Korean

• hangeul
  • Pronunciation
  • Letter placement within a block
  • Vowels
    • Compound Vowels
    • Jeju
  • Consonants
    • Special cases
    • Jeju
• Accents
• Jeju

Some of my notes may not apply to North Korean (DPRK) usage.

hangeul

Pronunciation

The shape of the tongue when pronouncing ㄱ (g,k):

The shape of the tongue when pronouncing ㄴ (n):

The shape of the teeth and tongue when pronouncing ㅅ (s)

ㅇ is silent in the initial position and represents ng in the final position. Its shape is traditionally associated with the throat.

ㅁ (m) is similar to a closed mouth.

Letter placement within a block

The placement or stacking of letters in the block follows set patterns based on the shape of the medial.

Compound vowels such as ㅝ (wo) are arranged according to the shape of the medial vowel. Compound final consonants such as ㅄ are arranged left to right at the bottom of the block. Historical jamo such as ㅵ and ㆋ are outside the modern standard Korean syllable inventory.

Vowels (medials) are placed under the initial consonant, to its right, or in a compound arrangement determined by the vowel letters. Roughly: If the vowel has a horizontal axis like ㅡ (eu), then it is written under the initial; if it has a vertical axis like ㅣ (i), then it is written to the right of the initial; and if it combines both orientations, like ㅢ (ui), then it wraps around the initial from the bottom to the right:

initial

medial

initial

medial

initial	med. 2
med. 1

A final consonant, if present, is always written at the bottom, under the vowel. This is called 받침 (batchim) “supporting floor”:

initial	medial
final

initial

medial

final

initial	med. 2
med.
final

A complex final is written left to right:

initial	medial
final 1		final 2

initial
medial
final 1	final 2

initial	med. 2
med.
fin. 1		fin. 2

Hangul syllable blocks represent the sequence initial–medial–final, although the visual arrangement depends on the medial vowel and any final consonants. Therefore:

• Syllables with a horizontal medial are arranged vertically: 읍 (eup)
• Syllables with a vertical medial are arranged with the medial to the right of the initial: 쌍 (ssang)
• Compound medials use the arrangement required by their component vowels: 된 (doen)
• A complex final consonant cluster is arranged left to right at the bottom: 밟 (balp). The actual pronunciation of a complex final is context-dependent.

There are 399 possible modern Hangul syllable blocks with an initial and medial (19 × 21), and 10,773 with an initial, medial, and one of the 27 possible final consonants. Including the no-final option gives 11,172 possible modern Hangul syllable blocks (19 × 21 × 28). These figures describe the modern Unicode Hangul syllable set; not all combinations are equally common in actual Korean text.

Not every mathematically possible jamo sequence is a word or a commonly used syllable in modern Korean. The Unicode Hangul syllable block, however, contains the full 19 × 21 × 28 combination set.

Valid 초성 (choseong, initial): ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ (19) Valid 중성 (jungseong, medial): ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ (21) Valid 종성 (jongseong, final) (optional): [none] ㄱ ㄲ ㄳ ㄴ ㄵ ㄶ ㄷ ㄹ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅁ ㅂ ㅄ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ (28)

More unusual Hangul jamo

Vowels

hangeul	ㅏ	ㅐ	ㅑ	ㅒ	ㅓ	ㅔ	ㅕ	ㅖ	ㅗ	ㅘ	ㅙ	ㅚ	ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅝ	ㅞ	ㅟ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅢ	ㅣ
Romanization	a	ae	ya	yae	eo	e	yeo	ye	o	wa	wae	oe	yo	u	wo	we	wi	yu	eu	ui	i
IPA

Vowel letter names are based on their conventional pronunciations.

Compound Vowels

hangeul	ㅐ	ㅒ	ㅔ	ㅖ	ㅘ	ㅙ	ㅚ	ㅝ	ㅞ	ㅟ	ㅢ
Romanization	ae	yae	e	ye	wa	wae	oe	wo	we	wi	ui
IPA

Jeju

The Jeju language has phonological and lexical features that differ substantially from Standard Korean; older descriptions often use additional historical Hangul letters. Vowels

hangeul	ㆍ
Romanization	o
Name	area-a
IPA	ɒ

Consonants

hangeul		ㄱ	ㄲ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄸ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅃ	ㅅ	ㅆ	ㅇ	ㅈ	ㅉ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ
Initial	Revised Romanization	g	kk	n	d	tt	r	m	b	pp	s	ss		j	jj	ch	k	t	p	h
	IPA	/k/	/k͈/	/n/	/t/	/t͈/	/ɾ/	/m/	/p/	/p͈/	/s/	/s͈/	silent	/t͡ɕ/	/t͈͡ɕ͈/	/t͡ɕʰ/	/kʰ/	/tʰ/	/pʰ/	/h/
Final	Revised Romanization	k	k	n	t	–	l	m	p	–	t	t	ng	t	–	t	k	t	p	t
	Romanization	g	kk	n	d	-	l	m	b	-	s	ss	ng	j	-	ch	k	t	p	h
	IPA	/k̚/		/n/	/t̚/	–	/ɭ/	/m/	/p̚/	–	/t̚/		/ŋ/	/t̚/	–	/t̚/	/k̚/	/t̚/	/p̚/	/t̚/

hangeul		ㄱ	ㄲ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄸ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅃ	ㅅ	ㅆ	ㅇ	ㅈ	ㅉ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ
Romanization	Initial	g	kk	n	d	tt	r	m	b	pp	s	ss	–	j	jj	ch	k	t	p	h
	Final	k	k		t	–	l		p	–	t	t	ng	t	–	t				t
Names		기역 (gi-yeok)	쌍기역 (ssang-gi-yeok)	니은 (ni-eun)	디귿 (di-geut)	쌍디귿 (ssang-di-geut)	리을 (ri-eul)	미음 (mi-eum)	비읍 (bi-eup)	쌍비읍 (ssang-bi-eup)	시옷 (si-ot)	쌍시옷 (ssang-si-ot)	이응 (i-eung)	지읒 (ji-eut)	쌍지읒 (ssang-ji-eut)	치읓 (chi-eut)	키읔 (ki-eut)	티읕 (ti-eut)	피읖 (pi-eut)	히읗 (hi-eut)
IPA

Special cases

In syllable-final position, several written consonants are neutralized to a small set of final sounds:

• ㄱ, ㄲ, ㅋ → [k̚]
• ㄴ → [n]
• ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅌ, ㅎ → [t̚]
• ㄹ → [l]
• ㅁ → [m]
• ㅂ, ㅍ → [p̚]
• ㅇ → [ŋ]

The exact realization can change through resyllabification and other sound changes when another syllable follows.

Jeju

The Jeju language has phonological and lexical features that differ substantially from Standard Korean; older descriptions often use additional historical Hangul letters. Consonants

hangeul	ㅿ	ㆆ
Romanization	z	ʔ
Name	반시옷 (bansiot)	여린히읗 (yeorin hieut)
IPA		ʔ

Accents

In some regional Korean accents, the polite ending “yo” (요) can be pronounced as “ye” (예). For example:
안녕하세요 → 안녕하세예

Jeju

The Jeju language has phonological and lexical features that differ substantially from Standard Korean; older descriptions often use additional historical Hangul letters.