ARTS1660 Introductory Korean A
Week 02 Lecture
Unit 2 한글
Today … 오늘은 …
• Hangeul (2)
• Some basic pronunciation rules
Our approach to Hangeul learning …
Korean sounds
Hangeul letters
syllables
words and sentences
Sound rules
Story about Hangeul
Vowel letters (21) – representing …
ㅏ
ㅓ
ㅗ
ㅜ
ㅡ
ㅣ
ㅐ
ㅔ
ㅘ
ㅙ
ㅚ
ㅝ
ㅞ
ㅟ
ㅑ
ㅕ
ㅛ
ㅠ
ㅒ
ㅖ
ㅢ
Consonant letters (19) – representing …
ㄱ
ㄴ
ㄷ
ㄹ
ㅁ
ㅂ
ㅅ
ㅇ
ㅈ
ㅊ
ㅋ
ㅌ
ㅍ
ㅎ
ㄲ
ㄸ
ㅃ
ㅆ
ㅉ
Hangeul syllable
• Hangeul letters are combined into syllables.
• A Hangeul syllable consists of a syllable-initial consonant
letter, a vowel letter and zero to two syllable-final consonant
letters.
• The place for the syllable-initial consonant letter within the
syllable structure is determined by the ‘shape’ of the vowel –
vertical, horizontal, mixed.
• The syllable-final consonant letter or letters are placed at the
bottom of the syllable.
Hangeul syllable –
vertical, horizontal, mixed vowel letters
ㅣ
ㅏ ㅓ
ㅐ ㅔ
ㅑ ㅕ
ㅒ ㅖ
ㅡ ㅗ ㅜ ㅛ ㅠ ㅘ ㅙ
ㅚ
ㅝ ㅞ
ㅟ
ㅢ
Names of Hangeul Letters
Consonants (19)
ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁ
ㅂㅅㅇㅈㅊ
ㅋㅌㅍㅎ
ㄲㄸㅃㅆㅉ
Vowels (21)
ㅣㅏㅐㅓㅔㅡㅗㅜ
ㅑㅒㅕㅖㅛㅠ
ㅘㅙㅚㅝㅞㅟ
ㅢ
Reading Hangeul Words as Koreans do …
1. 으 응
2. 에 애, 예 얘, 왜 웨 외
3. 롤
4. 시드니
5. 자요 차요 짜요
6. 약
7. 도넛
8. 백화점
9. 늦어서; 앉으세요
10. 미안합니다; 신라
1. The letter ㅇ ‘이응’: [-] or [ng]
2. Merging of 에 and 애 (also 예/얘, 웨/왜/외)
3. The letter ㄹ ‘리을’: [r] or [l]
4. The letter ㅅ ‘시옷’ and ㅆ ‘쌍시옷’: [sh] or [ssh]
5. Normal, tense, aspirated consonants
6. Unreleased sounds [pㄱ], [tㄱ], [kㄱ]
7. Syllable-final ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ: [tㄱ]
8. Becoming aspirated by ㅎ ‘히읗’
9. Liaison (1, 2)
10. Assimilation (1, 2)
1. The consonant letterㅇ ‘이응’: [-] or [ng]
ㅏ ㅗ  they are NOT syllables
아 오  now, they are syllables (without a syllable-final consonant)
앙 옹  they are also syllables (with a syllable-final consonant)
Syllable-initially ㅇ has no phonetic value [-], but syllable-finally it is
pronounced as [ng]
응 잉 강 정 동 옹 웅 밍
2. Merged pronunciation of 에 and 애
The vowel letters ㅔ and ㅐ are pronounced the same  [e]
Likewise, ㅖ and ㅒ  [ye], and ㅚ, ㅞ, and ㅙ  [we]
덴마크 댄디
예 얘!
쿠웨이트 왜요? 외삼촌
3. The consonant letter ㄹ ‘리을’: [r] or [l]
Syllable-initial ㄹ is pronounced as [r]
Syllable-final ㄹ as [l]
Two adjacent ㄹs will be pronounced as [l]
라틴 아메리카
몽골 브라질
타일랜드 달러
4. The consonant lettersㅅ, andㅆ
ㅅ and ㅆ in front of ㅣ, ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ ([i] or [y]) are
pronounced as [sh] and [ssh] respectively
시드니 러시아
샤이니 모리셔스 슈퍼
제이슨 씨
5. ‘Normal’, ‘Tense’, ‘Aspirated’ Sounds
근 끈 큰
달 딸 탈
불 뿔 풀
자요 짜요 차요
사요 싸요 -
6. Unreleased Sounds
When a syllable-final consonant, which is a stop (ㄱ, ㄲ, ㅋ, ㅂ, ㅍ, ㄷ, ㅌ),
is not followed by a vowel
• the syllable-final ㄱ, ㄲ and ㅋ  unreleased [kㄱ]
• the syllable-final ㅂ and ㅍ  unreleased [pㄱ]
• the syllable-final ㄷ and ㅌ  unreleased [tㄱ]
Note that ㅃ and ㄸ do not occur syllable-finally in Modern Korean.
약 밖 엌 습 덮 닫 맡
블랙핑크
7. The syllable-final ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ
When a syllable-final consonant, which is a fricative (ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅎ) or an
affricate (ㅈ, ㅊ), is not followed by a vowel
• the syllable-final ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ and ㅎ unreleased [tㄱ]
Note that ㅉ does not occur syllable-finally in Modern Korean
낫 었 낮 낯 낳
8. Becoming aspirated by ㅎ ‘히읗’ [h]
When the syllable-final [pㄱ], [tㄱ] or [kㄱ] is followed by ㅎ ‘히읗’
(ie, [h]), or when ㅎ is followed by ㅂ, ㄷ or ㄱ, the two are
‘combined’ and pronounced as aspirated [p], [t] or [k].
백화점 쌓다
9. Liaison (1)
When the syllable-final consonant is followed by the letter ㅇ
‘이응’ (ie, a vowel), it is pronounced as if it was the syllable-
initial consonant of the ensuing syllable
존이에요. [조니에요] I’m John.
들어 오세요. [드러 오세요] Come in (please).
늦어서 … [느저서] because I’m late...
9. Liaison (2)
When there are two syllable-final consonants and the next
syllable begins with the letter ㅇ ‘이응’ (ie, a vowel), division of
labour occurs
앉으세요. [안즈세요] take a seat please
읽어요. [일거요] I read
없어요. [업서요] I don’t have
10. Assimilation (1)
An unreleased consonant sound before ㅁ ‘미음’ and ㄴ ‘니은’
becomes nasalised.
고맙습니다. [고맙슴니다] ㅂ in 습 pronounced as [m]
감사합니다. [감사함니다] ㅂ in 합 pronounced as [m]
반갑습니다. [반갑슴니다] ㅂ in 습 pronounced as [m]
한국말 [한궁말] ㄱ in 국 pronounced as [ng]
10. Assimilation (2)
핀란드 [필란드] Finland
헨리 [헬리] Henry
신라 [실라] Shilla
월남쌈 [월람쌈] Vietnamese fresh spring rolls
..ㄴ + ㄹ..  ..ㄹ + ㄹ..
..ㄹ + ㄴ..
Reading Hangeul Words as Koreans do …
1. 으 응
2. 에 애, 예 얘, 왜 웨 외
3. 롤
4. 시드니
5. 자요 차요 짜요
6. 약
7. 도넛
8. 백화점
9. 늦어서; 앉으세요
10. 미안합니다; 신라
Hangeul – why is it special?
Two things to remember
• Historically – unusual; invented (1443, 1446) by King Sejong
세종 himself to teach ‘commoners’ correct pronunciations;
훈민정음 hun-min-jeong-eum; 한글 han-geul by 주시경 in
1910s (Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture)
• Linguistically – featural alphabetic (Sampson 1985, 2015)
ㄱ,ㄴ,ㅁ,ㅅ,ㅇ; 〮, ㅡ, ㅣ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aDPpssj0h0
Also, the Hangeul day – 9 October
Sampson, Geoffrey. (1985, 2015). Writing Systems: A Linguistic Introduction. Stanford University Press
Hangeul consonant letters
the basic five ㄱ ㄴ ㅁ ㅅ ㅇ
feature ‘added’
add stroke(s)
add stroke(s)
double it
ㅋ ㄷ ㅂ ㅈ
ㅌ ㅍ ㅊ
ㄹ ㅎ
ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ
Hangeul vowel letters
The basic two (originally three) ㅣ ㅡ
add ⦁ (right, left, up, down) ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ
add ㅣ ㅐ ㅔ ㅚ ㅟ
add one more ⦁ ㅑ ㅒ ㅕ ㅖ ㅛ ㅠ
add ㅏㅓ ㅘ ㅝ
add ㅣ ㅙ ㅞ
ㅢ