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Alphabet in Korean Language
Understanding the Korean alphabet is critical in mastering the Korean Language. Korean alphabet structure is used in a daily conversation. Without the Korean alphabet, it is extremely hard to speak the Korean phrases properly even if anyone know how to write those terms in Korean. Learn More
As with any language, the better a person articulate a letter in a word, the more understood you’ll be in talking the Korean language. Following are links which guides you to the Korean alphabet and exactly how it is actually pronounced in English.
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Vowels in Korean Alphabet
| Korean vowels can be short or long, but this is not indicated in writing and the distinction rarely if ever affects meaning. (example: 밤 bam, pronounced short means "night", pronounced long means "chestnut") | |
| like 'a' in "father" | a ㅏ |
| like 'o' in "tone" | o ㅗ |
| like the "uh" in "lust" | eo (ŏ) ㅓ |
| A low sound of "oo" as in "hoop". "woo" (Korean does not distinguish between "oo" and "woo"). | u ㅜ |
| like 'i' in "cousin", "dozen". Like the Turkish "ı". Kind of similar to the french "eu", but as a clearer, purer vowel sound. | eu (ŭ) ㅡ |
| like the 'i' in "ship" (short) OR the 'ee' in "sheep" (long) | i ㅣ |
| like the 'e' in "bed" | e ㅔ |
| similar to the "a" in "hand", "valve", "gas", and "can" | ae ㅐ |
| note: ㅐ ae is now virtually identically pronounced as ㅔ e. Only rare words are unconsciously pronounced differently like they were half a century ago ("애", or "child" is one such remnant). |
Consonants in Korean Alphabet
| Most Korean consonants come in three versions, namely unaspirated (without a puff of air), aspirated (with a puff of air) and tensed (stressed). Unaspirated consonants exist in English too, but never alone: compare the sound of 'p' in "pot" (aspirated) and "spot" (unaspirated). Many English speakers find it helpful to pronounce an imperceptible little "m" in front to 'stop' the puff. Tensing isn't really found in English, but pronouncing the consonant quick and hard is a reasonable substitute. | |
| like 'p' in "spit" (unaspirated) | b (p) ㅂ |
| like 'p' in "pig" (aspirated) | p (p', ph) ㅍ |
| tensed 'p', like 'p' in "petit" in French | pp ㅃ |
| like 't' in "stab" (unaspirated) | d (t) ㄷ |
| like 't' in "top" (aspirated) | t (t', th) ㅌ |
| tensed 't' | tt ㄸ |
| like 'k' in "skate" (unaspirated) | g (k) ㄱ |
| like 'c' in "cat" (aspirated) | k (k', k) ㅋ |
| tensed 'k' | kk ㄲ |
| like 'g' in "gin" (unaspirated) | j (ch) ㅈ |
| like 'ch' in "chin" (aspirated). Usually pronounced as a light aspiratd 't' as a final consonant | ch (ch') ㅊ |
| tensed 'j' | jj ㅉ |
| like 's' in "soon", 'sh' before i or any "y" dipthong. Usually pronounced as a very light 't' as a final consonant | s ㅅ |
| tensed 's', 's' in 'sea', never 'sh' | ss ㅆ |
| Standalone consonants: | |
| like 'n' in "nice" | n ㄴ |
| like 'm' in "mother" | m ㅁ |
| somewhere between 'l', 'r' and 'n', original sound is 'r' or 'l'. and 'n' sound occurs through initial consonant mutation. | l ㄹ |
| like 'h' in "help" | h ㅎ |
| like 'ng' in "sing". Unpronounced (placeholder) when at the start of a syllable. | ng ㅇ |
| While the rules above are usually correct for the first consonant, those in the middle of a word are usually (but not always) voiced, which means that ㅂㄷㅈㄱ turn into English "b", "d", "j" and "k". The best rule of thumb is to concentrate on remembering that the first consonant is "special" and the rest are more or less as in English: bibimbap (비빔밥) is pronounced "pee-bim-bap", not "bee-bim-bap" or "p'ee-bim-bap". | |
| The aspirated spellings with "h" are used only in the official North Korean orthography. | |
| Loanwords | |
| Native Korean words can end only in vowels or the consonants k, l, m, n, ng, p or s, and any words imported into Korean are shoehorned to fit this pattern, usually by padding any errant consonants with the vowel eu (ㅡ). For example, any English word ending in "t" will be pronounced as teu (트) in Korean, eg. Baeteumaen (배트맨) for "Batman". In addition, the English sound "f" is turned into p and has that vowel tacked on, so "golf" becomes golpeu (골프). |
Semi Vowels/ Diphthongs in Korean Alphabet
| Korean has two standalone diphthongs: | |
| to summarize the assimiliated vowel diphthongs mentioned above, |
| Korean sentence structure is very similar to that of Japanese, so speakers of Japanese will find many aspects of Korean grammar familiar, and Korean speakers likewise with Japanese. But there are similar but slight differences to the standardized pronunciations, and the Korean language, even after its simplification in the past century, has a wider library of vowels and consonants than Japanese, hence Japanese speakers may find it difficult to pronounce various words, let alone transcribe them. | |
| Korean word order is subject-object-verb: "I-subject him-object see-verb." Subjects (especially I and you) are often omitted if these are clear from the context. This may seem awkward from an English perspective, but English too has colloquial 1st-person/2nd-person subject omissions, such as "[Are you] Done yet?" or "[I'm] Done." It is a matter of whether sentences are common enough that such lack of subjects doesn't confuse the listener. In turn, some English colloquial sentences without subjects may be confusing from a Korean standpoint. | |
| There are no articles, genders, or declensions. It has extensive verb conjugations indicating tense and honorific level. There is a handy, universal plural form, but it is very often omitted. | |
| Korean has postpositions instead of prepositions: jip mite, "house below" instead of "below the house." | |
| Koreans refer to each other in terms like elder brother, elder sister, younger sibling, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather, manager, teacher etc. (like Nepalese or Chinese) rather than using the word you. Additionally, it's not uncommon to refer to yourself by using such an expression ( example: "[I] Father will cook you a nice dinner." Which feels like saying "This father will..."). You can also call somebody an aunt, uncle or brother even if this person is actually not. Many Korean girls call even their boyfriend "oppa" (older brother). | |
| Depending on the relation to the person you have conversation with, it's necessary to find the correct level of formality and politeness. If the person is considered to be higher in the hierarchy, a very polite and formal form has to be used, while this person will use a more "vernacular" form to address you as a lower person. Koreans often ask very personal questions (about your age, occupation, family status etc.) in order to find out in which form they should use when talking to you. This phrasebook assumes the highest formality level in most cases. Not only are words conjugated according to 6 existing levels of formality (but 2 are becoming unused), but a few words will also be replaced with different words altogether. Extremely formal places will often use some Chinese postal words as well. |
[table id=korean filter=”Special Consonant Cluste
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