Easy Ways to Memorize Korean Hangul – Beginning ConsonantsIt may be a daunting task to memorize a random combination of lines and circles when you first try to learn Korean hangul, but once you understand the “design” of the pictorial characters, you may pick up the pronunciations of the characters way more easily.
First and foremost, ㄱ for the sound g. Its shape is a side view of the tongue with the back of the tongue raised, you can imagine that’s how your tongue is shaped when you pronounce g.
Next, ㄴ for the sound n. Again, its shape is a side view of the tongue when the tip of the tongue is raised to pronounce n.
When you pronounce d, you not only need to have the tip of your tongue raised,
but have it released after that. The mnemonic is to put a stroke on top of ㄴ to
make it ㄷ for the dsound.
For the sound r or l, extend the lines on top of ㄷ to make it ㄹ.
For the sound m, you close your mouth when you pronounce it. So you close the
gap in ㄷ to make it ㅁ.
For the sound b, you close and then open your mouth when you pronounce it. So
you extend ㅁ from both sides to make it ㅂ.
Next, for the sound s, it is something you need to use your teeth to pronounce. It
is written as ㅅ.
For the sound j, it is also a sound “with teeth,” so put a stroke on top of ㅅ to
make it ㅈ.
For ㅇ, just think of it as a zero, so it represents no beginning consonant. But make sure you know it represents the nasal sound ng when it is an ending consonant. In this case, think of it as a circle, so it is related to the nasal
sound m represented by the rectangular ㅁ.
So we covered the basic jamo. For the aspirated sounds (which you need to make sure air is ejected from your mouth when you pronounce them), they are just modified from the non-aspirated counter-parts:
g → k:ㄱ→ㅋ
d → t:ㄷ→ㅌ
j → ch:ㅈ→ㅊ
b → p:ㅂ→ㅍ
empty → h:ㅇ→ㅎ
It is trivial to memorize the “doubles,” namely ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅉ, ㅃ and ㅆ. Just make sure you raise your pitch to pronounce them if you cannot distinguish the difference between them and their basic counter-parts.
Easy Ways to Memorize Korean Hangul – VowelsIn general, it is not a good idea to use Latin alphabets to represent the sounds of
Korean vowels, because except for a few of them, such as 아 or 이, you will most probably not be able to pronounce the vowels correctly simply by looking at the
Romanization. Try to pronounce eu and listen to 으 and you will know what I am talking about.
So how can you learn? An alternative way is to “map” the vowels to some simple words in English which (closely) share the sounds. Again it will not work for all vowels, but at least we can have most of the vowels covered this way.
아 spa
이 bee
우 moon
에, 애 main
어 more
오 low
으 -
When you pronounce 아 and 어, make sure your mouth is wide open. Consider the vertical stroke as the length of the gap between your lips. When you
pronounce 우, make your lips rounded and stick out your lips as much as you
can. Think of the T shape as how you look at your lips from the top. For 오, it is
Spanish o or French eau, if you know Spanish or French (which I have never
learned). The difference between 어 and 오 is that you keep your lips rounded
when pronouncing 오, but you lower your jaw and open your mouth when you
pronounce 어.
The last simple Korean vowel 으 has no equivalence in English. When you
pronounce 으, keep your lips unrounded (like the shape of the horizontal stroke).
If you start with 이, which you shouldn’t have a problem to pronounce, move your
tongue back slightly and keep your lips straight, you should be pronouncing 으.
Complex VowelsTechnically, complex vowels are called diphthongs which consist of semi-vowels (y or w) before the main vowels. It is straight forward to identify the y-type complex vowels, as they usually have 2 short strokes attached to the single long stroke.
야 = y + 아 요 = y + 오 얘 = y + 애 여 = y + 어 유 = y + 우 예 = y + 에 의 = 으 + y*
The last complex vowel, 의, is quite tricky, not only that it doesn’t have 2 short strokes on a long stroke, but also that it can be pronounced in 3 different ways. When it is at the beginning of a word, such as 의사 (doctor), it is pronounced as
으 + 이. However, when it is used to represent the possessive suffix, it is
pronounced as 에. When it is neither a word-initial nor a possessive suffix, such
as 거의 (almost), it is pronounced as 이.
For w-type complex vowels, it is simply a combination of 오 or 우 (for the “w”
sound) and the main vowel. There is one exception though: 외 is not a
combination of “w” and 이, but instead, a combination of “w” and 에. As a result,
even with different spellings, 외, 왜 and 웨 essentially denote the same pronunciation.
와 = w + 아 왜 = w + 애
외 = w + 에 * 워 = w + 어 웨 = w + 에 위 = w + 이
The choice of 오 or 우 may look random, but the rule is that you can’t combine bright vowels with dark vowels. The vowel classification (as bright and dark) is important for verb and adjective conjunction in Korean, but for now you can
simply take it as a fact that 아 and 오 are bright vowels, 어 and 우 are dark
vowels, and 이 is considered neutral. As a result, you can see from the above
table, 이 is the only case which may combine with both 오 (a bright vowel) or
우 (a dark vowel) to form a complex vowel.
Pronunciations of Korean Consonants at the Beginning of a WordIt is often confusing to beginning (or even more advanced) Korean learners, that a consonant sounds different when it appears at different positions of a word. The good news is, there is a clear set of rules to dictate how a consonant should be pronounced in Korean. But we will need to go over a few basic technical concepts before we can understand the rules.
First of all, the concept of voicing. If you put your fingers on your throat (to where your vocal cords locate) and try to say something, sound that you can feel the vocal cord vibration is called voiced, otherwise it is voiceless. In English, for example, b is voiced and p is voiceless, z is voiced and s is voiceless. In
Korean, all vowels are always voiced, so are nasal consonants ㅁ ㄴ ㅇ and
consonant ㄹ. On the other hand, all other consonants are voiceless when they are at the beginning of a word.
Next, the concept of aspiration. If you put your fingers in front of your mouth and try to say something, sound that you can feel a puff of air out of your mouth is called aspirated, otherwise it is unaspirated. In English, for example, p is
aspirated and b is unaspirated. In Korean, at the beginning of a word, ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ are not aspirated, ㅂ ㅈ ㄷ ㄱ ㅅ are lightly aspirated, and ㅍ ㅊ ㅌ ㅋ are
strongly aspirated. It explains, for instance, why ㄱ is denoted as g (g is
unaspirated in English) but you may hear it as [ka] for the word 가요, as ㄱ is slightly aspirated (and voiceless) in this case.
Last, the concept of tenseness. It is used to distinguish the contrast of similar
consonants, such as ㅂ and ㅃ. ㅃ is tense, in the sense that it is pronounced with an extra effort, such as quicker opening and firmer closing of the lips. The
following vowel is usually of higher pitch too. On the other hand, ㅂ is lax, without
all these features. As you can predict, all the “doubles” ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ are tense.
ㅂ ㅈ ㄷ ㄱ ㅅ voiceless, lightly aspirated, lax
ㅍ ㅊ ㅌ ㅋ voiceless, strongly aspirated
ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ voiceless, unaspirated, tense
ㅁ ㄴ ㄹ voiced
ㅇ no sound
Pronunciations of Korean consonants at the beginning of a word
Resyllabification and Pronunciations of Korean ConsonantsRecall that in spoken Korean, a sequence of sound is easier to pronounce when it is in a consonant-vowel sequence. It leads to an important pronunciation rule that, if a final consonant in a hangul is followed by a hangul without a beginning consonant, that final consonant “spills over” to the next hangul. A simple example is that you pronounce 음악(music) as [으막], with the final consonant ㅁ “spills
over” to 악 to make it 막.
Technically it is called resyllabification, or in a more layman term, consonant relinking. Consider when you say Thank you in English, you don’t utter “thank” and “you” separately, but you link the ending “k” to “you” in your pronunciation. In Korean, as you will see, this pronunciation rule is very common.
In the previous example, 음악 is a single word. How about cases like those in between word boundary in a phrase? In fact, as long as no pause is required between the words, this resyllabification rule applies. For example, 밖에 (outside)
is pronounced as [바께], and 꼭 오세요 (please come by for sure) is pronounced
as [꼬고세요].
When the final consonant is a complex one, i.e. ㄳ ㄺ ㄵ ㄶ ㄻ ㅄ ㄿ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ or ㅀ, you only “spill over” the final consonant that is on the right for the double final consonants. For example, you “spill over” ㅈ to make 앉아요 (sit down) pronounce
as [안자요].
Here is a summary of the resyllabification rule:
Case Description Example Pronunciation Meaning
1 spill over within a word 음악 [으막] music
2 spill over before a particle 밖에 [바께] outside
3 spill over between words in a phrase 꼭 오세요 [꼬고세요]please come by for sure
4spill over for a complex final consonant 앉아요 [안자요] sit down
This resyllabification rule will get more complicated when it combines with other pronunciation rules, such as tensification or nasal assimilation, which I will talk about next.
Nasal Assimilation and Pronunciations of Korean ConsonantsWhen you say thank you (감사합니다) in Korean, you say gam-sa-ham-ni-da. You do not say gam-sa-hab-ni-da, due to nasal assimilation.
Nasal assimilation, or nasalization, is a process to convert a consonant into one of the nasal sound ㅁ(m) ㄴ(n) ㅇ(ng). When an ending consonant of a hangul is
followed by a hangul with a beginning consonant ㅁ(m) or ㄴ(n), then nasal assimilation takes place. See the table below for the assimilation process.
Ending Consonant Pronunciation After Assimilation Example
ㅂ ㅍ ㅄ ㄿ ㄼ ㅂ ㅁ 감사합니다 [감사함니다]
ㄷ ㅌ ㅈ ㅊ ㅅ ㅆ ㅎ ㄷ ㄴ 믿는다 [민는다]
ㄱ ㅋ ㄲ ㄳ ㄺ ㄱ ㅇ 작년 [장년]
Here are more examples:
Example Pronunciation After Assimilation Meaning
고맙습니다 [고맙슴니다] thank you
앞문 [암문] front door
몇년 [면년] how many years
없나요 [엄나요]
갔나요? [간나요] Is he gone?
밥 먹어요 [밤 머거요] I am eating rice
옷 많아요 [온 마나요] There are many clothes
As you can see in the last 2 examples, the nasal assimilation process can apply across word boundary, especially when you say it fast enough and do not pause between the words.
Tensing and Pronunciations of Korean ConsonantsRecall that tensing is one of the 3 important concepts for Korean pronunciations, and it is the easiest one to memorize – all the “doubles” ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ are tense.
The opposite of tenseness is lax, and as you expect, ㅂ ㅈ ㄷ ㄱ ㅅ are lax consonants.
So when would you pronounce a lax consonant as a tense one? The whole idea of this kind of phonetic change is to make the pronunciation more natural, and if you ask a native speaker, most probably they would simply tell you “When it sounds more natural that way.” Fortunately, a lot of tensing occur with a regular rule, as follows:
When a consonant ㅂ ㅈ ㄷ ㄱ or ㅅ follows another consonant other than the
nasal (ㄴ ㅁ ㅇ) or ㄹ, you need to pronounce it as ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ or ㅆ (i.e. tensing).
Examples
Word Pronunciation Meaning
덥다 [덥따] hot
학기 [학끼] semester
학생 [학쌩] student
같다 [갇따] same
낮잠 [낟짬] nap
Word Pronunciation Meaning
좋습니다 [졷씀니다] It is good
책 보세요 [책 뽀세요] Please read the book
As you can see from the last example, this tensing process can apply across word boundary, depending on the focus of the phrase or sentence.
Tensing without a RuleWhile we have a regular rule for tensing, unfortunately there are many other Korean words which tensing applies without a rule. You will need to learn them on a case-by-case basis down the road of your Korean learning career.
Examples
Word Meaning [Pronunciation]
한자 Chinese characters [한짜]; one character [한 자]
시가 market price [시까]; city streets [시가]
장기 special talent [장끼]; chess [장기]
인기 popularity [인끼]
출장 business trip [출짱]
먹을 거 things to eat [머글 꺼]
먹은 거 things that I ate [머근 거]
In the first 3 examples, you can see that different meanings in the same word are distinguished by with or without tensing in the second hangul. The last 2 examples is to demonstrate that the pattern with future tense modifier …을 거 is
always tense but not the pattern with present/past tense modifier 는/은 거.
A lot of borrowed words have an optional tensing in the initial consonant, such as 바스 [바스 or 빠스] for bus, 바나나 [바나나 or 빠나나] for banana, or 게임 [게임 or
께임] for game. For native Korean words, very often tensing for the initial
consonant is to emphasize intensity, such as 작아요 [짜가요] to emphasize it is small.
Voicing and Pronunciations of Korean ConsonantsYou may wonder why when you hear Korean words with consonants ㅂ ㄷ ㄱ or
ㅈ, sometimes they are b-, d-, g- and j-like, but some other times they are p-, t-,
k-, and ch-like respectively. One of the factors effecting their pronunciations is voicing.
Voicing is one of the 3 important concepts for Korean pronunciations. If you are not sure what voicing is, please review this post. In a nutshell, all Korean vowels
are always voiced, so are nasal consonants ㅁ ㄴ ㅇ and consonant ㄹ. On the other hand, all other consonants are voiceless when they are at the beginning of
a word. As a result, ㅂ ㄷ ㄱ or ㅈ are more p-like, t-like, k-like, and ch-like than b-like, d-like, g-like and j-like respectively at the beginning of a word.But how about when these consonants are pronounced in between a word? They
become fully voiced, i.e., ㅂ ㄷ ㄱ or ㅈ becomes b-, d-, g- and j-like respectively when they are pronounced in between voiced sounds. It explains why, for the same consonant symbol, you may hear different sounds at different situations.Examples
Word Meaning Notes
비 rain ㅂ is voiceless
나비 butterfly ㅂ is b-like
다 all ㄷ is voiceless
바다 sea ㄷ is d-like
개 dog ㄱ is voiceless
무지개 rainbow ㄱ is g-like
자리 location ㅈ is voiceless
여자 woman ㅈ is j-like
Phrase Pronunciation Meaning Notes
잎 아니야 [입] 아니야 it is not a leaf ㅂ is b-like
맛 없어요 [맏] 없어요 it is tasteless ㄷ is d-like
밖 어두워 [박] 어두워 outside is dark ㄱ is g-like
As you can see from the second set of examples, voicing can apply across word boundary, if the ending consonant needs to be pronounced as ㅂ ㄷ or ㄱ, and the following word begins with a vowel.Summary of Voicing and Pronunciations of Korean Consonants ㅂ ㄷ ㄱ ㅈ
At the beginning of a word
ㅂ voiceless, more p-like than b-like
ㄷ voiceless, more t-like than d-like
ㄱ voiceless, more k-like than g-like
ㅈ voiceless, more ch-like than j-like
Between two voiced sounds within a word
ㅂ fully voiced, b-like
ㄷ fully voiced, d-like
ㄱ fully voiced, g-like
ㅈ fully voiced, j-like
At the end of a word followed by a word beginning with a vowel
ㅂ fully voiced, b-like
ㄷ fully voiced, d-like
ㄱ fully voiced, g-like
ㅈ does not apply
1)
[Ahn-nyung-ha-se-yo]
[Mahn-na-seo ban-ga-weo-yo]
[Ahn-nyung-hyi-ga-se-yo]
2)
[Dang-shin-euyi yi-reum-eun moo-eot-yip-nyi-kka]
[Nae yi-reum-eun so-yong-do-ri-yip-nyi-da]
3)
[Dang-shin-euyi jyik-ap-eun moo-eot-yip-nyi-kka]
[Nae jyik-ap-eun hahk-saeng-yip-nyi-da]
4)
[Eol-ma-yip-nyi-kka]
[Mahn-o-cheon-won-yip-nyi-da]
[Byi-ssah-yo]
[Ye]
[Yi-geot-do byi-ssah-yo]
[Ah-nyi-yo, ssah-yo]
5)
[Dae-sah-gwan-yi eo-dyi-yip-nyi-kka]
[Jeo-jjok-yip-nyi-da]
[Eol-mah-nah geol-lyip-nyi-kka]
[O bwoon geol-lyip-nyi-da]
[Go-mahp-seup-nyi-da]
6)
[Nwoo-gwoo-shyip-nyi-kka]
[Nah-ye-yo]
[Eo-seo-o-se-yo]
[Bahn-gahp-seup-nyi-da]
[Ahn-jeu-se-yo]
[Ceo-pyi deu-shyi-get-sseo-yo]
[Ye, go-mahp-seup-nyi-da]
7)
[Eo-dyi gah-syip-nyi-kka]
[Hahk-kyo-e gahp-nyi-da]
[Eo-dyi-e-seo sah-syip-nyi-kka]
[Seo-wool-e-seo sahp-nyi-da]
8)
[Ye-yak-hah-syeot-sseup-nyi-kka]
[Ah-nyi-yo]
[Myeo-chyil-dong-ahn gye-shyi-get-sseup-nyi-kka]
[Hah-rwoo-yo]
[Jahm-kkahn-mahn kyi-dah-ryi-se-yo]
9)
[Nae-yil syi-gahn yi-sseo-yo]
[Eop-sseo-yo]
[Wae-yo]
[Bah-bbah-yo]
10)
[Chi-geum myeot-shyi-ye-yo]
[Yil-gop-ssyi sahm-syip-bwoon-yip-nyi-da]
11)
[Yeo-bo-se-yo]
[So-yong-do-ri yit-sseup-nyi-kka]
[Jeon-de-yo]