In the Unit 1 lesson, I had provided the Romanized equivalents of the Korean alphabets. However, I highly advise that once you know how to read the Korean alphabet, you should entirely discard the Romanization. For instance, instead of studying like this (e.g., in the future):
오빠 (o-ppa) = older brother
You should study like this,
오빠 = older brother
The rate of learning this way is much better for Korean foreign learners. Moreover, the entries (i.e., instances) also in the next unit lessons are presented in Hangul with English translations.
But for now, don’t be ahead about words or grammar or anything until you can write, read and pronounce Korean letters and syllables. It is very difficult to continue studying other parts of the language without having definite knowledge on the very basics of Korean Hangul (i.e., alphabets). There is no easy way to learn or explain the Korean alphabets but to memorize it passionately.
This unit also discusses how each symbol form into blocks as syllables to spell Korean words. You will also learn complex consonants, complex blocks, more pronunciation rules etc.
Writing Hangul
The basic stroke order rules for Hangul is based on the same general principles as Chinese calligraphy, left to right and top to bottom. These rules apply in writing both the individual letters (alphabets) and entire blocks which is composed of multiple Hangul letters.
Syllables
In English, a syllable is a unit of sound that has exactly one vowel. Thus, making English syllable similar to Korean syllable. The only huge difference is that Korean syllables have a single consonant before each vowel and there is a maximum of two after the vowel. Unlike Korean, English syllable can have between 0 to 3 consonants before and after the vowel.
Korean syllable represents a block which contains between 2 to 4 letters. For instance,
시 한 없
Hangul Blocks
Korean is written into “blocks” which sometimes called as Korean characters. One block always has exactly one syllable. You already know that Hangul blocks have 2 to maximum of 4 letters. Now, I will discuss about some important notes on Hangul blocks.
i. Hangul blocks could either be simple blocks which contain only 2 or 3 letters or complex blocks containing 4 letters. Complex blocks had distinctive attributes which will discuss later on Reading Hangul.
ii. There is a rule that the first, third, and fourth letter of a Hangul block must always be a consonant.
iii. The second letter of a Hangul block must always be a vowel.
iv. The consonants after the vowel of a Hangul block (i.e., 3rd and 4th letters) are known as Patchim.
Patchim (받침)
Because of the top-to-bottom principle, the Patchim is written after the first and second letter. Consider these instances,
안 감 앉 있
Notice that the patchims are ㄴ, ㅁ, ㄵ and ㅆ. Patchim is what we called to the consonants placed after the vowel on a Hangul block. These consonants behave distinctly from the initial consonant as I will explain later.
Hangul Vowels
In Korean, vowels has their own sounds, thus they are considered syllables but not yet blocks. The reason is attributed to the rule that a Hangul block must begin with a consonant. So, a special silent placeholder consonant letter must place to write a block that starts with a vowel. Consider these instances,
아 어 오 으
Notice that “ㅇ” is the consonant letter used as silent placeholder to write a block starts with a vowel. However, “ㅇ” has a real sound when placed as Patchim as you will learn in the later section.
Moreover, Hangul vowels are categorized into horizontal and vertical. This is very important because the way every Korean blocks is written depends on if the vowel is either horizontal or vertical.
Horizontal Vowels (with placeholder):
으 [eu] 우 [u] 오 [o] 요 [yo] 유 [yu]
Vertical Vowels (with placeholder):
어 [eo] 아 [a] 이 [i] 여 [yeo] 야 [ya]
Notice that if the vowel is horizontal then the placeholder is placed above the vowel. And if it is vertical, the placeholder is written to the left of the vowel.
At this instance, take a look at on how it is done when writing Hangul blocks based on either horizontal or vertical vowels. The blocks are always drawn or written in one of these 6 ways:
The last two structures is always used with derivative vowels such as 여 [yeo], 야 [ya], 요 [yo] and 유 [yu]. They are called as complex blocks.
First Rule: Blocks with horizontal vowel are always drawn in one of these 3 ways:
Second Rule: Blocks with vertical vowel are always drawn in one of these 3 ways:
Reading Hangul
The Korean Alphabets
I assumed that you already know the Hangul alphabets from the previous lesson, right? Now, you must learn how to pronounce each of them. But before that, you must always remember one extremely important thing. Korean sounds are infinitely different than to English sounds. This is the fact that English sounds had many accents depending on who is speaking (e.g., British, Americans, EFS [English Foreign Speakers]). In other words, none of those English Latin letters (i.e., Romanization) matches perfectly with the sound of their respective Korean letter.
The English Latin letters generally presented for Hangul entries are the letters that you will usually find being used to represent their respective Korean letters. The reason maybe is studying the general sound of a Korean letter using the English Latin letter is helpful and useful in learning the Korean language, Hangeul. But still, there is no perfect way to represent the Korean sounds in English. The only best way to know exactly how a Korean letter sounds is listening to it to train your ears to the right sounds (e.g., get an ELP, watch K-Dramas, acquaint with Korean people, live in Korea).
Basic Vowels
Symbol Romanization English Pronunciation with Examples
ㅡ eu sounds like u in pull
ㅗ o sounds like o in home
ㅜ u sounds like oo in zoo
ㅣ i sounds like ee in meet
ㅏ a sounds like a in ladder
ㅓ eo sounds like o in son or uh in uh-oh
ㅐ ae sounds like a in care
ㅔ e sounds like e in pet
Y Double-Vowels
Symbol Romanization English Pronunciation with Examples
ㅛ yo sounds like yo in yogurt
ㅠ yu sounds like you in you are fast
ㅑ ya sounds like ya in yahoo
ㅕ yeo sounds like yo in yonder
ㅒ yae sounds like ye in Yemen
ㅖ ye sounds like yea in year
W Double-Vowels
Symbol Romanization English Pronunciation with Examples
ㅞ we sounds like we in welfare
ㅙ wae sounds like wai in wait
ㅘ wa sounds like wa in war
ㅝ weo sounds like woe in woe is me
ㅟ wi sounds like we in we are good
ㅚ oe sounds like we in wet
ㅢ ui sounds like whi in whiskey
Basic / Plain Consonants (Relaxed Tone of Voice)
Symbol Romanization English Pronunciation with Examples
ㅁ m sounds like m in mad
ㅂ b/p sounds like p in park or b in bark
ㄴ n sounds like n in nap
ㄹ r/l sounds like r in rap or l in lap
ㄷ t/d sounds like t in tap or d in dap
ㅅ s/sh sounds like s in same or sh in shame
ㅈ ch/j sounds like ch in choke or j in joke
ㄱ k/g sounds like k in kitten or g in go
ㅇ ng sounds like ng in bang
ㅎ h sounds like h in ham
Tense / Double Consonants (Tense Tone of Voice)
Symbol Romanization English Pronunciation with Examples
ㅃ pp sounds like p in speak
ㄸ tt sounds like t in steam
ㅆ ss sounds like s in sit
ㅉ tch sounds like dg in midget
ㄲ kk sounds like k in skill
Aspirated / Strong Consonants (Aspirated Tone of Voice, with puffs of air)
Symbol Romanization English Pronunciation with Examples
ㅍ p’ sounds like p in pill
ㅌ t’ sounds like t in talk
ㅊ ch’ sounds like ch in change
ㅋ k’ sounds like k in kingPlaceholder Consonant as Patchim
Remember the no sound placeholder consonant? Yes, the unpronounced initial consonant that always paired with any vowel sounds. Now, this section discusses its other attribute. When a placeholder consonant “ㅇ” is a Patchim, it creates a sound ng. Consider this instance,
앙 Romanized as ang
Notice that the initial consonant“ㅇ” has no sound but, if served as Patchim, it actually pronounced as ‘ng’.
Patchim Rules
Rule 1: Patchim Swallowing. A consonant pronounced as Patchim is not pronounced similar to the consonant in the initial position. Hence, the mouth forms the shape of the final consonant but the final gust of breath that would articulate the sound is swallowed. Here are some of the instances:
밥 pap (rice)
국 kuk (soup)
몸 mom (body)
Notice that the given instances had the same consonant in the initial and Patchim position.
Rule 2: Consonant Shift. This is opposite to the first rule. If the letter after a Patchim is a placeholder consonant and a vowel then, the Patchim consonant takes the place of the placeholder consonant as initial consonant in articulating the sound (i.e., pronunciation). Consider this instance,
[1] 한국 Hanguk (Korea)
Notice that the final “k” sound is soft and clear. Now, take a look to when there is a vowel syllable in the next block.
[2] 한국어 Hangugeo (Korean Language)
Notice the final “k” in 1 takes the place of the placeholder consonant in 2 which makes it to “gugeo” from “guk” when actually pronouncing the word.
Some Basic Consonants Attributes
Remember some of the basic consonants in Unit 1 lesson where you notice that there were 2 Romanization? That is because those consonant letters had actually 2 possible pronunciations.
ㅂ – b/p
The letter ㅂ is pronounced p in the initial position and as Patchim. In other positions, it is pronounced b.
ㄹ – r/l
The letter ㄹ is pronounced l as Patchim. But when placed in other positions, it is pronounced r.
ㄷ – t/d
The letter ㄷ is pronounced t in the initial position and as Patchim. In other positions, it is pronounced d.
ㅅ – s/sh
The letter ㅅ is pronounce s except when it places before the vowel ㅣ(i.e., 시) which pronounced sh.
ㅈ – ch/j
The letter ㅈ is pronounced ch in the initial position and as Patchim. In other positions, it is pronounced j.
ㄱ – k/g
The letter ㄱ is pronounced k in the initial position and as Patchim. In other positions, it is pronounced g.
More Pronunciation Rules
Here are other more pronunciation rules which exist to make the Korean sound smooth and its flow easier. Hence, it is important to keep this in mind. Don’t worry since these rules will naturally come to you once you learned it.
Patchim Simplication
This rule is related to Patchim Swallowing. The rule describes the moving of the mouth to make the sound of the Patchim but never make the final puff of air in articulating the sound. Consider this instance,
찾다 chatda (find)
Notice how the “t” in the word “find” flows into the following “d”. Although, it actually spells out as “chajda” with a “j”. This is because if you try saying “chajda”, you will notice that the “j” doesn’t flow into the “d” smoothly. Thus, to make the pronunciation of Patchim smooth, Korean has a rule that certain Patchim consonants are replaced by other consonants that are easier to pronounce.
Patchim Simplication
ㅍ ㅂ
ㅌ, ㄸ, ㅅ, ㄷ
ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ
ㅋ, ㄲ ㄱ
Notice in the chart that all the Tense/Double Consonants as well as the Aspirated Consonants are simplified to their plain variant in the Patchim position except the variations on the letter ㅅ and ㅈ is simplified to ㄷ.
Moreover, this rule does not apply to the other Patchim Rules (Consonant Shift Rule) or when the next one rule (Nasal Assimilation) applies. Those 2 rules also take precedence over the Patchim Simplication Rule.
Nasal Assimilation
This rule applies whenever a Patchim consonant occurs before ㅁ or ㄴ. For instance,
죄송합니다 joesonghamnida (I am sorry)
Notice that the p (ㅂ) sound changes to m even though it is written actually as “choesonghapnida”. In other words, the Patchim for p is pronounced m.
ㅂ, ㅍ ㅁ
ㄷ,ㅌ, ㄸ, ㅅ, ㄴ
ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ
ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ ㅇ
Patchim: Complex Consonants
As what you’ve learned, Patchim could be a pair of consonants placed after the vowel in a block. This is known as complex consonants which can happen only as the final consonant or Patchim in a Hangul block. Now, remember the attributes of Patchim where I told you behave distinctly and I’ll explain it later? This is later.
There are 11 complex consonants that divided into 2 categories. These are
- 8 Initial-Consonant-Focused Complex Consonants, and;
- 3 Second-Consonant-Focused Complex Consonants.
The rule of these complex consonants says that only the first consonant is pronounced as a Patchim and the second consonant can be ignored unless the next syllable starts with a vowel (i.e., the following syllable starts with a placeholder consonant).
Here are the 8 Initial-Consonant-Focused Complex Consonants:
Pair 1 – ㄳ Example: 몫 Pronunciation: mok
Pair 2 – ㄵ Example: 앉다 Pronunciation: anta (Patchim Simplication applies)
Pair 3 – ㄶ Example: 많은 Pronunciation: manheun
Pair 4 – ㄼ Example: 넓은 Pronunciation: neolbun
Pair 5 – ㄽ Example: 외곬 Pronunciation: oegol
Pair 6 – ㄾ Example: 핥다 Pronunciation: halta (Patchim Simplication applies)
Pair 7 – ㅀ Example: 앓다 Pronunciation: alta
Pair 8 – ㅄ Example: 없는 Pronunciation: eomneun (Nasal Assimilation)
Since only examples 3 & 4 are followed by a placeholder consonant then, the Consonant Shift rule applies (the Patchim consonant takes the place of the placeholder consonant as initial consonant in articulating the sound). Some other examples had some rules additionally apply.
Second-Consonant-Focused Complex Consonants
The rule of these 3 complex consonants says that only the second consonant is pronounced.
Pair 1 – ㄺ Example: 닭 Pronunciation: tak
Pair 2 – ㄻ Example: 닮다 Pronunciation: tamta
Pair 3 – ㄿ Example: 읊다 Pronunciation: eupta
Notice that the first consonant is ㄹ. Therefore,ㄹ is not pronounced according to this rule.
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