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The Korean Alphabet, Grammar and Pronunciation Guides

The Korean alphabet consists of 10 vowels and 14 consonants, which are combined to create some 140 syllables, or “building blocks” that make up the language. The building blocks include 11 diphthongs (combinations of vowels and consonants) that are used to represent more complex sounds.

These vowels, consonants, diphthongs and syllables have been rendered into romanized English phonetics by a number of individual scholars as well as by the Cultural Ministry, and there are some differences in them. In 2003, the Korean government issued a new set of rules for transcribing the sounds of the language into Roman letters in an effort to further rationalize the system.

I have made choices from these phonetic versions and added some of my own in an attempt to simplify the pronunciations and still get close enough to the original Korean sounds so that they will be understood.

There are six basic vowels in the Korean alphabet, plus four “y” vowels for a total of ten. Their approximate English sounds are:

A	Ya	O	Yo	O	Yo	U	Yu	U	I
ah	yah	aw	yaw	oh	yoh	uu	yuu	oo	ee

One or more of these 10 basic sounds are used in all of the syllables making up the language.

The diphthongs and their approximate English sounds:

AE	YAE	E	YE	OE	WI	UI	WA	WO	WAE	WE
aa	yay	eh	yeh	oh-eh	wee	we	wah	woh	way	weh

The consonants and their closest English sounds:

k(g)	as the k in “king” or the g in “guy”*
n	as the n in “name”
t(d)	as the t in “toy” or the d in “day”*
r(l)	as the r in “rain” or the l in “lily”*
m	as the m in “mother”
p(b)	as the p in “pin” or the b in “book”*
s	as the s in “speech”
ng	as the ng in “king”
ch(j)	as the j in “John”*
ch’	as the ch in “church”
k’	as the k in “kite”
t’	as the t in “tank”
p’	as the p in “pump”
h	as the h in “high”

*The “correct” pronunciation of five of these consonants (k, t, r, p and ch) is very subtle. To the ears of native English speakers, the k sound is closer to g, the t sound is closer to d, the r is closer to l, the p is closer to b and the ch is best represented by the j sound. Koreans who have become fluent in English say there are some sounds in the Korean language that simply cannot be rendered into English phonetics. Fortunately, as with English and other languages, Korean spoken with an “accent” is still understandable.

There are also five “double consonants” (kk, tt, pp, ss and tch):

kk	as the k in “sky” or in “jack”
tt	as the t in “stay”
pp	as the p in “spy”
ss	as the ss in “essential”
tch	as the t in “tzar”

It is important to stress the pronunciation of consonants at the beginning of words. It is especially important to “hit” the double consonants hard. I have made attempts to account for the double consonants and other features of the language in the phonetics provided for each word and sentence in the book.

Pronunciation Guide for

Korean Syllables

To clearly see and hear the repetitions of the 10 vowel sounds in all of the syllables, read the following lines vertically. [About a dozen of these syllables are seldom if ever used.]

A	YA	O	YO	O	YO	U	YU	U	I
ah	yah	aw	yaw	oh	yoh	uu	yuu	oo	ee
GA	GYA	GO	GYO	GO	GYO	GU	GYU	GU	GI
gah	gyah	gaw	gyaw	goh	gyoh	guu	gyuu	goo	ghee
NA	NYA	NO	NYO	NO	NYO	NU	NYU	NU	NI
nah	nyah	naw	nyaw	noh	nyoh	nuu	nyuu	noo	nee
DA	DYA	DO	DYO	DO	DYO	DU	DYU	DU	DI
dah	dyah	daw	dyaw	doh	dyoh	duu	dyuu	doo	dee
LA	LYA	LO	LYO	LO	LYO	LU	LYU	LU	LI
lah	lyah	law	lyaw	loh	lyoh	luu	lyuu	loo	lee
MA	MYA	MO	MYO	MO	MYO	MU	MYU	MU	MI
mah	myah	maw	myaw	moh	myoh	muu	myuu	moo	mee
BA	BYA	BO	BYO	BO	BYO	BU	BYU	BU	BI
bah	byah	baw	byaw	boh	byoh	buu	byuu	byoo	bee
SA	SYA	SO	SYO	SO	SYO	SU	SYU	SU	SI
sah	syah	saw	syaw	soh	syoh	suu	syuu	syoo	she
JA	JYA	JO	JYO	JO	JYO	JU	JYU	JU	JI
jah	jyah	jaw	jyaw	joh	jyoh	juu	jyuu	joo	jee
CHA	CHYA	CHO	CHYO	CHO	CHYO	CHU	CHYU	CHU	CHI
chah	chyah	chuh	chyaw	choh	chyoh	chuu	chyuu	choo	chee
KA	KYA	KO	KYO	KO	KYO	KU	KYU	KU	KI
kah	kyah	kaw	kyaw	koh	kyoh	kuu	kyuu	koo	kee
TA	TYA	TO	TYO	TO	TYO	TU	TYU	TU	TI
tah	tyah	taw	tyaw	toh	tyoh	tuu	tyuu	too	tee
PA	PYA	PO	PYO	PO	PYO	PU	PYU	PU	PI
pah	pyah	paw	pyaw	poh	pyoh	puu	pyuu	poo	pee
HA	HYA	HO	HYO	HO	HYO	HU	HYU	HU	HI
hah	hyah	haw	hyaw	hoh	hyoh	huu	hyuu	hoo	hee