Korean Alphabet | Syllables
Read, Write, and Talk in Korean | Korean Lessons1. One vowel sound
ㅇ + ㅗ + ㅐ = 왜 - "wae"
ㅇ + ㅓ = 어 - "eo"
2. vowel + consonant
ㅇ + ㅡ + ㅇ = 응 - "eung"
ㅇ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 안 - "an"
3. consonant + vowel
ㄱ + ㅏ = 가 - "ka"
ㅂ + ㅗ = 보 - "bo"
4. consonant + vowel + consonant
ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 한 - "han"
ㄲ + ㅡ + ㅁ = 끔 - "kkeum"
5. double consonant ending
ㅇ + ㅣ + ㄹㄱ = 읽 - "ilk"
ㅁ + ㅏ + ㄴㅎ = 많 - "manh"
There is no Korean word that starts with the letter ㄹ . For example the surname Lee is spelled 이 instead of 리. In the Korean spelling of English words, on the other hand, the letter ㄹ is written, like the name "Luke" which will be spelled like 루크. And the letter ㄹ is usually pronounced as "r" instead of "l" in the beginning of a syllable (i.e. 사랑 for "sarang"), but pronounced as "l" as a syllable ending(i.e 갈 for "kal").
Also, a Korean syllable does not begin with two consonants.
Another thing. When writing, all syllables should look about the same size no matter how crowded they look. For example, the korean word for "read" which is 읽다 "ilkda". Notice how the letters in the syllable 읽 are smaller than the ones in 다 but the syllables themselves are the same size.
The English keyboard is not the equivalent for the Korean keyboard, in case you were wondering.
Let us try some exercises on the next chapter.
Comments