Consonants
There are 14 basic consonants and 5 double consonants.
| Consonant | IPA | Example | Meaning |
| ㄱ | Initial /ɡ/ Final /ɡ/ | 고기 [ɡo.ɡi] 각각 [ɡɑɡ.k͈ɑɡ]1 | n. meat ad. each |
| ㄴ | Initial /n/ Final /n/ | 눈 [nun] | n. eye |
The same sound as the ‘n’ in English ‘no’
| ㄷ | Initial /d/ Final /d/ | 다리 [dɑ.ɾi] 닫다 [dɑd .t͈ɑ]1 | n. leg v. close |
| ㄹ | Initial /l/, or after coda (final consonant) 2 Initial /ɾ/ 3 Final /l/ | 라면 [lɑ.mjʌn] 날리다 [nɑl.li.dɑ] 복리 [boŋ.ni]4 기러기 [ɡi.ɾʌ.ɡi]3 걸인 [ɡʌ͜.ɾin]5 출고 [tsul.ɡo] | n. ramen v.fly n. welfare n. wild goose n. beggar n. release |
| ㅁ | Initial /m/ Final /m/ | 머리 [mʌ.ɾi] | n. head |
| ㅂ | Initial /b/ Final /b/ | 밥 [bɑb] | n. meal |
| ㅅ | Initial /s/ Initial /ʃ/ 6 Final /t/ | 소리 [so.ɾi] 스시 [sʉ.ʃi] 버섯 [bʌ.sʌt] | n. sound n. sushi n. mushroom |
| ㅇ | No Initial 7 Final /ŋ/ | 아이 [ɑ.i] 오늘[o.nʉl] 공 [ɡoŋ] | n. child n. today n. ball |
| Containing ‘ㅅ’ Consonants | Final /t / | ||
| ㅈ | Initial /dz/ Initial /dʒ/ 8 Final /t/ | 자전거 [dzɑ.dzʌn.ɡʌ] 지식 [dʒi.ʃiɡ] 낮 [nɑt] | n. bicycle n. knowledge n. daytime |
| ㅊ | Initial /ts/ Initial /tʃ/8 Final /t/ | 차 [tsɑ] 치약 [tʃi.ʲɑɡ] 빛 [bit] | n. car, tea n. toothpaste n. light |
| ㅋ | Initial /k/ Final /k/ | 카메라 [kɑ.me.ɾɑ] 부엌 [buʌk] | n. camera c. kitchen |
| ㅌ | Initial /t/ Final /t/ | 토마토 [to.mɑ.to] 팥 [pɑt] | n. tomato n. red bean |
| ㅍ | Initial /p/ Final /p/ | 팔십 [pɑl.ʃib]9 숲 [sup] | n. eighty n. forest |
| ㅎ | Initial /h/ Final /t/ 10 No final 11 Final /n/ 12 | 하마 [hɑ.mɑ] 놓다 [not.ta]10 좋아하다 [dzo.ɑ.hɑ.dɑ]11 닿는 [dɑn.nʉn]12 | n. hippopotamus v. put v. enjoy adj. touching |
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 | |||
| ㄲ | Initial /k͈/ Final /ɡ/ | 깎다 [k͈ɑɡ.t͈ɑ]1 | v. cut |
| ㄸ | Initial /t͈/ No final | 땅콩 [t͈ɑnŋ.koŋ] | n. peanut |
| ㅃ | Initial /p͈/ No final | 빨리 [p͈ɑl.li] | adv. rapidly |
| Double Consonants containing ‘ㅅ’ | |||
| ㅆ | Initial /s͈/ Initial /ʃ͈/6 Final /t/ | 싸움 [s͈ɑ.um] 없이 [ʌb͜.ʃ͈i] 있다 [it.t͈ɑ]1 | n. fight adv.without v. to exist |
| ㅉ | ts͈ | 짬뽕 [ts͈ɑm.p͈oŋ] | n. jjamppong |
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 Vowels | IPA | Example | Meaning |
| 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 Vowels | IPA | Example | Meaning |
| 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. talk, story |
| ㅖ (ㅕ + ㅣ) | /je/ | 예수 [je.su] | n. 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/13 /i/14 | 의사 [ʉi.sɑ] 흰색 [hin.sɛɡ] | n. doctor n. white (color) |
1. Tensification: when a syllable ending in a stop consonant (ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ, including their coda-neutralized forms) is followed by a plain consonant (ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㅅ/ㅈ), that consonant becomes tense: 닫다 → [dɑd.t͈ɑ], 깎다 → [k͈ɑɡ.t͈ɑ], 있다 → [it.t͈ɑ].
2. When ㄹ is in coda position (a syllable-final consonant not carried into the next syllable), it is pronounced [l].
3. When ㄹ is a plain syllable-initial consonant — not derived by resyllabification from a preceding coda — it is pronounced [ɾ] (a flap, like the “tt” in American “butter”).
4. Nasalization: when a syllable ending in ㄱ is immediately followed by ㄹ, both consonants change: ㄱ becomes [ŋ] and ㄹ becomes [n]. 복리 (welfare) is pronounced [보응니], not with a plain [l].
5. Resyllabification: when a coda consonant is followed by a syllable with no initial consonant (i.e. starting with a vowel), that consonant shifts to become the onset of the next syllable. For ㄹ, this produces [ɾ]. (We use the linguistic term resyllabification, not “liaison,” which is specific to French.)
6. ㅅ is pronounced [ʃ] when a glide (ʲ/ʷ) or a true ㅣ follows, and [s] before one of the five plain vowels with no glide (ɑ, ʌ, o, u, ʉ). The tense form follows the same split: ㅆ → [ʃ͈] with a glide or true ㅣ, [s͈] before a plain vowel; tensing and palatalizing are independent, so both can apply together. ㅢ after a consonant onset is an exception: the vowel itself still merges to plain [i] (note 14), but that [i] traces back to ㅡrather than ㅣ, and doesn’t carry the coarticulatory pull that triggers palatalization. So 씌 stays [s͈i], while 씨 is [ʃ͈i]; the two are not identical even though the vowel sounds the same.
7. ㅇ has no sound as a syllable-initial consonant before a vowel; it’s simply a placeholder. As a final consonant it represents [ŋ]. Unlike every other final consonant, ŋ never resyllabifies into a following vowel-initial syllable, staying in place instead. E.g. 공이 is [ɡoŋ.i], never [ɡo.ŋi].
8. ㅈ/ㅊ follow the same split as ㅅ (note 6): [dʒ]/[tʃ] when a glide (ʲ/ʷ) or ㅣ follows, and [dz]/[ts] before one of the five plain vowels with no glide, which spells out to 조/주/저/자/즈 for ㅈ and 초/추/처/차/츠 for ㅊ. A glide always wins this choice, even when the base vowel underneath would otherwise fall in the [dz]/[ts] group (e.g. 쳐 → [tʃʲʌ], not [tsʲʌ]).
9. Compound tensification stacks with palatalization: 팔(eight) + 십(ten) tensifies ㅅ→ㅆ across the compound boundary (coda ㄹ + plain onset, as in note 1), and a tense ㅅ before ㅣ still palatalizes exactly as a plain one does (note 6 applies regardless of tenseness), so the result is [ʃ͈], not plain [s͈].
10. Aspiration: when coda ㅎ meets a following ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅈ, the two merge into an aspirated consonant (ㅋ/ㅌ/ㅊ). The coda position keeps a subscript [t] as a placeholder for the “missing” ㅎ.
11. Coda ㅎ is silent when the next syllable begins with a vowel.
12. Nasalization: coda ㅎ followed by ㄴ becomes [n].
13. When ㅢ has no consonant before it, it’s a true diphthong: a glide (small raised ʉ) plus [i].
14. Per Standard Korean Pronunciation Rule 5, whenever ㅢ follows a consonant onset, it simplifies to plain [i]. This is always true, not only in the word 희. Note 6 covers one exception to how this [i] behaves: it doesn’t trigger sibilant palatalization the way a true ㅣ does.
Korean Art Song Learning Center 