants five times in the table

[g]

 

 

 

 

 

[que]

 

 

 

 

 

[k]

 

 

 

 

 

[n]

 

 

 

 

 

[d]

 

 

 

 

 

[dd]

 

 

 

 

 

[t]

 

 

 

 

 

[r/l]

 

 

 

 

 

[m]

 

 

 

 

 

[b]

 

 

 

 

 

[bb]

 

 

 

 

 

[p]

 

 

 

 

 

[s]

 

 

 

 

 

[S]

 

 

 

 

 

[ϕ/η]

 

 

 

 

 

[j]

 

 

 

 

 

[jj/tzh]

 

 

 

 

 

[ch]

 

 

 

 

 

[h]

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s practice the vowels

Write the vowles five times in the table

[a]

 

 

 

 

 

[ya]

 

 

 

 

 

[eo]

 

 

 

 

 

[yeo]

 

 

 

 

 

[o]

 

 

 

 

 

[yo]

 

 

 

 

 

[u]

 

 

 

 

 

[you]

 

 

 

 

 

[eu]

 

 

 

 

 

[i]

 

 

 

 

 

[ae]

 

 

 

 

 

[e]

 

 

 

 

 

[yae]

 

 

 

 

 

[ye]

 

 

 

 

 

[wa]

 

 

 

 

 

[wi]

 

 

 

 

 

[war]

 

 

 

 

 

[wae]

 

 

 

 

 

[wae]

 

 

 

 

 

[wae]

 

 

 

 

 

[eui]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Position of Consonants and Vowels

 

Vowels and consonants can’t stand alone and have to be combined. Consonants always come first.

 

1) CV combination (Basic form)

A CV combination is the most basic composition consisting of a consonant and a vowel. The position of a consonant depends on the vowel used. If a vowel has a vertical shape, a consonant is situated on the left side of the vowel. If a vowel has a horizontal shape, a consonant is situated above the vowel.

 

  • Vowels: Vertical shape            Vowels: Horizontal shape

             아기                                                      우유

                   baby                                                           milk

 

 

Let’s practice the CV combination form

Write the CV combination form five times in the table

[ga]

 

 

 

 

 

[ya]

 

 

 

 

 

[neo]

 

 

 

 

 

[hyeo]

 

 

 

 

 

[so]

 

 

 

 

 

[dyo]

 

 

 

 

 

[mu]

 

 

 

 

 

[yu]

 

 

 

 

 

[geu]

 

 

 

 

 

[bi]

 

 

 

 

 

[gae]

 

 

 

 

 

[ne]

 

 

 

 

 

[yae]

 

 

 

 

 

[ye]

 

 

 

 

 

[wa]

 

 

 

 

 

[gwi]

 

 

 

 

 

[mwar]

 

 

 

 

 

[wae]

 

 

 

 

 

[wae]

 

 

 

 

 

[hwae]

 

 

 

 

 

[eui]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) CVC combination

A CVC form is a combination of a consonant, a vowel, and another consonant. The first consonant and vowel are written together in the CV form, and the second consonant appears underneath.

 

  • Vowels: Vertical shape           Vowels: Horizontal shape          

                방                                            곧

               room                                            soon

 

Pronunciation of the CVC form

a. As the example above shows, when ㅇ is placed under the CV form, it is pronounced with the [ng] sound. Therefore, 방 is pronounced as [bang]. When the four consonants: ㄴ [n], ㄹ [l] , ㅁ [m], andㅇ [ng]  are located under the CV form, they are always pronounced.

 

b. As an example, when ㄷ is placed under the CV form, it makes a paused [t’] stop sound. All consonants, except for ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ, and ㅇ, become stop sounds.ㄱ andㅋ make a paused [k’] sound.ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, and ㅌmake a paused [t’] sound, and ㅂ and ㅍ make a paused [b’] sound.

 

Let’s practice the CVC combination form

Write the CVC combination form five times in the table

[gak’]

 

 

 

 

 

[yang]

 

 

 

 

 

[neol]

 

 

 

 

 

[hyeong]

 

 

 

 

 

[son]

 

 

 

 

 

[dyong]

 

 

 

 

 

[mul]

 

 

 

 

 

[yum]

 

 

 

 

 

[geub’]

 

 

 

 

 

[bil]

 

 

 

 

 

[gaeng]

 

 

 

 

 

[neb’]

 

 

 

 

 

[yaep’]

 

 

 

 

 

[yet’]

 

 

 

 

 

[wan]

 

 

 

 

 

[gwib’]

 

 

 

 

 

[mwart’]

 

 

 

 

 

[waet’]

 

 

 

 

 

[waek’]

 

 

 

 

 

[hwaen]

 

 

 

 

 

[euit’]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) CVCC combination

Sometimes we have two consonants placed together under the syllable. In this case only the dominant consonant is pronounced. For example, ㄲ [k’],ㄳ[k’], ㄺ[k’], ㅆ [t’], ㄵ[n], ㄴㅎ[n], ㄹㅎ [l], ㄽ[l], ㄾ[l], ㄻ[m],ㅄ[b’], ㄿ[b’], ㄹㅂ[l] and ㅆ [t’] can be paired at the third position below the CV form. Each pair is pronounced differently and has to be memorized individually.   

           

  • Vowels: Vertical shape             Vowels: Horizontal shape          

                     닭                                                    맞다        

                  chicken                                            to be right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s practice the CVCC combination form

Write the CVCC combination form five times in the table

 

[it’]

 

 

 

 

 

[eob’]

 

 

 

 

 

[an]

 

 

 

 

 

[dak’]

 

 

 

 

 

[ol]

 

 

 

 

 

[bak’]

 

 

 

 

 

[gab’]

 

 

 

 

 

[an]

 

 

 

 

 

[bak’]

 

 

 

 

 

[neol]

 

 

 

 

 

[mak’]

 

 

 

 

 

[deol]

 

 

 

 

 

[hal]

 

 

 

 

 

[jeom]