Korean Art Song Learning Center

Korean IPA for singers

Consonants

There are 14 basic consonants and 5 double consonants.

ConsonantIPAExampleMeaning
ㄱInitial /ɡ/
Final /ɡ/		고기 [ɡo.ɡi] 
각각 [ɡɑɡ.ɡɑɡ]		n. meat
ad. each
Between ‘g’ and ‘k’
ㄴInitial /n/
Final /n/		눈 [nun]n. eye
[n] is classified as a voiced alveolar nasal
The same sound as the ‘n’ in English ‘no’
ㄷInitial /d/
Final /d/		다리 [dɑ.ɾi]
닫다 [dɑd .dɑ]		n. leg
v. close
ㄹInitial /l/


Initial /ɾ/


Final /l/		라면 [lɑ.mjʌn]
복리 [boɡ.li] 1

기러기 [ɡi.ɾʌ.ɡi] 2
걸인 [ɡʌ.ɾin] 3

출고 [tsul.ɡo]		n. ramen
n. welfare

n. wild goose
n. beggar


n. release
1. When ‘ㄹ’ follows previous floor consonant (the consonants written below the vowel), the sound is pronounced as /l/

2. When ‘ㄹ’ unfollows previous floor consonant (the consonants written below the vowel), the sound is pronounced as /ɾ/

3. When floor consonant ‘ㄹ’ combines with next ‘ㅇ’ to create a liaison, it is pronounced as /ɾ/
ㅁInitial /m/
Final /m/		머리 [mʌ.ɾi]n. head
ㅂInitial /b/
Final /b/		밥 [bɑb]n. meal
ㅅInitial /s/ 
Initial /ʃ/ 4
Final /t/		소리 [so.ɾi]
스시 [sʉ.ʃi]
버섯 [bʌ.sʌt]		n. sound
n. sushi
n. mushroom
4. All other cases are pronounced as /ʃ/, except 소, 수, 서, 사, or 스
ㅇNo Initial 5


Final /ŋ/		아이 [ɑ.i]
오늘[o.nʉl]

공 [ɡoŋ]		n. child
n. today

n. ball
5. When ‘ㅇ’ comes at the beginning of a syllable before a vowel, it is silent. The syllable is then pronounced with the vowel sound
Containing ‘ㅅ’ ConsonantsFinal /t / 6
ㅈInitial /dz/

Initial /dʒ/ 7

Final /t/
자전거 [dzɑ.dzʌn.ɡʌ]

지식 [dʒi.ʃiɡ]

낮 [nɑt]
n. bicycle

n. knowledge

n. daytime
ㅊInitial /ts/
Final /t/		차 [tsɑ]
빛 [bit]		n. car, tea
n. light
6. These two consonants contain the character ‘ㅅ’. Like ‘ㅅ,’ they are pronounced /t/ in final position

7. Similar to ‘ㅅ,’ all other cases are pronounced as /dʒ/, except 조, 주, 저, 자, or 즈
ㅋInitial /k/
Final /k/		카메라 [kɑ.me.ɾɑ]
부엌 [buʌk]		n. camera
c. kitchen
Strong “k” (like “kh”)
ㅌInitial /t/
Final /t/		토마토 [to.mɑ.to]
팥 [pɑt]		n. tomato
n. red bean
Strong “t”
ㅍInitial /p/
Final /p/		팔십 [pɑl.ʃib]
숲 [sup]		n. eighty
n. forest
ㅎInitial /h/ 
Final /t/ 8
No final 9		하마 [hɑ.mɑ]
놓다 [not.ta]
좋아하다 [dzo.ɑ.hɑ.dɑ]		n. hippopotamus
v. put
v. enjoy
8. When a word ends with ‘ㅎ’ as a floor consonant and the following syllable begins with certain consonants like ‘ㄱ,’ ‘ㄷ,’ or ‘ㅈ,’ the ‘ㅎ’ sound is not pronounced as [h]. Instead, it causes the following consonant to become aspirated, turning into ‘ㅋ,’ ‘ㅌ,’ or ‘ㅊ’

9. When ‘ㅎ’  is in the final position and is followed by ‘ㅇ,’ it does not create a liaison. Instead, it is silenced
Double Consonants
ㄲInitial /k͈/
Final /ɡ/ 10		깎다 [k͈ɑɡ.t͈ɑ]v. cut
ㄸInitial /t͈/
No final		땅콩 [t͈ɑnŋ.konŋ]
ㅃInitial /p͈/
No final
Double Consonants containing ‘ㅅ’
ㅆInitial /s͈/  
Final /t/ 11		싸움 [s͈ɑ.um]
있다 [it.t͈ɑ]		n. fight
intr. to exist
ㅉts͈짬뽕 [ts͈ɑm.p͈oŋ]n. jjamppong
10, 11. The following consonant is pronounced as a double (tense) consonant

Vowels

In basic vowels composed of more than three strokes, an additional consonant sound is introduced /j/. To differentiate these from consonant sounds, they are notated with a superscript mark.

There are 10 basic vowels and 11 compound vowels.

Basic VowelsIPAExampleMeaning
ㅣ/i/비 [bi]n. rain
ㅏ/ɑ/아빠[ɑ.p͈ɑ]n. daddy
ㅑ (ㅏ + -)/jɑ/야구 [jɑ.ɡu]n.baseball
ㅓ/ʌ/엄마 [ʌm.mɑ]n. mummy
ㅕ (- + ㅓ)/jʌ/여자 [jʌ.jɑ]n. woman
ㅡ/ʉ/느리다 [nʉ.ɾi.dɑ]v. slow
ㅗ/o/오리 [o.ɾi]n. duck
ㅛ (ㅗ + ㅣ )/jo/요리 [jo.ɾi]n. cooking
ㅜ/u/구리 [ɡu.ɾi]n. copper
ㅠ (ㅜ + ㅣ)/ju/유리[ju.ɾi] n. glass
Compound VowelsIPAExampleMeaning
ㅐ ( ㅏ + ㅣ )/ɛ/내일 [nɛ.il]n. tomorrow
ㅔ ( ㅓ + ㅣ )/e/가게 [ɡɑ.ɡe]n. store
Containing /j/
ㅒ (ㅑ + ㅣ)/jɛ/얘기 [jɛ.ɡi]n. story
ㅖ (ㅕ + ㅣ)/je/예수 [je.su]Jesus
Containing /w/
ㅙ (ㅗ + ㅐ)/wɛ/왜 [wɛ] ad. why
ㅚ (ㅗ + ㅣ)/we/교회 [ɡjo.hwe]n. church
ㅘ (ㅗ + ㅏ)/wɑ/과일 [ɡwɑ.il]n. fruit
ㅝ (ㅜ + ㅓ)/wʌ/샤워 [ʃɑ.wʌ]n. shower
ㅞ (ㅜ + ㅔ)/we/웨딩 [we.diŋ]n. wedding
ㅟ (ㅜ + ㅣ)/wi/귀 [ɡwi]n. ear
ㅢ/ʉi/
/i/ 12		의사 [ʉi.sɑ]
흰색 [hin.sɛɡ]		n. doctor
n. white (color)
12. Only in the case of ‘희’