Chapter 5 of 17 · Explore the Korean path

Optional reference · Chapter 5 of 17

Hangul chart: find a letter and its sound

Open this when a letter you have not met blocks a word. It gives every letter with its name, its sound and a word that uses it, and shows where each shape came from.

≈ 11 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Open this when a letter you have not met blocks a word; the two stories at the end do not need any of it.
Hangul is twenty-four letters — fourteen consonants and ten vowels — designed in the fifteenth century to be learnable in a morning.
Five consonants are pictures of the mouth making the sound; the rest are those five with strokes added.
An added stroke means a puff of air; doubling means a tense sound with no puff at all.
The grids show the letters already assembled into squares, so nothing in them is new.

You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when a square contains a letter the sixteen-letter table did not cover, or when you want the names and shapes in one place. Both stories at the end are readable without it.

Two kinds of letter, as in English. A consonant is a sound you make by getting in the way of the air — b, k, s. A vowel is the open sound the air makes on its own — a, e, o. Korean letters are one or the other, and they do not change their sound the way English c does.

Match a shape to a consonant

Find the letter that looks like the one blocking you. Each entry gives its name, its sound, a word that uses it, and where the shape came from.

ㄱ기역 gi-yeok
g at the start of a word, k at the end
The back of the tongue humped up against the roof of the mouth, drawn from the side — say “g” and feel it make this exact shape.
개gae
“dog”
ㄴ니은 ni-eun
n as in no
The tongue tip touching just behind the top teeth, seen from the side.
나무na-mu
“tree”
ㄷ디귿 di-geut
d at the start, t at the end
ㄴ with a lid on it: same tongue position, but the air is shut in and released as a d.
달dal
“moon”
ㄹ리을 ri-eul
between r and l — a light tap at the start, an l at the end
A zigzag — the tongue flicking down and up again, which is what makes it land between r and l.
물mul
“water”
ㅁ미음 mi-eum
m as in me
A mouth, drawn as a box. Closed lips, and the sound comes out of the nose.
문mun
“door”
ㅂ비읍 bi-eup
b at the start, p at the end
The mouth-box ㅁ with its lid lifted off — the lips popping open to let the b out.
비bi
“rain”
ㅅ시옷 shi-ot
s as in see; sh before the i sound
A tooth — or a little mountain — with the air hissing over the point of it.
새sae
“bird”
ㅇ이응 i-eung
silent at the start of a square; ng at the bottom
An open round throat. An open hole makes no sound of its own at the front of a square.
여우yeo-u
“fox”
ㅈ지읒 ji-eut
j as in jam
The tooth ㅅ wearing a hat: the hiss with a stop in front of it, which is what a j is.
집jip
“house”
ㅊ치읓 chi-eut
ch as in chair, with a puff of air
ㅈ with one more stroke on top — and the extra stroke is the puff of air.
친구chin-gu
“friend”
ㅋ키읔 ki-euk
k as in kite, with a puff of air
ㄱ with a bar through the middle: same tongue, one extra stroke, one puff of air.
코ko
“nose”
ㅌ티읕 ti-eut
t as in top, with a puff of air
ㄷ with a third line inside it — the puffed version of the same d.
토끼to-kki
“rabbit”
ㅍ피읖 pi-eup
p as in pot, with a puff of air
The lip letter ㅂ tipped on its side: two posts under a lid, and air blown between them.
팔pal
“arm; eight”
ㅎ히읗 hi-eut
h as in hat
The open throat ㅇ wearing a hat — breath escaping over the top of it.
해hae
“sun”

Each letter has a name, which you will see in dictionaries and hear when someone spells something out. You do not have to learn the names to read.

Add a stroke, add a puff of air

Four pairs, each sharing a shape. Say the two words in the note side by side and hold a hand in front of your mouth to feel the difference.

ㄱg

ㅋk

개gae“dog” against 코ko“nose”

ㄷd

ㅌt

달dal“moon” against 탈tal“mask”

ㅂb

ㅍp

불bul“fire” against 풀pul“grass”

ㅈj

ㅊch

자다ja-da“sleep” against 차cha“tea”

Five more are made by doubling a letter. A doubled letter is tense: the mouth is tight, the sound is short and hard, and there is no puff of air at all. The nearest English has is the difference between “sky” and “kye” — the k in “sky” is the tense one.

Five letters written twice

These are the tense sounds: a letter you already know, doubled. Look for the familiar half inside each shape.

ㄲ쌍기역 ssang-gi-yeok
tight k, no puff
Two ㄱ shoulder to shoulder, with no room for air between them — that squeeze is the catch you hear in the middle of 토끼.
토끼to-kki
“rabbit”
ㄸ쌍디귿 ssang-di-geut
tight t, no puff
그때geu-ttae
“then”
ㅃ쌍비읍 ssang-bi-eup
tight p, no puff
오빠o-ppa
“a girl's older brother”
ㅆ쌍시옷 ssang-shi-ot
tight s
Two teeth instead of one: the hiss with the jaw clenched, as in the “ss” of “hiss” said hard.
있다it-tta
“there is”
ㅉ쌍지읒 ssang-ji-eut
tight j
가짜ga-jja
“a fake”

These five are not part of the twenty-four. They are letters you already have, written twice — and the doubling is not a spelling convention, it is a different sound.

The vowels are even more regular. Each of the ten basic vowels is a long line — upright or flat — with short marks added, and a second short mark puts a y in front of the vowel and changes nothing else. The compound vowels after them are built differently: two basic vowels side by side.

The ten vowels, and where their shapes come from

A vowel is the open sound the air makes on its own. Each of these ten is a long line with short marks added, so look at the line first and the marks second.

ㅏ아 a
a as in father
The standing person ㅣ with the sun on the east side of them: a bright, wide-open vowel.
말mal
“horse”
ㅑ야 ya
ya as in yard
ㅏ with a second mark, and the second mark is the y. The same trick makes ㅕ, ㅛ and ㅠ.
이야기i-ya-gi
“a story”
ㅓ어 eo
u as in cup — not a long o
The sun on the other side of the person — the dark twin of ㅏ. Say “cup”, never “oh”.
어디eo-di
“where”
ㅕ여 yeo
yu as in young
여우yeo-u
“fox”
ㅗ오 o
o as in more, lips rounded
The sun above the flat ground ㅡ. Sun up, lips rounded up.
곰gom
“bear”
ㅛ요 yo
yo as in yodel
고요go-yo
“stillness”
ㅜ우 u
oo as in moon
The same sun, now below the ground — the downward mirror of ㅗ.
물mul
“water”
ㅠ유 yu
you
우유u-yu
“milk”
ㅡ으 eu
the swallowed vowel in “taken” — lips flat, almost nothing
The flat ground, and your lips are flat to match. A line this plain can barely be a vowel.
그geu
“that”
ㅣ이 i
ee as in see
A person standing upright — the tall thin letter for the tall thin “ee”.
비bi
“rain”

A vowel is never written alone. It always sits with a consonant, and if there is no consonant sound it sits with the silent placeholder ㅇ.

Eleven vowels built from two others

Each of these is two basic vowels written side by side. The name column shows the two halves, so you can see what a shape is made of before you say it.

ㅐㅏ + ㅣ
e as in bed
You can see the ㅏ inside it. That is the one to look for later in 내 nae “my”.
개gae
“dog”
ㅔㅓ + ㅣ
e as in bed — the same sound as ㅐ for nearly everyone
The ㅓ inside it is the only thing telling it apart from ㅐ — and 네 ne is “your”.
네ne
“yes”
ㅘㅗ + ㅏ
wa as in wander
사과sa-gwa
“apple”
ㅝㅜ + ㅓ
wo as in won
뭐mwo
“what”
ㅚㅗ + ㅣ
we as in wet
회색hoe-saek
“grey”
ㅟㅜ + ㅣ
wee
쥐jwi
“mouse”
ㅙㅗ + ㅐ
we as in wet
돼지dwae-ji
“pig”
ㅞㅜ + ㅔ
we as in wet — the same again
웨딩we-ding
“wedding”
ㅒㅑ + ㅣ
ye as in yes
얘yae
“this kid”
ㅖㅕ + ㅣ
ye as in yes
예쁘다ye-ppeu-da
“is pretty”
ㅢㅡ + ㅣ
eu-i said fast; usually just “i”, and just “e” in the possessive tag
The ground ㅡ and the person ㅣ side by side — written as two, said as barely one.
의자ui-ja
“chair”

Each is two basic vowels written side by side. Some still sound like both halves run together; a few have collapsed into one sound that most speakers no longer distinguish.

Six vowels against six consonants

Every square here is made of letters from this section. Read a row to say one consonant with every vowel, and a column to say one vowel with every consonant.

Row	ㅏ a	ㅓ eo	ㅗ o	ㅜ u	ㅡ eu	ㅣ i
ㄱ g	가ga	거geo	고go	구gu	그geu	기gi
ㄴ n	나na	너neo	노no	누nu	느neu	니ni
ㅁ m	마ma	머meo	모mo	무mu	므meu	미mi
ㅂ b	바ba	버beo	보bo	부bu	브beu	비bi
ㅅ s	사sa	서seo	소so	수su	스seu	시shi
ㅇ (silent)	아a	어eo	오o	우u	으eu	이i

Read a row and you are saying one consonant with every vowel. Read a column and you are saying one vowel with every consonant. Nothing here has to be memorised — it is the letters from this same section, arranged. The consonants not shown build the same way.

The puffed and tense letters in squares

The same grid again, with the letters that carry a puff of air or a tight squeeze. Compare the k row with the kk row below it.

Row	ㅏ a	ㅗ o	ㅣ i
ㅋ k	카ka	코ko	키ki
ㄲ kk	까kka	꼬kko	끼kki
ㅆ ss	싸ssa	쏘sso	씨ssi

The other six behave the same way, and you can build them in your head: ㅌ gives 타ta, ㅃ gives 빠ppa. There is no separate system to learn.

Which letters make which closing sound

Read this table backwards from the letter you can see underneath a square. Whichever row it sits in tells you the sound to say.

Sound at the end	Letters written there	Example
k	ㄱ ㅋ ㄲ	책chaek“book”
n	ㄴ	문mun“door”
t	ㄷ ㅌ ㅅ ㅆ ㅈ ㅊ ㅎ	옷ot“clothes”
l	ㄹ	물mul“water”
m	ㅁ	곰gom“bear”
p	ㅂ ㅍ	숲sup“forest”
ng	ㅇ	강gang“river”

Seven different letters all come out as a plain t. That is why 옷ot is “ot” and not “os” — until something follows it, and the s comes back.

Two changes that look like exceptions and are not

Read the spelling, then the sound, then the note explaining what happened between them.

많다

많다man-ta“is a lot”

the ㅎ of a doubled floor burns into the d, exactly as rule three says

물고기

물고기mul-kko-gi“fish”

at the join between two halves of a compound word the second half often goes tense

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