Cyphernaut - Korean Hangul Alphabet
Korean is a language that is estimated to have over 78 million total speakers worldwide. It the official language of North Korea and South Korea. It is written in Hangul, which is a writing system developed in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great, considered by many Koreans to be their finest ruler. Because of the Hangul alphabet, both North Korea and South Korea are two of the most literate nations in the world. Korean is believed to belong to the Ural-Altaic language family which includes the Turkish and Mongolian languages. China has had much influence on the Korean language as many Korean words have Chinese origins even though they are still linguistically different.
This is a guide for learning the Korean Hangul alphabet. Hangul is a phonetic alphabet and consists of 14 consonants, 10 vowels, 5 double consonants and 11 double vowels. In the browser, vowels are indicated with a reddish tint, double vowels are indicated with a greenish tint and double consonants are indicated with a bluish tint. Double consonants are pronounced very forcefully or glottalized. Consonants whose romanization include apostrophes, (ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ) are strongly aspirated, which means they are pronounced more forcefully (with a puff of air as spoken).
The pronunciation of Hangul letters varies depending on its placement in a word; initial, medial and final. For instance when the letter ㅇ appears at the beginning of a word (initial), it has no sound. When ㅇ appears at the end of a word (final), it sounds like ng in king. Here is a link to a handy graphic which depicts the essential rules for Hangul letter placement.
For an example of using Hangul, take the word 지도(chi-do), which is Korean for map. The syllable 지 is formed by taking the letters ㅈ(ch) + ㅣ(i) and placing them in a block. The syllable 도 is formed by taking the letters ㄷ(d) + ㅗ(o) and placing them in a block.
Here are some easy sample words in Hangul with their corresponding romanization and English meaning. See if you can use the alphabet guide to determine the individual letters within each syllable block.
- 나무 - (na-mu) - tree
- 산 - (san) - mountain
- 공항 - (kong-hang) - airport
- 텔레비전 - (t´el-le-bi-jŏn) - television
- 침대 - (ch´im-dae) - bed
- 도시 - (to-shi) - city
- 한글 - (han-gŭl) - Hangul
*Important Note : It may be necessary to install support for East Asian languages like Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The following links provide instructions for installing East Asian languages on a computer running Windows so that the games will properly display Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
| ㄱ | | g/k | | g in guide; k in kiss | | at start and end of word like k in kiss; between vowels like g in guide |
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| ㄷ | | d/t | | t in to; d in do | | at start and end of word like t in to; between vowels like d in do |
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| ㄹ | | l/r | | l in ill; r in sarang | | at start of word like l in ill; at end of word like l in girl; between vowels like r in sarang |
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| ㅂ | | b/p | | b in boot; p in puff | | at start and end of word like p in puff; between vowels like b in boot |
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| ㅅ | | s/sh/t | | s in sad | | ike s in sad; like sh in shin beforeㅣ,ㅑ,ㅕ,ㅛ,ㅠ,ㅒ,ㅖ,ㅟ; at end of word like t in cot |
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| ㅇ | | ng/ silent | | like ng in king | | at start of word silent; at end of word like ng in king |
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| ㅈ | | ch/j/t | ch in church; j in jade; t in kit | | at start of word like ch in church; between vowels like j in jade; at end of word like t in kit |
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| ㅊ | | ch´/t | | ch in change; t in kit | | like ch in change but strongly aspirated; at end of word like t in kit |
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| ㅋ | | k´/k | | k in king | | like k in king but strongly aspirated; at end of word like k in cook |
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| ㅌ | | t´/t | | t in table | | like t in table but strongly aspirated; at end of word like t in bat |
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| ㅍ | | p´/p | | p in pop | | like p in pop but strongly aspirated; at end of word like p in tip |
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| ㅒ | | yae | | ya in yam | | double vowel |
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| ㅘ | | wa | | wa in watt | | double vowel |
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| ㅙ | | wae | | wa in wag | | double vowel |
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| ㅚ | | oe | | wa in way | | sometimes like whe in when | | double vowel |
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| ㅝ | | wŏ | | wa in wash | | double vowel |
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| ㅟ | | wi | | we in ween | | double vowel |
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| ㅢ | | ŭi | | ue in chop suey | | when preceeded by consonant like ea in eat | | double vowel |
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| ㄲ | | kk | | like kk in bookkeeper | | like kk in bookkeeper but pronounced more forcefully | | double consonant |
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| ㄸ | | tt | | t in ten | | like t in ten but pronounced more forcefully | | double consonant |
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| ㅃ | | pp | | p in port | | like p in port but pronounced more forcefully | | double consonant |
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| ㅆ | | ss | | s in seen | | like s in seen but pronounced more forcefully | | double consonant |
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| ㅉ | | tch/jj | | j in judge | | like j in judge but pronounced more forcefully | | double consonant |
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