some of my notes may not apply to north korean
hangeul
Pronunciation
The shape of tongue when pronouncing ㄱ (g,k):
The shape of tongue when pronouncing ㄴ (n):
The shape of teeth and tongue when pronouncing ㅅ (s)
ㅇ (ng) is similar to the throat hole.
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.
Consonant and vowel sequences such as ㅄ (bs), ㅝ (wo), or obsolete ㅵ (bsd), ㆋ (üye) are written left to right.
Vowels (medials) are written under the initial consonant, to the right, or wrap around the initial from bottom to right, depending on their shape: 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 | |
Blocks are always written in phonetic order, initial-medial-final. Therefore:
- Syllables with a horizontal medial are written downward: 읍 (eup)
- Syllables with a vertical medial and simple final are written clockwise: 쌍 (ssang)
- Syllables with a wrapping medial switch direction (down-right-down): 된 (doen)
- Syllables with a complex final are written left to right at the bottom: 밟 (balp).
399 combinations are possible for two-letter syllables and 10,773 possible combinations for syllables with more than two letters (27 possible final endings), for a total of 11,172 possible combinations of Korean alphabet letters to form syllables. this only takes into account regular vowels and consonants.
not all possible combinations are valid
valid 초성 (choseong, first part): ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ (19) valid 중성 (jungseong, middle part): 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, last part) (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 weird hangeul 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 |
the name of a vowel is just it’s sound
Double 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 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
endings in ㅅ ㅆ ㅊ ㅎ are pronounced “t” endings in ㅇ are pronounced “ng”
Jeju 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