Korean Alphabet: Easy Intro
ㅆ ss (like lassie), but at the end of the syllable it sounds like ‘t’
Learning to read Korean is fast and easy thanks to King Sejong the Great, considered Korea’s finest and wisest ruler who headed the creation of a simple script that the masses could easily learn and use. Hangul (lit: Korean letters) was officially adopted in 1446. Hangul has since been simplified to 10 basic vowels and 19 consonants. I am not an expert at all, but I wanted to share a little about how easy it can be learn and how fun it is to recognize words in the grocery store and restaurants, and get around easier with maps and even GPS.
Last we have the combination vowels. There are subtle variations in pronunciation that I have not learned well enough yet, but still the basics might help you. They sound like the vowels that are combined.
The 10 basic vowels are: ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ
ah (like father) ㅑ yah uh (or awe) ㅕ yuh o (like go) ㅛ yo oo (like food) ㅠ you u (your mouth shaped like e but you say oo) ee
The letters are arranged always into syllables, so each group of 2 or more letters is one syllable. A tidy package that always starts with a consonant. If the syllable starts with a vowel sound, then it starts with a special sort of consonant called a place holder. The place holder has no sound of it’s own, it is an empty ㅇ. So the word for milk 우 유, sounds like “oo-you” If the ㅇ is at the end of a syllable block like 둥, then it sounds like “ng”. So 동 is dong, which means neighborhood and you see it everywhere. The other consonants are: ㄴ n (like nature) ㅁ m (like mouth, looks like a mouth too) ㄱ ㄲ ㅋ g (like go), kk (like bookkeeper), K’ (strong K like king) ㄷ ㄸ ㅌ d (like dog), tt (like butter), T’ (strong T like talk) ㅂ ㅃ ㅍ b (like busan), pp (like happy), P’ (strong P like pounce) ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ j (like joy), tch (like catch), CH’ (strong CH like change) ㅎ h (like hat, looks like it wears a hat) ㄹ ‘r’ or an ‘l’ depending on where it is in the syllable ( ‘r’ at start, ‘l’ middle, then ‘rl’ at end) ㅅ s (like spike) but becomes sh when with an ㅣee, ㅑ ya, ㅕyuh, ㅛyo, or ㅠyou, makes it 시 shee, 샤 sha, 셔 shuh, 쇼show, and 슈shoo.
ㅐ ae (like Haeundae) 해 운 대 you see that a lot, even on your trash bags. ㅔ eh (like net) but really sounds the same as ㅐ to most people ㅒ yae (that extra horizontal stroke is the y sound again) ㅖ yeh ㅘ wah (think o-ah ㅗ ㅏ) ㅙ way (think o-ae ㅗ ㅐ) ㅝ wuh (think oo-uh ㅜ ㅓ) ㅞ weh (think oo-eh ㅜ ㅔ) ㅟ wee (think oo-ee ㅜ ㅣ) ㅚ o-ee (ㅗ ㅣ) ㅢ ew-ee (ㅡ ㅣ) So here are a few common words you probably see everyday 우유 “oo-you” Milk 이 마 트 “e-mah-t” E-Mart 해 운 대 “hay-oon-day” Haeundae 부산 “boo-san” Busan 불 고 기 “bool-go-gee” Bulgogi marinated beef 갈비 “gal-bee” Galbi ribs 잡 채 “jahp-chay” Japchae noodles with sliced vegetables 김 밥 “gim-bahp” Kimbap stuffed rice (bap 밥) rolled in seaweed (gim 김) 비 빔 밥 “bee-bim-bahp” Bibimbap rice mixed with egg, kimchee, and veggies 부 산 국 제 학 교 “boo-sahn gook-jeh hahk-gyo” literally Busan International School ISB So while you are out and about practice your Korean by reading everything you can and you may be surprised how many words you recognize. With every language there are many rules written and unwritten about how people really pronounce all the words, but this guide will hopefully get you started, and feeling more at home in this great country. –Kathy McGowan
