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) edit
ㅋ (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 edit
Try 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) edit
ㅑ (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 edit
Try to guess the meaning of the following Korean words:
English: Yaounde
English: Kenya
English: Kinshasa
English: Reykjavik
English: Nova Scotia
The consonant ㅌ (tieut) edit
ㅌ (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 does appear with "stone". So, ㅌ (tieut) is pronounced like the t in tone.
Exercise edit
Try 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) edit
ㅍ (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 does appear with "spin". So, ㅍ (pieup) is pronounced like the p in pin.
Exercise edit
Try 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) edit
ㅊ (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 does appear with "gin". So, although there is no precise English sound for ㅊ (chieut), it is pronounced similar to the ch in chin.
Exercise edit
Try 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) edit
ㅕ (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 edit
Try 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) edit
ㅛ (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 edit
Try to guess the meaning of the following Korean words:
English: Jordan
English: shopping
Try to write the following in Korean:
The vowel ㅠ (yu) edit
ㅠ (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 edit
Try 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) edit
ㅖ (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 edit
Try 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) edit
ㅒ (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 edit
Try 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 edit
Very 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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