Language/Korean/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Korean Alphabet, IPA Pronuncation, Video, Virtual Keyboard...

Hello Polyglots,😀

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Korean alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.

The Korean alphabet is a writing system created in 1443 and promulgated in 1446 during the reign of King Sejong, the fourth king of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Originally regarded as a "vulgar script" (eonmun, 언문), it began to be widely used and appreciated after the Japanese colonization of the peninsula, when it became an instrument of self-determination against foreign domination over the peninsula. Korean territory. The Korean alphabet is currently used in South Korea, where it is called Hangeul (한글, the term in this book); in North Korea, where it is called Joseongeul (조선 글); and also by Korean communities overseas, mainly in China and the United States. As part of a project abandoned in 2012, South Korea sought to export the alphabet abroad to provide a writing system for linguistic minorities lacking a proper writing system.

You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.

Korean Alphabet

The Korean language has 40 different letters. While learning Korean, it is incredibly important to learn the alphabet, especially if you ever want to become fluent in a language. This is because some of the pronunciations are very similar to one another, and this can become confusing. Another reason is because the letters don't sound exactly like the romanticized versions of the letters.

The Chinese writing system is considered logographic. Korean also uses Hanja and Japanese uses Kanji, which would both be considered logographic. Japanese Hiragana, Katakana and Hangeul are all phonographic but that Hangeul has the distinction of also being phonocharacterized. Initially, the alphabet had twenty-eight main letters, which over time have been reduced to twenty-four. Eight are considered basic sounds, and from these derive all the other consonants and vowels. We must first distinguish between:

• 5 basic consonants [ㄱ, ㄴ,ㅁ,ㅅ,ㅇ] from which derive the fourteen simple consonants.
• 3 basic vowels [ •, ㅣ, ㅡ] from which derive the first ten, simple, or iotized, vowels.

From the fourteen simple consonants (ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ) are derived in turn five double consonants (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ) and eleven complex combinations (ㄳ, ㄵ, ㄶ, ㄺ, ㄼ, ㄻ, ㄽ, ㄿ, ㄾ, ㅀ, ㅄ). The ten simple vowels (ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ, ㅣ) are followed by four complex vowels (ㅐ,ㅒ, ㅔ, ㅖ) and seven diphthongs (ㅘ, ㅙ, ㅚ, ㅝ, ㅞ, ㅟ, ㅢ).

Basic Vowels

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• ㅏ [a]
• ㅓ [eo]
• ㅗ [o]
• ㅜ [u]
• ㅡ [eu]
• ㅑ [ya]
• ㅕ [yeo]
• ㅛ [yo]
• ㅠ [yu]
• ㅣ [i]

Basic Consonants

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• ㄱ [k, g] - Combination of the two sounds.
• ㄴ [n]
• ㅁ [m]
• ㅅ [s] - At the end of a syllable, it sounds closer to a "t".
• ㅇ [ng] - At the beginning of a syllable, it is silent. At the end of a syllable, it sounds like "ng".
• ㅋ [k] - Hard "k" sound.
• ㄷ [d, t] - Normally sounds like a soft "d", but is sometimes romanticized as a "t".
• ㅂ [b, p, f, v] - This sounds closest to a "b", but it is romanticized into any of these 4.
• ㅈ [j]
• ㅌ [t] - Hard "t" sound.
• ㅍ [p]
• ㅊ [ch]
• ㅎ [h]
• ㄹ [r, l] - Native Korean speakers are frequently unable to tell the difference between an "r" and an "l" sound, therefore, this letters sounds like a combination of the two.

Compound Vowels

Complex Vowels

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• ㅐ [ae]
• ㅔ [e]
• ㅒ [yae]
• ㅖ [ye]

Diphtongs

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• ㅙ [wae]
• ㅘ [wa]
• ㅝ [wo]
• ㅢ [ui]
• ㅚ [oe]
• ㅞ [we]
• ㅟ [wi]

Double Consonants

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• ㄲ [kk]
• ㄸ [tt]
• ㅃ [pp]
• ㅆ [ss] - Like the single version of this letter, when it is at the end of a syllable, it sounds closer to a "tt" sound.
• ㅉ [jj]

Complex combinations

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Summary: IPA table

Letter		ㄱ	ㄲ	ㄴ	ㄷ	ㄸ	ㄹ	ㅁ	ㅂ	ㅃ	ㅅ	ㅆ	ㅇ	ㅈ	ㅉ	ㅊ	ㅋ	ㅌ	ㅍ	ㅎ
IPA		[k]	[k*]	[n]	[t]	[t*]	[ɾ,l]	[m]	[p]	[p*]	[s]	[s*]	∅,[ŋ]	[ʧ]	[ʧ*]	[ʧʰ]	[kʰ]	[tʰ]	[pʰ]	[h]
Name	South	기역	쌍기역	니은	리을	쌍디귿	리을	미음	비읍	쌍비읍	시옷	쌍시옷	이응	지읒	쌍지읒	치읓	키읔	티읕	피읖	히읗
	North	기윽	된기윽		디읃	된디읃				된비읍	시읏	된시읏			된지읒

Letter	ㅏ	ㅐ	ㅑ	ㅒ	ㅓ	ㅔ	ㅕ	ㅖ	ㅗ	ㅘ	ㅙ	ㅚ	ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅝ	ㅞ	ㅟ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅢ	ㅣ
IPA	[a]	[æ]	[ja]	[jæ]	[ʌ]	[e]	[jʌ]	[je]	[o]	[wa]	[wæ]	[we]	[jo]	[u]	[wʌ]	[we]	[wi]	[ju]	[ɨ]	[ɨj]	[i]
Name	아	애	야	얘	어	에	여	예	오	와	왜	외	요	우	워	웨	위	유	으	의	이

Complexfinal	ㄳ	ㄵ	ㄶ	ㄺ	ㄻ	ㄼ	ㄽ	ㄾ	ㄿ	ㅀ	ㅄ

Korean Online Virtual Keyboard

Sources

• Lesson about complex finals
• https://www.spdbooks.org/Content/Site106/FilesSamples/9781624120688.pdf
• Pronunciation tips: https://www.howtostudykorean.com/unit0/197-2/
• https://polyglotclub.com/help/language-learning-tips/learn-korean-writing
• https://polyglotclub.com/help/language-learning-tips/learn-korean-writing/translate-french