Are you a Koreaboo and obsessed about learning Korean since your favorite Oppa/eunnie is from South Korea? Does the Korean alphabet seem like Ramen (noodles) to you? Do you desperately want to communicate with Korean speakers, but it just seems so hard?
If that’s the case, then worry no more because we will walk you through Hangul, the Korean Alphabet, in a fun and easy way in this blog. In this post, we got you covered all the Korean alphabets. After learning Korean from this blog, you will be able to recognize and write each alphabet and write Korean like a pro. So let the learning begin!
Korean Language
The Korean language is the official language of South Korea and North Korea. It is the native language of South Korea. People in South Korea prefer to talk to others in the Korean language instead of the English language.
North Korean people tend to have different accents and Hangul words. It might sound like a new language to the people learning Korean. Their Korean alphabet letters are also different. Learning Korean can help you get better knowledge about Korean culture.
Korean Writing System
The Korean writing system is now called Hangul. which was invented in 1443. Before that, the writing system in Korea was comprised of Chinese characters called hanja, which was considered the only legitimate writing system along with other native phonetic writing systems.
It was not easy for this official writing system to get recognition in Korea as it faced a lot of challenges under Japanese rule. Replacing Chinese characters with Korean characters was a hard thing to do. However, this writing system still succeeded in becoming the standard in both North Korea and South Korea. As a result, Korean texts were written using Hangul characters instead of Chinese characters. To this day, Korean texts predominantly use the Hangul characters, also known as Korean characters.
Korean Letters
Hangul, the Korean alphabet, comprises consonants and vowels. These consonants and vowels might seem difficult but they are easy to learn if enough practice is done.
Modern Korean Linguist
Consonants and vowels are different in the modern Korean alphabet as compared to the traditional one. There are 40 Korean consonants and vowels in the Korean language, but we will get into the details in another blog. In this blog, you will learn the basic letters, which are a must to learn the Korean alphabet. These are 24 consonants and vowels.
Most people write Korean in romanized hangul. However, it is important for Korean learners to know how to write Korean consonants and vowels of the Korean alphabet. Therefore, we suggest you learn hangul and the basic letters before learning Korean. Once you learn hangul and write Korean words, it will assist you in your entire journey of learning Korean.
Korean Consonants
There are 14 Korean consonant letters in the Korean language. All of the Hangul consonants have different sounds.
“ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ” are the basic 14 Korean consonants. These consonant letters are important for you to learn if you are learning the Korean language as a new language. It is important to recognize these consonant letters.
Double Consonants
In the Korean alphabet, there are five Korean double consonants; “ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ”. These hangul consonants are called double consonants because they are written using two same consonant letters. These double consonants produce a strong sound. These sound similar to some English letters and can be understood by various examples.
For instance, “g” in the English word “goat” can be used for pronouncing ㄲ consonant letters.
Vowels
There are 10 Korean vowels in the Korean language. All the Hangul vowels have different Korean sounds.
“ㅏ,ㅑ,ㅓ,ㅕ, ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅛ, ㅡ,ㅣ” are the vowel letters which are found in almost all the Korean words. The vowel sound of each Korean vowel is different.
There are more vowels in the Korean language which we will get to in another blog. Those vowel letters have been formed in the Modern Korean script. These Korean vowels often produce the same sound.
Table For The Korean Alphabets
Korean alphabet incorporates aspects of the Latin script system. Here is a Korean alphabet chart for you to learn basic letters in Korean;
Letter | Name | IPA | English Approx. | Korean Vocabulary |
ㄱ | kiŭk | /kh/ | Brag | 가다 (Go) |
ㄴ | niŭn | /n/ | No | 남성 (man) |
ㄷ | diŭt | /dh/ | Red | 다르다 (different) |
ㄹ | riŭl | /R/l/ | Wrong | 라면 (ramen) |
ㅁ | miŭm | /m/,/b/ | mob | 머리 (head) |
ㅂ | piŭp | /p/, /b/ | Rob | 보다 (see) |
ㅅ | siŭt | /s/ | curse | 사랑 (love) |
ㅈ | jiŭt | /j/ | gate | 좋은 (Good) |
ㅊ | chiŭt | /ch/ | change | 친구 (Friend) |
ㅋ | ḳiŭk | /k/ | Kite | ㅋㅋㅋ (Hahaha) |
ㅌ | ṭiŭt | /t/ | Try | 타조 (Ostrich) |
ㅍ | p̣iŭp | /p/ | Pull | 파도 (Wave) |
ㅎ | hiŭt | /h/ | Hot | 한국인 (Korean) |
ㅏ | aa | /a/ | Car | 한국인 (Korean) |
ㅑ | yaa | /ya/ | Yacht | 야구 (baseball) |
ㅓ | eo | /aw/ | All | 너 (you) |
ㅕ | yeo | /yaw/ | Yawn | 소녀 (girl) |
ㅗ | o | /o/ | Oat | 보다 (see) |
ㅜ | oo | /u/ | Glue | 친구 (Friend) |
ㅠ | yoo | /yu/ | You | 우유 (milk) |
ㅛ | yo | /yo/ | Yo | 교수 (professor) |
ㅡ | eu | /eu/ | Dull | 다르다 (different) |
ㅣ | i | /i/ | We | 머리 (head) |
Korean Syllable Blocks
In the Korean language, the Korean script is written using syllable blocks. Korean letters (Korean consonants and Korean vowels) combine to form syllable blocks. One syllable block contains a Korean syllable. Each syllable block has an initial consonant and final consonants. The initial consonant is written at the start of a Korean word while the final consonants are written at the end of a Korean word.
In this blog, we made Korean learning easy for you by providing you with all the Korean symbols and Korean words. Once you ace writing all the Korean letters, it will become fairly easy for you to speak Korean. Korean alphabet letters are important to learn for a person learning Korean and who wishes to speak Korean since most of the native Korean speakers read and write using Korean Hangul letters only.
Learn More Korean With Ling!
If you are interested in learning more about writing Korean then make sure to visit Ling app by Simya Solutions. We have also uploaded blogs on 20+ Easy Words For Vegetables In Korean and 20+ Easy Common Korean Vocabulary In Daily Life. Check them out!!! There are countless easy lessons and tutorials along with quizzes to learn Korean letters.