Lesson 1 – Part A
Korean alphabet (called : Han-geul – 한글, or Hanja) contains only 10 basic vowels and 14 basic consonants.
The basic vowels can be categorized into 2 groups :
- First : – only 6 alphabets
|
No
|
Script
|
Transliteration
|
Pronunciation
|
QWERTY Position
|
|
1
|
ㅏ
|
a
|
‘a’ in father
|
‘k’
|
|
2
|
ㅓ
|
ô
|
‘o’ in son
|
‘j’
|
|
3
|
ㅣ
|
i
|
‘ee’ in keen
|
‘l’
|
|
4
|
ㅗ
|
o
|
‘o’ in go
|
‘h’
|
|
5
|
ㅜ
|
u
|
‘u’ in nude
|
‘n’
|
|
6
|
ㅡ
|
û
|
‘u’ in put
|
‘m’
|
No 1 – 3 vertical vowels
No 4 – 6 horizontal vowels
- Second : (‘Y’ Vowels) – only 4 alphabets
Actually it’s similar with the basic vowels, for y vowels, we just have to add little dash marks like below
| No |
Script |
Transliteration |
|
1
|
ㅑ
|
ya
|
|
2
|
ㅕ
|
yô
|
|
3
|
ㅛ
|
yo
|
|
4
|
ㅠ
|
yu
|
See, the difference is only a little dash to its main basic vowel.
The consonants are usually pronounced as they are in English.
And just like the vowels, the consonant can be categorized into 2 groups:
- First : (unaspirated consonant) – only 8 alphabets
| No |
Script |
Transliteration |
| 1 |
ㄱ |
g or k |
| 2 |
ㄷ
|
d or t |
| 3 |
ㅂ |
b or p |
| 4 |
ㅈ |
j or c |
| 5 |
ㄹ |
l or r |
| 6 |
ㅁ |
m |
| 7 |
ㅇ |
ng |
| 8 |
ㄴ |
n |
- Second : (aspirated consonant) – only 6 alphabets
It’s similar like the ‘y’ vowels. We just need to add little dash marks
| No |
Script |
Transliteration |
| 1 |
ㅋ |
k’ |
| 2 |
ㅌ |
t’ |
| 3 |
ㅍ |
p’ |
| 4 |
ㅊ |
ch’ |
| 5 |
ㅎ |
h |
| 6 |
ㅅ |
s |
See the difference between k with k’, t with t’, p with p’, c with ch’. It’s just a little dash mark
