The Korean alphabet: An overview | Learn Korean Language: Basics to excellence PDF Download

The Korean alphabet or Hangul consists of 24 basic letters: 14 consonants (ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ) and 10 vowels (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ). Additionally, as you’ll dive into it, you’ll discover that there are in fact 19 complex letters with 5 tense consonants (ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅉ ㅆ) and 11 complex vowels (ㅢ ㅚ ㅐ ㅟ ㅔ ㅒ ㅖ ㅘ ㅝ ㅙ ㅞ) formed by combining the basic letters.

The name “Hangeul” combines the Korean word han (한) – meaning “great” – and geul (글) – meaning “script”. However, the word han is also used to refer to Korea in general, so the name can also translate to “Korean script”.

Unlike Chinese or Japanese which have hundreds or even thousands of characters – each with 10, 15, or even more strokes – the most complex Korean letter (or character) has only five strokes. Besides, Hangul is a very scientific alphabet. Once you manage to understand the logic behind it, the learning journey becomes easier.

Korean letters are called jamo (자모) and they are written in syllabic blocks arranged in two dimensions. One such block always has exactly one syllable. For example, to write “honeybee” in Korean (kkulbeol), you’ll write 꿀벌, not ㄲㅜㄹㅂㅓㄹ. Today, Korean texts are typically written from left to write with spaces between words and western-style punctuation.

As mentioned earlier, Hangul is a featural writing system. This means that the letters mimic the shape the mouth made when the corresponding sound is created. Absolutely fascinating! Let’s go into a little more detail and see how to pronounce the letters of the Korean alphabet.

Korean consonants pronunciation

Languages from different language groups rarely resemble each other. Thus, it’s very difficult to explain the sounds of a language using the letters of another. In our context, this means that there is no perfect way to represent the Korean characters using Latin/English letters or sounds. The English letters we will use to explain how to pronounce the letters of the Korean alphabet, are the closest representation possible.

To better understand how to pronounce Hangul, it’s best to go to language learning apps such as Mondly where crystal-clear audios recorded by native voice actors will help you understand the pronunciation particularities of the Korean language.

For example, the sounds of the 14 consonants (or the extended list of 19) of the Korean language change depending on whether they appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a syllable. Here’s a Korean alphabet consonants basic chart for beginners to help you get started:

As you can see, the complex or double consonants are in a different color on the last row of the chart. Additionally, under each consonant, you’ll find its corresponding sound at the beginning and at the end of the syllable. Some of them have identical sounds regardless of their place in the syllable. Furthermore, some of them are silent and some of them are never used syllable-finally (like ㄸ, ㅃ, and ㅉ).

Take “ㅇ” for example which is silent when it is at the beginning of the syllable and it is used as a placeholder when the syllable starts with a vowel.

Let’s see some other Korean consonants whose sounds transform due to location change in a word.

• ㅈ: 죽 [chuk] – “porridge” and 콩죽 [k’ong-juk] – “bean porridge”;
• ㅂ: 밥 [pap] – “rice” and 보리밥 [poribap] – “barley mixed with rice”
• ㄱ: 공 [kong] – “ball” and 새 공 [saegong] – “new ball”

It may seem a bit overwhelming now, but with a bit of study you’ll eventually master all these rules. The secret is to see them all in action in an actual context. Just make sure you start practicing Korean with Mondly and you won’t be sorry. It takes just 10 minutes a day to speak your first words in Korean.

Korean vowels pronunciation

The Korean vowels are generally separated into two categories: monophthongs and diphthongs. While monophthongs are produced with a single articular movement, diphthongs feature an articulatory change and typically consist of two elements: a glide (or a semivowel) and a monophthong.

The best part about Korean vowels is that they are easier to learn because they don’t change depending on their position in the syllable. So here’s how to pronounce the Korean vowels:

The ones that are represented with a different color on the last two rows are the 11 complex vowels that combine basic letters.