Module I

Reading Hangul (the Korean alphabet)

Introduction
The Korean writing system Hangul is one of the most scientific and
systematic writing systems in the world. Hangul is made of an alphabet of 21
vowel and 19 consonant symbols. The system was invented in 1443 by King
Sejong the Great and his group of royal scholars during the Chosun dynasty
of Korea (1392-1910). This module introduces individual vowel and
consonant symbols and discusses how each symbol is assembled into
syllables to spell Korean words.

Vowels
Hangul has a total of 21 vowel symbols. Among them are 11 basic
vowel and 10 double-vowel symbols. The basic vowel symbols include:
Symbol / letter Sound value
ㅏ a /a/ as in father

ㅓ eo No English equivalent but closer to / /

ㅗ o / o / as in hole

ㅜ u / u / as in boot

ㅡ eu / u / as in pull

ㅣ i / I / as in feet

ㅐ ae / e / as in care

ㅔ e / E / as in met

ㅚ we as in wet

ㅟ wi as in we

ㅢ ui /u / as in pull, followed by ee as in feet, but

said quickly as one sound).

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 1

 Ten double-vowel symbols are made of either adding one more stroke to some of
the above basic vowel symbols or combining some basic vowel symbols together.

ㅑ ya (as in yard)

ㅕ yo (as in yonder)

ㅛ yo (as in yoga)

ㅠ yu (as in you)

ㅒ yae (as in yankie)

ㅖ ye (as in yes)

Another four double-vowel symbols are made up of combining some of the basic
vowel symbols together. For example you combine ㅗ and ㅏ the result is ㅘ wa.

ㅘ wa (as in wine)

ㅝ wo (as in wonder)

ㅙ wae (as in wait)

ㅞ whe (as in when)

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 2

Exercise 1.1 Practice reading the following words:

우유 u yu (milk)

오이 o i (cucumber)

아이 a i (children)

오리 o ri (duck)

우리 u ri (we)

어디 eo di (where)

모두 mo du (all)

부모 bu mo (parents)

누구 nu gu (who)

고기 go gi (meat)

여기 yeo gi (here)

가게 ga ge (shop)

소고기 so go gi (beef)

주머니 ju meo ni (pocket)

아버지 a beo ji (father)

어머니 eo meo ni (mother)

타다 ta da (take)

차다 cha da (kick)

따다 tta da (pick)

자다 ja da (sleep)

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 3

Exercise 1.2

Among the following vowel symbols, circle the one that is

pronounced differently from the others.

1. 데, 다, 대
2. 괘, 괴, 궈
3. 모, 마, 무
4. 서, 세, 새

Exercise 1.3 Match each English name of the city with the corresponding Korean name
from the following list:

오슬로, 헬싱키, 모스크바, 터쿄,

상하이, 카이로, 멕시코시티,

리오데자네이로, 로마, 방콕

1. Shanghai ________________________
2. Cairo _____________________________
3. Rio de Janeiro ___________________
4. Tokyo_____________________________
5. Moscow __________________________
6. Helsinki __________________________
7. Rome ____________________________
8. Oslo ______________________________
9. Bangkok _________________________
10. Mexico City _____________________

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 4

Consonants
Hangul has 19 consonant symbols, as shown below :

letter sound name notes

value
ㅂ p /b/ /p/ 비읍 [b] becomes [p] when it is in the initial
bieup position. Example: binu becomes pinu.
When followed by any vowel or
consonants n, l, m, r and ng, the letter ㅂ
is pronounced as [b]. Example: abeoji
ㅍ p [p] / [ph] 피읖 [p] (as in pill, aspirated ; or with puffs of
Pieup air)

ㅃp [pp] 쌍비읍 [p] (as in speak, tense)

ssangbieup
ㄷt [t], [d] 디귿 digeut [t] (as in tall, but relaxed)
[d] becomes [t] when it is in the initial
position. Example : dangsin becomes
tangsin
When followed by any vowel or
consonants n, l, m, r and ng, the
letter ㄷ is pronounced as [d]. Example:
gudu
ㅌt [t] / [th] 티읕 tieut [t] (as in talk, aspirated)

ㄸ tt [t] 짱디긋 [t] (as in steam, tense)

ssangdigeut
ㄱk [k], [g] 기역 giyeok [k] (as in kiss, but relaxed)
[g] becomes [k] when it is in the initial
and final position. Examples : the word
gudu is pronounced as kudu. The word
giyeog is pronounced as kiyeok

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 5

 ㅋk [k] / [kh] 키읔 kieuk [k] (as in king, aspirated)
Kk [kk] 짱키윽 ssang [k] (as in skill, aspirated)
giyeok
ㅈ ch [ch], [c] 지읏 jieut [j] (as in jaw)
[ch] (as in chew)
When [ch] is in the final position it
becomes [t]. Example: myeoch becomes
myeot
ㅊ ch [ch] Chieut [ch] as in change, aspirated)

ㅉ ch [ch] Ssang-jieut ㅉ[ch] as in midget, tense)

ㅁm [m] 미음 mi eum [m] (as in mother )

ㅇ ng [ng] 이응 I eung [ng] (as in king)

ㅇ is silent when in initial position within
a syllable. Example:

ㄴ n [n] 니은 ni eun [n] (as in nose)

ㄹ r [r] [L] 리을 ri eul [L] (as in lung) [r] (as in rose)

[r]is always pronounced as [r] when
between two vowels. Example: /saram/
When [r] is in the final position it is
pronounced as [ l ]. Examples : chir
becomes chil

ㅎh [h] 히늣 hi eut [h] (as in hope)

ㅅ s [s] [sh] 시옷 siot [s] (as in soul)

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 6

 The letter ㅅ is pronounced as [sh] when
followed by I, yeo, yu, yo, and wi.

ㅉs [s] Ssang siot [s] (as in sea)

How to combine consonant with vowel symbols

This time I am going to teach you how to combine consonant with vowel
symbols. Are you ready to learn?

The basic unit of Korean letter is a syllable. In other words, a complete Korean
written letter must have at least one consonant and a vowel symbol. The combinations
of the vowel and consonant symbols are:

First, a syllable consist of only one vowel (e.g.,like English a). Although it
consists of only vowel pronunciation like [a] you still need to start the syllable with a
consonant symbol to make the letter complete. For this purpose we use the consonant
[ㅇ]. The use of the symbol is special because it is used as zero-value consonant
(silent) when it appears before a vowel. It functions as a “filler “or as a place holder
in a word-initial position, so that the letter “a” should be written in Korean as 아 (not
ㅏ). Another example is writing the vowel [yo] should look like 요 (not ㅛ). You use the [ㅇ]
to make it a complete letter.

Second, it can have a vowel but followed by a consonant like for example the English
preposition on or 온 in Korean.

Third it can have a consonant, followed by a vowel like the English word go or 고 in
Korean.

Fourth, a word can have a consonant, followed by a vowel, and then a consonant like
the English word dam or 담 in Korean.

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 7

 The position of the vowel symbols is either to the right or below the initial consonant
symbol, as in 비 and 노. If the syllable has a consonant after a vowel symbol, it is always below
the vowel, as in 민 and 녹.

Exercise 1.4 The following Korean words are the English borrowed words used in Korean.
Match each Korean word with one of the following English words (camera, jazz, taxi, romance,
hotdog, Starbucks, quiz, coat, bus, sandwich, hamburger, and coffee) :

1. 버스 =
2. 커피=
3. 코 E =
4. 재스 =
5. 퀴스 =
6. 로맨스 =
7. 택시 =
8. 스탈벅스
9. 핫드그 =
10. 샌드위치=
11. 함버거 =
12. 카메라 =

Exercise 1.5 Below is a list of consonant names, write its corresponding consonant
symbol.

1. Siot
2. Hieut
3. Pieup
4. Chieut
5. Mi eum
6. Giyeok
7. Ti eut
8. Ni eun
9. I eung
10. Ri eul
11. Bi eup
12. Ji eut
13. Digeut
14. Ki euk
15. Ssang jieut

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 8

Summary

You have learned that the Korean writing system is called Hangul. Hangul is made of
an alphabet of 21 vowel and 19 consonant symbols. The system was invented in 1443 by King
Sejong the Great and his group of royal scholars during the Chosun dynasty of Korea.

References

Byon, Andrew. (2009). Basic Korean: A Grammar and Workbook. New York : Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group.

Park, Johnson (2011). Prime Korean. Cubao Quezon City: Picador Haneul.

Foreign Language I // Emly L. Cerbito, PhD. pg. 9