Basic 예사소리 |
Letter (jamo) | ㄱ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅅ | ㅇ | ㅈ | ㅎ |
Romanization Pronunciation |
g or k [g] or [k] |
n [n] |
d or t [d] or [t] |
r or l [ɾ] or [l] |
m [m] |
b or p [b] or [p] |
s [s] |
- or ng silent or [ŋ] |
j or ch [ʥ] or [ʨ] |
h [h] | |
Letter (jamo) | ㅏ | ㅓ | ㅗ | ㅜ | ㅡ | ㅣ | ||||
Romanization Pronunciation |
a [a] |
eo [ʌ] |
o [o] |
u [u] |
eu [ɯ] |
i [i] | ||||
Letter (jamo) | ㅐ | ㅔ | ||||||||
Romanization Pronunciation |
ae [ɛ] |
e [e] |
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Welcome back! This is the fifth lesson of "Learn to read, write and pronounce Korean". This lesson covers some variations on the letters you already learned.
The consonant ㅋ (kieuk)
editㅋ (kieuk) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅋ (kieuk) (help·info) |
The first new letter is the consonant ㅋ (kieuk):
Letter (jamo): | ㅋ |
Pronunciation: | [kʰ] |
The first new letter to learn is ㅋ (kieuk). It looks and similar to ㄱ (giyeok) but has an additional horizontal line, which indicates that ㅋ is aspirated. That is, ㅋ is pronounced with a burst of air. As you may recall, the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds is easily demonstrated by putting a hand or a lit candle in front of your mouth and saying "can" ([kʰæn]) and then "scan" ([skæn]). You should either feel a puff of air or see a flicker of the candle flame with "can" that does not appear with "scan". So, ㅋ (kieuk) is pronounced like the c in can.
Exercise
editTry writing the following words in Korean:
쿠바
루사카
시카고
킬로
함부르크
덴마크
오클라호마
클래스
네브래스카
Try guessing the meaning of following Korean words:
English: Morocco
English: basketball
English: Hong Kong
English: Alaska
English: Slovakia
English: cake
English: Cambodia
English: Kansas
English: Helsinki
English: camera
The vowel ㅑ (ya)
editㅑ (ya) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅑ (ya) (help·info) |
The first new vowel to learn is ㅑ (ya):
Letter (jamo): | ㅑ |
Pronunciation: | [ja] |
The first vowel to learn is ㅑ (ya). It looks and sounds similar to ㅏ (a). The additional short line indicates that the pronunciation begins with a short "y" sound (IPA: [j]). So, ㅑ (ya) is pronounced like the ya in yahoo, the German word ja, and the Russian word я (IPA: [ja]). In the terminology of phonetics, ㅑ (ya) and the other four vowels in this lesson are the iotized versions of vowels you already learned.
Exercise
editTry to guess the meaning of the following Korean words:
English: Yaounde
English: Kenya
English: Kinshasa
English: Reykjavik
English: Nova Scotia
The consonant ㅌ (tieut)
editㅌ (tieut) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅌ (tieut) (help·info) |
The next new letter is the consonant ㅌ (tieut):
Letter (jamo): | ㅌ |
Pronunciation: | [tʰ] |
ㅌ (tieut) looks and similar to ㄷ (digeut) and but has an additional horizontal line, which indicates that ㅌ is aspirated. That is, ㅌ is pronounced with a burst of air. Again, to demonstrate the aspiration, put a hand or a lit candle in front of your mouth and say "tone" ([tʰəʊn]) and then "stone" ([stəʊn]). You should either feel a puff of air or see a flicker of the candle flame with "tone" that doesn't appear with "stone". So, ㅌ (tieut) is pronounced like the t in tone.
Exercise
editTry writing the following words in Korean:
시애틀
보스턴
엘리베이터
몰타
암스테르담
비타민
오스트리아
기타
라바트
테이블
Try guessing the meaning of the following Korean words:
English: Ontario
English: tennis
English: Toronto
English: Internet
English: Egypt
English: hotel
English: Latvia
English: Manhattan
English: necktie
English: Tennessee
The consonant ㅍ (pieup)
editㅍ (pieup) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅍ (pieup) (help·info) |
The next new letter is the consonant ㅍ (pieup):
Letter (jamo): | ㅍ |
Pronunciation: | [pʰ] |
ㅍ (pieup) looks and sounds similar to ㅂ (bieup) and but has an additional horizontal line, which indicates that ㅍ is aspirated. That is, ㅍ is pronounced with a burst of air. Again, to demonstrate the aspiration, put a hand or a lit candle in front of your mouth and say "pin" ([pʰɪn]) and then "spin" ([spɪn]). You should either feel a puff of air or see a flicker of the candle flame with "pin" that doesn't appear with "spin". So, ㅍ (pieup) is pronounced like the p in pin.
Exercise
editTry writing the following words in Korean:
오페라
펜실베이니아
피자
플로리다
폴란드
파나마
Try guessing the meaning of the following Korean words and names:
English: Paris
English: France
English: El Paso
English: Singapore
English: golf
English: Mississippi
English: fax
The consonant ㅊ (chieut)
editㅊ (chieut) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅊ (chieut) (help·info) |
The next new letter is the consonant ㅊ (chieut):
Letter (jamo): | ㅊ |
Pronunciation: | [ʨʰ] |
ㅊ (chieut) looks and sounds similar to ㅈ (jieut) and but has an additional horizontal line, which indicates that ㅊ is aspirated. That is, ㅊ is pronounced with a burst of air. Again, to demonstrate the aspiration, put a hand or a lit candle in front of your mouth and say "chin" ([tʃʰɪn]) and then "gin" ([dʒɪn]). Ignoring the difference in use of the vocal cords, you should either feel a puff of air or see a flicker of the candle flame with "chin" that doesn't appear with "gin". So, although there is no precise English sound for ㅊ (chieut), it is pronounced similar to the ch in chin.
Exercise
editTry writing the following words in Korean:
인천
벤치
Try guessing the meaning of the following Korean words:
English: Massachusetts
English: Chile
English: Chad
The vowel ㅕ (yeo)
editㅕ (yeo) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅕ (yeo) (help·info) |
The next new vowel to learn is ㅕ (yeo):
Letter (jamo): | ㅕ |
Pronunciation: | [jʌ] |
The vowel ㅕ (yeo) looks and sounds similar to ㅓ (eo). The additional short line indicates that the pronunciation begins with a short "y" sound (IPA: [j]). So, ㅕ (yeo) is pronounced like the you in young.
Exercise
editTry to guess the meaning of the following Korean words:
English: Hyundai
English: Roh Moo-hyun (pronounced as [no.mu.hjʌn])
Try to write the following in Korean:
The vowel ㅛ (yo)
editㅛ (yo) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅛ (yo) (help·info) |
The next new vowel to learn is ㅛ (yo):
Letter (jamo): | ㅛ |
Pronunciation: | [jo] |
The vowel ㅛ (yo) looks and sounds similar to ㅗ (o). The additional short line indicates that the pronunciation begins with a short "y" sound (IPA: [j]). So, ㅛ (yo) is pronounced like the yo in yoga.
Exercise
editTry to guess the meaning of the following Korean words:
English: Jordan
English: shopping
Try to write the following in Korean:
The vowel ㅠ (yu)
editㅠ (yu) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅠ (yu) (help·info) |
The next new vowel to learn is ㅠ (yu):
Letter (jamo): | ㅠ |
Pronunciation: | [ju] |
The vowel ㅠ (yu) looks and sounds similar to ㅜ (u). The additional short line indicates that the pronunciation begins with a short "y" sound (IPA: [j]). So, ㅠ (yu) is pronounced like the English word you.
Exercise
editTry to guess the meaning of the following Korean words and names:
English: musical
English: menu
English: computer
English: New York
English: super(market)
English: news
English: Albert Einstein
Try to write the following in Korean:
The vowel ㅖ (ye)
editㅖ (ye) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅖ (ye) (help·info) |
The next new vowel to learn is ㅖ (ye):
Letter (jamo): | ㅖ |
Pronunciation: | [je] |
The vowel ㅖ (ye) looks and sounds similar to ㅔ (e). The additional short line indicates that the pronunciation begins with a short "y" sound (IPA: [j]). So, ㅖ (ye) is pronounced like the Ya in the English word Yale.
Exercise
editTry to guess the meaning of the following Korean words and names:
English: Yemen
English: Jesus Christ
Try to write the following in Korean:
The vowel ㅒ (yae)
editㅒ (yae) stroke order |
Sound sample of ㅒ (yae) (help·info) |
The next new vowel to learn is ㅒ (yae):
Letter (jamo): | ㅒ |
Pronunciation: | [jɛ] |
The vowel ㅒ (yae) looks and sounds similar to ㅐ (ae). The additional short line indicates that the pronunciation begins with a short "y" sound (IPA: [j]). So, ㅒ (yae) is pronounced similar to the ye in the English word yet.
Exercise
editTry to guess the meaning of the following Korean words and names:
English: Napoleon Bonaparte
Try to write the following in Korean:
End of lesson 5
editVery good! You have now learned almost all of the Korean letters. When you are ready, continue to the last lesson, Lesson 6, to learn the last of the letters: the "tense" consonants and other digraphs. (It will be easy because they are all based on letters you already know.)
Basic 예사소리 |
Letter (jamo) | ㄱ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅅ | ㅇ | ㅈ | ㅎ |
Romanization Pronunciation |
g or k [g] or [k] |
n [n] |
d or t [d] or [t] |
r or l [ɾ] or [l] |
m [m] |
b or p [b] or [p] |
s [s] |
- or ng silent or [ŋ] |
j or ch [ʥ] or [ʨ] |
h [h] | |
Aspirated 거센소리 |
Letter (jamo) | ㅋ | ㅌ | ㅍ | ㅊ | ||||||
Romanization Pronunciation |
k [kʰ] |
t [tʰ] |
p [pʰ] |
ch [ʨʰ] |
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Letter (jamo) | ㅏ | ㅑ | ㅓ | ㅕ | ㅗ | ㅛ | ㅜ | ㅠ | ㅡ | ㅣ |
Romanization Pronunciation |
a [a] |
ya [ja] |
eo [ʌ] |
yeo [jʌ] |
o [o] |
yo [jo] |
u [u] |
yu [ju] |
eu [ɯ] |
i [i] |
Letter (jamo) | ㅐ | ㅒ | ㅔ | ㅖ | ||||||
Romanization Pronunciation |
ae [ɛ] |
yae [jɛ] |
e [e] |
ye [je] |
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