Learn Korean Alphabet

1. Basic Korean Hangul Consonant 가 to 아

2010-03-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

Korean Alphabet like English alphabet contains consonants and vowels. In this episode we introduce 8 of 14 basic consonants and one vowel. The way to construct words out of Korean alphabet is different from that of English one but NOT too bad. There is no science here so much, so please memorize this and the next few episodes. They will make a great asset in your Korean learning. Good Luck!

가 Ga
나 Na
다 Da
라 Ra
마 Ma
바 Ba
사 Sa
아 A

가 나 다 라 마 바 사 아
Consonants (자음): ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ ,ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ
Vowel (모음): ㅏ

Korean Alphabet Pronunciation Chart (Consonants) [1]

2009-03-19T23:33:00.000-07:00

1. Basic consonants (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ).
2. Double Consonants (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ)
3. Compound Consonants (ㄳ, ㄵ, ㄶ, ㄺ, ㄻ, ㄼ, ㄽ, ㄾ, ㄿ, ㅀ, ㅄ)

Position
ICIS: initial consonant in initial syllable in word.
ICNIS: initial consonant in non-initial syllable in word.
EC: ending consonant.

Basic Consonants (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ)

	Position	IPA	Korean Examples	Similar English
ㄱ	ICIS	[k]	가수 [ka.su], 검정 [kəm.ɟəŋ]	kick
	ICNIS	[g]	아가씨 [a.ga.ʃ’i], 고기 [ko.gi]	god
	EC	[k, (k’)]	백 [pɛk], 수직선 [su.ɟik.s’ən]	kick
ㄴ	ICIS	[n]	나리 [na.ri], 너희 [nə.hi]	no, tin
	ICNIS	[n, ɲ]	저녁 [cə.ɲək], 어머니 [ə.mə.ni, ə.mə.ɲi]	no for [n], canyon for [ɲ]
	EC	[n]	가난하다 [ka.nan.ha.da], 돌연히 [tol.ljən.hi]	no, tin
ㄷ	ICIS	[t]	동 [toŋ], 더위 [tə.wi]	tot
	ICNIS	[d]	하다 [ha.da], 구두 [ku.du]	did
	EC	[t, (t’)]	받침 [pa(t).cʰim], 숟가락 [su(t).k’a.rak]	tot
ㄹ	ICIS	[r]	러시아 [rə.si.a], 라면 [ra.mjən]	run (with less rolling)
	ICNIS	[r]	자랑 [ca.raŋ], 구르다 [ku.rɨ.da]	run (with less rolling)
	EC	[l]	솔잎 [sol.lip], 절약 [cə.ljak]	bell
ㅁ	ICIS	[m]	마음 [ma.ɨm], 먹다 [mək.t’a]	man
	ICNIS	[m]	목구멍 [mok.k’u.məŋ], 고물 [ko.mul]	mood
	EC	[m]	엄청 [əm.cʰəŋ], 한심하다 [han.sim.ha.da]	ham
ㅂ	ICIS	[p]	방 [paŋ], 보다 [po.da]	tip
	ICNIS	[b]	아버지 [a.bə.ɟi], 넘보다 [nəːm.bo.da]	but
	EC	[p, (p’)]	밥 [pap], 굽다 [kuːp.t’a]	tip
ㅅ	ICIS	[s], [ʃ]	소리 [so.ri], 사람 [saː.ram], 신라 [ʃil.la]	see for [s], she for [ʃ]
	ICNIS	[s]	모습 [mo.sɨp], 자식 [ca.ʃik]	see
	EC	[t, (t’)]	갓 [kat], 낫다 [naːt.t’a], 웃옷 [u.dot]	tot
ㅇ	ICIS	no sound	어제 [ə.ɟe], 오늘 [o.nɨl]
	ICNIS	no sound	세월 [seː.wəl], 속옷 [soː.got]
	EC	[ŋ]	성공 [səŋ.goŋ], 사랑 [sa.raŋ]	sing
ㅈ	ICIS	[c]	조국 [co.guk], 진리 [ciːl.li]	church (with minimum "h" sound)
	ICNIS	[ɟ]	자주 [ca.ɟu], 친절 [cʰin.ɟəl]	jail
	EC	[t, (t’)]	낮 [nat], 잊다 [it.t’a]	tot
ㅊ	ICIS	[cʰ]	처음 [cʰə.ɨm], 찾다 [cʰa(t).t’a]	church
	ICNIS	[cʰ]	아차산 [a.cʰa.san], 고추 [ko.cʰu]	church
	EC	[t, (t’)]	빛나다 [pin.na.da], 꽃잎 [k’on.ɲip]	tot
ㅋ	ICIS	[kʰ]	칸 [kʰan], 큼직하다 [kʰɨm.ɟik.kʰa.da]	car
	ICNIS	[kʰ]	시큼하 다 [ʃi.kʰɨm.ha.da], 물컵 [mul.kʰəp]	car
	EC	[k, (k’)]	부엌 [pu.ək]	kick
ㅌ	ICIS	[tʰ]	타다 [tʰa.da], 터지다 [tʰəː.ɟi.da]	two
	ICNIS	[tʰ]	농토 [noŋ.tʰo], 배탈 [pɛ.tʰal]	two
	EC	[t, (t’)]	끝 [k’ɨt], 같다 [ka(t).t’a]	tot
ㅍ	ICIS	[pʰ]	파 [pʰa], 펴다 [pʰje.da]	pool
	ICNIS	[pʰ]	슬프다 [sɨl.pʰɨ.da], 태풍 [tʰɛ.pʰuŋ]	pool
	EC	[p, (p’)]	잎 [ip], 숲속 [sup.s’ok]	tip
ㅎ	ICIS	[h]	하다 [ha.da], 호랑이 [ho.raŋ.i]	hat
	ICNIS	[h]	기호 [ki.ho], 사회 [saː.hø / sa.hwe]	hat
	EC	[t’]	낳다 [naː.tʰa], 닿소리 [ta.s’o.ri]	haT

Double Consonants (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ)

	Position	IPA	Korean Examples	Similar English
ㄲ	ICIS	[k’]	꼬리 [k’o.ri], 까불다 [k’a.bul.da]	sky
	ICNIS	[k’]	바깥 [pa.k’at], 임꺽정 [im.k’ək.c’əŋ]	sky
	EC	[k’, (k’)]	밖 [bak], 꺾다 [k’ək.t’a]	back
ㄸ	ICIS	[t’]	딸기 [t’aːl.gi], 뚜쟁이 [t’u.ɟɛŋ.i]	stop
	ICNIS	[t’]	가래떡 [ka.rɛ.t’ək], 똑똑하다 [t’ok.t’o.kʰa.da]	stop
	EC	-	not used as an ending consonant	-
ㅃ	ICIS	[p’]	빵집 [p’aŋ.c’ip], 빨리 [p’al.li], 뽀뽀 [p’o.p’o]	spy
	ICNIS	[p’]	기쁘다 [ki.p’ɨ.da], 사뿐 [sa.p’un]	spy
	EC	-	not used as an ending consonant	-
ㅆ	ICIS	[s’]	싸구려 [s’a.gu.rjə, s’a.gu.rjə], 씀씀이 [s’ɨm.s’ɨ.mi]	suit
	ICNIS	[s’]	애쓰다 [ɛː.s’ɨ.da], 불쑥 [pul.s’uk].	suit
	EC	[t (t’)]	었다 [ət.t’a]	tot
ㅉ	ICIS	[c’]	짜다 [c’a.da], 찔끔 [c’il.k’ɨm]	pretzel
	ICNIS	[c’]	아찔하 다 [a.c’il.ha.da], 짝짝이 [c’ak.c’a.gi]	pretzel
	EC	-	not used as an ending consonant	-

Compound Consonants (used as ending consonants only)

	sound	example
ㄳ	[ㄱ]	넋[넉]
ㄵ	[ㄴ]	앉[안]
ㄶ	[ㄴ]	많[만]
ㄺ	[ㄹ], [ㄱ], or [ㄹㄱ] depending on person.	슭[슬, 슥, 슭]
ㄺ	In verb stem, [ㄹ] is the standard pronunciation.	읽다[일따]
ㄻ	[ㅁ]	삶[삼]
ㄼ	[ㄹ], [ㅂ], [ㄹㅂ] depending on person.	밟[발, 밥, 밟]
ㄽ	[ㄹ]	곬[골]
ㄾ	[ㄹ]	핥[할]
ㄿ	[ㄹ], [ㅍ], [ㄹㅍ] depending on person.	읊[을, 읖, 읊]
ㅀ	[ㄹ]	많[만]
ㅄ	[ㅂ]	값[갑]

References
[1] http://ko.wiktionary.org/wiki/위키낱말사전:국제_음성_기호; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA; http://blog.naver.com/pengyou1005; http://www.learnkorean.com/home/index.asp

Korean Vowels (와 외 왜 위 워 웨) English Analogy

2009-03-19T21:01:00.001-07:00

English analogy to some of the Korean compound vowels

Korean Double Consonants English Analogy

2009-03-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

Practice Korean double consonants with English counterparts

Difference between 가, 카, and 까

2009-03-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Open Comments
———————————————————————-
Linguistic point of view
From: tangchihsia

After I watched the film, I have some suggestions.
Even though you are not linguist, I admire your spirit.
I think you try very hard to explain.

(IPA is the system for us to transcribe ANY language in the world. It can be used to keep record of every language in the world)

BACK TO KOREAN

Let me take ㅋㄱ to demonstrate. ( it can be applied to ㅈ ㅊ and the sound pairs you give at the end of the film)

In Korean sound system, you distinguish voiceless unaspirated ㄱ voiceless aspiratedㅋ (and maybe ㄱㄱ, because my Korean is not good enough. I cannot find the example to prove. But you can try to understand the jargon “minimal pair” and find out the example in your language). However, you do not have voiced one. e.g. /g/. Why ㄱsounds like /g/ is because of /k/’s surrounding sounds. When voiceless /k/ is surround by vowels like the example (a ka ssi —> /k/ is surrounded by two ㅏ)

This is because vowels are voiced and the voiceless /k/ would be affected by the voicing feature of the vowel and become /g/, which is also voiced. Again, this is for ease of articulation. Human are lazy.

And why ㄱ at the syllable initial position sounds like ㅋis a special phonological trigger in Korean.

It is just like English /p,t,k/ become aspirated when they are at the syllable initial position.

Please read “sTop” and “Top” and pay attention to the T sound.

The first one is not aspirated because there is a “S” in front of T but in “Top”, we can feel the aspiration, right? (You can take a piece of paper in front of your mouth and say the two words. If the paper moves, the sound is aspirated)

However, not every language has this rule. For example, French /p,t,k/ is not aspirated when they are at the syllable initial position. Let me take a bakery name in Korea to demonstrate. When you say “Tout Jour”, you should pronounce the first /t/ in “tout” like ㄷ instead of ㅌ. (”Tout Jour” means “every day” in French. I have learned French for two years. I know a little bit.)

And another rule in Korean is that, ㄱand ㅋwould become “unreleased” in syllable final position. But if someone pronounces the sound clearly (which means to release the sounds), nobody would think s/he is wrong but just unnatural. The rule also applies in English. For example, you can pronounce “think” with a released /k/ or unreleased /k/ but English native speakers would generally use the unreleased one. If you release it, you sound like a foreigner but they still can understand.

Let’s practice “ㅃ” 쌍비읍!

2009-03-19T01:52:00.000-07:00

“ㅃ(쌍비읍) VS. “ㅂ” (비읍)

방 (room) 빵 (bread)
식방(x) 식빵(o)
바르다 (pain/coat/paste) 빠르다 (to be fast/quick)
벼 (a rice plant) 뼈 (bone)
갈비벼(x) 갈비뼈(o)
봉 (summit) 뽕 (mulberry leaves)
봉나무(x) 뽕나무(o)
부리 (bird beak) 뿌리 (root)
인삼부리(x) 인삼뿌리(o)
벙 붕 비
뻥 뿡 삐
긑(x) 끝(o)

Let’s practice “ㄸ” 쌍디귿!

2009-03-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

“ㄸ” (쌍디귿) VS. “ㄷ” (디귿)

달기 (x) 딸기 (o)
덕볶기 (x) 떡볶기 (o)
닭동집 (x) 닭똥집 (o)
둑배기 (x) 뚝배기 (o)
드개질 (x) 뜨개질 (o)
다 도 디
따 또 띠
따 떠 또
뚜 뜨 띠

Let’s practice “ㄲ” 쌍기역!

2009-03-19T01:46:00.000-07:00

“ㄲ” (쌍기역) VS. “ㄱ” (기역)

가다 (go) 까다 (peel)
고다 (simmer slowly) 꼬다 (twist)
강 공 궁
깡 꽁 꿍
각두기 (x) 깍두기 (o)
가치 (x) 까치 (o) *가치 has meaning of “worth”수도곡지 (x) 수도꼭지 (o)
장미곷 (x) 장미꽃 (o)
굴 (x) 꿀 (o) *굴 has a meaning of “oyster” or “tunnel”
긑 (x) 끝 (o)

7. Korean Compound Consonants (Final)

2009-03-19T01:34:00.000-07:00

This is the final episode of Korean Alphabet and Syllables. In this episode we are going to study five double consonants “ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ”, and 11 ending compound consonants “ㄳ,ㄵ,ㄶ,ㄺ,ㄻ,ㄼ, ㄽ,ㄾ,ㄿ,ㅀ,ㅄ”. Plus there is parts from “Haengbok” by Super Junior.

6. Korean Compound Vowels

2009-03-19T01:33:00.000-07:00

In this episode we are going to learn how to read Korean compound vowels

애 얘 에 예
와 왜 외 위 웨 의

5. Korean Basic Vowels

2009-03-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

Ten basic vowels in Korean, and in this episode we are going learn all 10 vowels and practice how they can be used in the syllables. The part 1 introduces LRB type basic vowels, part 2 introduces TMB type vowels, and finally in part 3 we are going to practice real Korean words using the basic vowels.

LRB type basic vowels and syllable examples:

아, 야, 어, 여, 이 [a, ya, eo, yeo, i]
가, 악, 앙, 라 [ga, ak, ang, ra] & 갸, 약, 양, 랴 [gya, yak, yang, rya]
기, 니, 리, 시 [gi, ni, ri, si ] & 김, 님, 링, 신 [gim, nim, ring, sin]
여, 어, 이, 아, 야 [yeo, eo, i, a, ya] & 겨, 너, 인, 락, 얏 [gyeo, neo, in, rak, yat]
녕, 걸, 빈, 카, 얕 [nyeong, geol, bin, ka, yat]
김밥 [gimbap], 갈비 [galbi], 비빔밥 [bibimbap], 김치[gimchi]

TMB type basic vowels and syllable examples:

오, 요, 우, 유, 으 [o, yo, u, yu, eu]
고, 요, 두, 유, 르 [go, yo, du, yu, reu]
t공, 욕, 둘, 율, 릇 [gong, yok, dul, yul, reut]

Practice Session:

안녕 [annyeong] Hello!
엽기적인 그녀 [yeopgijeogin geunyeo] *Korean movie (the English title is “My Sassy Girl”.
전지현 [jeon jihyeon] *Korean actress
가수 [gasu] singer
슈퍼 주니어 [syupeo junieo] *Korean pop group
영어 [yeongeo] English language
연습 시간 [yeonseup sigan] practice hour
여자친구 [yeojachingu] boy friend
남자친구 [namjachingu]boy friend
다음 시간 [daeum sigan] next time

4. Korean Syllable Construction Practice

2009-03-19T01:23:00.000-07:00

Writing Korean Syllables at this point should be a mechanical process which still requires some practice. In this episode we are going to write some of the Korean syllables that are constructed from the basic 14 consonants and one vowel (episode 1 and 2). In addition we are going to differentiate Korean pronunciation from that of English (Romanization). This attention to the pronunciation should help you talk like native Korean. (Three videos and the part 3 is the random practice)

Natural order (Korean alphabetical order)

1. 각[Gak], 2. 간[Gan], 3. 갇[Gat], 4. 갈[Gal], 5. 감[Gam], 6. 갑[Gap], 7. 갓[Gat], 8. 강[Gang], 9. 갖[Gat], 10. 갗[Gat], 11. 갘[Gak]**, 12. 같[Gat], 13. 갚[Gap] , 14. 갛 [Ga].

Sorted by pronunciation grou

* Gak: 1. 각, 11. 갘
* Gan: 2. 간
* Gat: 3. 갇, 7. 갓, 9. 갖, 10. 갗, 12. 같
* Gal: 4. 갈
* Gam: 5. 감
* Gap: 6. 갑, 13. 갚
* Gang: 8. 강
* Ga: 갛 and also 가

** 갘: I don’t think that I ever saw this in Korean yet.

Open Questions / Discussions

Corrections from Isabelle: In tape 4b,hangeul syllable practice, you say that we have to memorize the spelling of syllables like “gat” because so many letters can be used to write the final “t” sound. And you say that’s just like English, which is true, but the example you give isn’t quite right.

“Cook” can’t be written as “kook” because “kook” is a different word. The meaning is different: “kook” means “a crazy person” (and “kooky” means “crazy, really strange”). The pronunciation is different, too: the “oo” in “kook” is like the “oo” in “food,” not “oo” in “good” (or “cook”).

But your general point is absolutely right; sometimes you just have to memorize the way a word is written, and often we could write a word with a “k” instead of a “c” or vice versa without changing the sound of it one bit.

Just wanted to point that out for future information

---------------------------------------------
Corrections and lessons from Marnell
By the way, in the parts where you're not sure if you're saying a "g" or "k" (or "t" or "d"), you're actually saying "k" and "t", but you're not aspirating. Aspiration is that release of air that you demonstrated that we do in English. (We also aspirate for "p" in English.) The pronunciation chart that you uploaded also explains it this way (or at least writes it that way in IPA format). Also, for the "l" sound in "gal", a typical American would use what is called a "dark L" -- that is, when the tongue pulls backwards, as you demonstrated. It sounds like the correct way to pronounce it in Korean uses a regular "l" sound, as found in the beginning of English words like "look" and "lot", in which the tip of the tongue stays close behind the upper teeth. Does that seem similar to what you're doing?
One correction to my last comment. For "gal", I think the sound you're using is close to the "tt" sound found in "better" or "butter" when spoken quickly. It's kind of similar to the "l" at the beginning of English words, but still a little different at the same time.
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3. Korean Syllable Construction

2009-03-19T01:19:00.000-07:00

The way to Write Syllables in Korean is not that obvious as in English. But, with some understanding of basic rules, writing or constructing Korean syllables is almost a mechanical process that resembles WYSWYG (what you see is what you get) style and will become intuitive rather easily (caution! this is the case for writing syllable part only. Writing words is more complicated because of some pronunciation rules). In this episode we are going to construct some of the Korean syllables using 14 basic consonants and one vowel, which we have studied in the previous two episodes.

One of the Korean syllable types can be conveniently constructed using a sectioned square box. This square filled with proper phoneme makes one unit of Korean syllable and there is a rule to fill this box. Treating each compound consonant as unit, the L section has to contain only one consonant, and R section has to have only one vowel (treating compound vowel as a unit vowel). The B (bottom) section on the other hand can have nothing (blank) or should contain only one consonant. So far we have learned 14 basic consonants (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅎ) and one vowel (ㅏ). In theory we can construct 14 x 1 x 15 = 210 different syllables. Some of them is not used in modern Korean but practicing these syllable constructing should help you write Korean

2. Basic Korean Hangul Consonant 자 to 하

2009-03-19T01:18:00.000-07:00

This episode continues the rest of 14 Korean basic consonants. As mentioned in the last episode, there is not much of science. Please just memorize, Period. In case you cannot memorize things without understanding or justification check out the Korean alphabet at Wiki.

자 Ja
차 Cha
카 Ka
타 Ta
파 Pa
하 Ha

Consonants (자음): ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ.
Vowel (모음): ㅏ