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DATE- 18th , 19th ,
20th
The Korean Alphabet (Hangul 한글)
Today we are going to provide you with a definitive notes
to the Korean Alphabet, known as Hangul 한글.
Maybe you just want to learn a new language for fun… but
whatever your motive, the Korean Alphabet is an essential
starting point for learning Korean.

So on that note, let’s start, shall we!

To be able to master the Korean language, you have to
learn the alphabet called Hangul
Don’t worry, it might look intimidating at first, but you’re
in luck.

According to King Sejong The Great, who was the inventor

of Hangul…
“A wise man [could] acquaint himself with them before
the morning [was] over; a stupid man [could] learn them in
the space of ten days.”
Maybe King Sejong was a bit harsh, it did take me a little bit
more than that to be totally familiar with the Korean
alphabet, but we get his drift!
It might take a little work at the beginning but once you are
familiar with Hangul it will be so much easier for you to
continue working on your Korean skills.
Perhaps in this instance it’s better to disappoint King
Sejong and take more than ten days to learn Hangul, than
start learning Korean on a shaky basis.
Take your time, relax, make a game out of it and we will be
there to guide you through the process.

Korean Alphabet | A Quick History Lesson

Before the invention of Hangul, Koreans mostly used
Classical Chinese but that was mostly for higher class
Koreans.
Indeed, the difference between the Chinese characters
(Hanja) and the pronunciation of Korean words were too
different and it was difficult for many to be literate.
Korean Alphabet
During the Joseon dynasty in 1443, King Sejong designed
an alphabet that could be easily read and written by people
from all classes.
The goal was to invent an alphabet that was closer to the
Korean pronunciation and would mimic the movements the
mouth makes when you talk the language.
At the beginning, this alphabet had to face the adversity of
scholars (called yangbans). However, it became more and
more widely used by women and lower class Koreans.
Whilst Hangul was still mocked by some intellectuals until
the 20th century, now Hanja letters are rarely in use
anymore at all, with only a few exceptions (when writing
letters for weddings or for New Year’s wishes for
example).
Hangul has taken its revenge and is the one that remained
in daily use.
Korean Alphabet | Hangul Today
In historical K-dramas, you might see Korean texts written
and read top to bottom, right to left just like in Ancient
China.
You can also find it today written that way for aesthetic
purposes (in poetry for example).
However, these days it is written from left to right and uses
western punctuation.
Hangul used to be composed of 28 basic letters, but over
the passage of time 4 letters were lost.
Therefore, today only 24 of these remain in Hangul, the
Korean Alphabet. 14 consonant letters and 10 vowels.
However, there is more.
After the basic letters of Hangul you will find two different
sets of complex consonants (5 double consonants and 11
complex consonants) and one set of 11 complex vowels,
making a total of 27 complex letters.
So just to summarise that:
Hangul includes 24 basic letters
14 consonant letters
10 vowel letters
Additionally there are 27 complex letters formed by
combining the basic letters from the above
5 tense consonant letters
11 complex consonant letters
11 complex vowel letters
Korean Alphabet | Pronunciation
If you are quite new to the Korean Alphabet and maybe not
familiar with the transcription of phonetics, it might be
difficult to get a grasp on the pronunciation at first.
And that’s OK by the way, the sounds are likely nothing
like ones that you know.
That’s why in notes we will break down each letter with
the phonetics but also with examples of words in English
containing that sound, so that it will be easier for you to
learn it.

Korean Consonants | All 14 Of Them

OK, let’s learn the Korean Alphabet together!

Korean Consonant #1 is ㄱ
ㄱ “giyeok” g/k [k/] makes the same sound as the g in
good. 가방 is pronounced kabang which means bag.
Korean Consonant #2 is ㄴ
ㄴ “nien” n [n] makes the same sound as the n in nose.
노래 is pronounced norae which means song.
Korean Consonant #3 is ㄷ
ㄷ “diget” d/t [t/d] makes the same sound as the d in day.
대한민국 is pronounced dae han min guk which means
South Korea.
Korean Consonant #4 is ㄹ
ㄹ “riel” l/r [l/r] makes the same sound as the l in lamp.
라면 is pronounced ra myeon which means ramen.
Korean Consonant #5 is ㅁ
ㅁ “miem” m [m] makes the same sound as the m in
moon. 엄마 is pronounced eomma which means mum.
Korean Consonant #6 is ㅂ
ㅂ “biep p/b [p/b] makes the same sound as the b in
banana. 밥 is pronounced bap which means rice.
Korean Consonant #7 is ㅅ
ㅅ “shiot” s [s] makes the same sound as the s in spoon.
사과 is pronounced sa gwa which means apple.
Korean Consonant #8 is ㅇ
ㅇ “ieng” silent/ng [ŋ] silent sound or ng sound like in
yang. 방 is pronounced bang which means room.
Korean Consonant #9 is ㅈ
ㅈ “jiet” j [ts] makes the same sound as the j in jelly. 지도
is pronounced jido map which means map.
Korean Consonant #10 is ㅊ
ㅊ “chiet” ch [sʰ] makes the same sound as the ch in
chair. 친구 is pronounced as chingu which means friend.
Korean Consonant #11 is ㅋ
ㅋ “kiuek” k [kʰ] makes the same sound as the k in kiwi.
커피 is pronounced as kopi which means coffee.
Korean Consonant #12 is ㅌ
ㅌ “tiet” t [tʰ] makes the same sound as the t in table.
토마토 is pronounced tomato which is the same word in
English, tomato! This one is easy!
Korean Consonant #13 is ㅍ
ㅍ “piep” p [pʰ] makes the same sound as the p in panda.
팔 is pronounced pal which means arm.
Korean Consonant #14 is ㅎ
“hiet” h [h] makes the same sound as the h in hat. 하늘 is
pronounced haneul which means sky.

Korean Vowels | All 10 Of Them

OK first rule to understand with vowels in Korean.
You will never see a vowel written on its own. It is always
ㅇ 아
preceded by “ ” for example “ ”, the “ ” being ㅇ
silent. We only pronounce the last letter, which is the vowel.
For convenience, during this lesson, we learn without the
ㅇ
“ ”. Just be aware of it when reading the example
words we give.
Korean Vowel #1 is ㅏ
ㅏ a [a] makes the same sound as the a at the end of santa.
차 is pronounced cha which means car.
Korean Vowel #2 isㅑ
ㅑ ya [ja] makes the same sound as the ya in yahoo. 약속 is
pronounced yak sok which means promise.
Korean Vowel #3 is ㅓ
ㅓ eo [ʌ] makes the same sound as o in song without the
ng sound. 버스 is pronounced bo sseu which means bus.
Korean Vowel #4 is ㅕ
ㅕ yeo [jʌ] makes the same sound as the yo in young
without the ng sound. 여자 is pronounced yo ja which
means woman.
Korean Vowel #5 is ㅗ
ㅗ o [o] makes the same sound as the o in doll. 봄 is
pronounced bom which means spring
Korean Vowel #6 is ㅛ
ㅛ yo [yo] makes the same sound as the yo in yoga. 요리사
is pronounced yo li sa which means cook/chef.
Korean Vowel #7 is ㅜ
ㅜ u [u] makes the same sound as the u in unicorn. 문 is
pronounced mun which means door.
Korean Vowel #8 is ㅠ
ㅠ yu [yu] makes the same sound as the you in youth. 휴가
is pronounced hyu ga which means holidays.
Korean Vowel #9 is ㅡ
ㅡ eu [ɨ] This sound does not exist in English. The best
comparison of this sound is when you are confused with
something… “uh?”.
아이스크림 pronounced ah e seu keu lim. This one is also
quite easy as it means… ice cream! Read the Korean again,
see how similar they are!
Korean Vowel #10 is ㅣ
ㅣ I [i] makes the same sound as the y in baby. 아이 is
pronounced a e which means child.

Korean Double Consonants | All 5 Of

Them
Korean Double Consonant #1 is ㄲ
ㄲ “ssang giyeok” kk [k*] makes the same sound as the
k in ski. 꿀 is pronounced kkul which means honey.
Korean Double Consonant #2 is ㄸ
ㄸ “ssang diget” tt [t*] makes the same sound as the t in
kitten. 딸 is pronounced ddal which means daughter.
Korean Double Consonant #3 is ㅃ
ㅃ “ssang biep” p [p*] makes the same sound as the p in
apartment. 아빠 is pronounced appa which means dad.
Korean Double Consonant #4 is ㅆ
ㅆ “ssang shiot” ss [s*] makes the same sound as the sh
in sushi. 쑥 is pronounced ssuk which means mugwort (a
traditional plant in Korea used in medicine and cosmetics).
Korean Double Consonant #5 is ㅉ
ㅉ “ssang jiet” [tsʰ] is also a bit tricky because there is no
equivalent in the English language.It is a mix between the J
in Jim and the Ch in China.
짜장면 pronounced jja jang myeon which means black
bean noodles (a staple of Korean food).

Korean Complex Vowels | All 11 Of Them

Korean Complex Vowel #1 is ㅐ
ㅐ ae [æ] makes the same sound as the a in rare. 개미 is
pronounced kae-mi which means ant.
Korean Complex Vowel #2 is ㅒ
ㅒ yae [yæ] makes the same sound as the ya in yak. 얘기 is
pronounced yae-gi which means story.
Korean Complex Vowel #3 is ㅔ
ㅔ e [e] makes the same sound as the e in help. 가게 is
pronounced ka-ge which means store.
Korean Complex Vowel #4 is ㅖ
ㅖ ye [ye] makes the same sound as the ye in yet. 시계 is
pronounced si-gye which means watch.
Korean Complex Vowel #5 is ㅘ
ㅘ wa [wa] makes the same sound as the wo in wow, so a
little bit closer to a wa sound.사과 pronounced sa-gwa
which means apple
Korean Complex Vowel #6 is ㅙ
ㅙ wae [wae] makes the same sound as the we in wedding.
돼지 is pronounced dwae-ji which means pork.
Korean Complex Vowel #7 is ㅚ
ㅚ oe [we] makes the same sound as the wha in whale.
괴물 is pronounced goe-mul which means monster.
Korean Complex Vowel #8 is ㅝ
ㅝ weo [wʌ] makes the same sound as the who in
wholesome. 고마워 is pronounced go-ma-weo and is an
informal way of saying thank you.
Korean Complex Vowel #9 is ㅞ
ㅞ wae [wae] makes the same sound as the we in web. It is
very similar to the sound ㅙ
Oddly enough even native Korean speakers have
difficulties telling them apart.
웨삼촌 is pronounced wae sam-tchun which means
maternal uncle.
Korean Complex Vowel #10 is ㅟ
ㅟ wi [wi] makes the same sound as the pronoun we. 귀 is
pronounced gwi which means ear.
Korean Complex Vowel #11 is ㅢ
ㅢ ui [ɨj] makes the same sound as the wi in willow. 의사 is
pronounced oe-sa which means doctor.

Korean Complex Consonants | All 11 Of

Them
Complex Consonants in Korean are a little bit tricky. Why?
Because we have two consonants combined, but we only
hear one sound.
There are not many tips and tricks you need to take on
board here. It’s simply a case of getting familiar with them,
using them and memorising them. The more you use them,
the more familiar it becomes. Don’t worry it gets easier
with time.
Once you learn a few words containing complex
consonants also called a cluster of consonants, you will get
used to them quicker than you might imagine!
Complex Consonant Actual Sound
ㄳ (gs) g
ㄵ (nj) nj
ㄶ (nh) nh
ㄺ (lg) g
ㄻ (lm) m
ㄼ (lb) b
ㄽ (ls) s
ㄾ (lt) t
ㄿ (lp) p
ㅀ (lh) h
ㅄ (ps) p
Batchim “ 받침”
We cannot finish without mentioning the dreaded Batchim.
This word sends a shiver down the spine of all Korean
natives and Korean learners!
Batchim is a very difficult concept to understand when
you’re not Korean. If that makes you feel better, even
native Korean get them wrong quite often.
In essence – Batchim is a consonant placed at the bottom
and pronounced at the end in a Korean syllable block. It
makes Korean writing system very unique.
The actual word Batchim “ 받침 ” means to support, which
is effectively what it does in a grammatical sense also. It
supports others letters from below
깊이 and 기피 are both romanized as‘gi pi’.
When spoken they are both also the same ‘gi pi’.
BUT –
깊이 means deep or depth
기피 means to avoid or evade
As they sound the same, and are romanized the same the
Batchim allowsus to differentiate the word.
Don‘t worry, as we are at the early stagesof learning
Korean, we don’t need to worry too much aboutthis just
yet!