More Basic letters (Part 1: Explanation)

Question 1

1) The letter ‘ㅇ’
You learned that number 2 in a syllable is ALWAYS a vowel and the other places are always consonants. Always always always.

This means that Number 1 is always a consonant (as well as Number 3, if there is one). But does that mean that every syllable must start with a consonant?

The answer: Sort of.

When the letter ‘ㅇ’ is placed at Number 1 in the syllable it is silent, and the first sound that is made is the vowel in the Number 2 position. Click for examples.

Answer 1

안 = an

운 = un

온 = on

업 = eob

Using this silent letter, we are able to follow the rule that you learned earlier “Number 2 is ALWAYS a vowel”

Question 2

2) The letter ‘ㅇ’
What makes the letter ‘o’ slightly more tricky is that it makes another sound when placed as Number 3. When placed as Number 3, it has the sound of ‘ng’ as in “walkiNG”.

Answer 2

강 = kang

방 = bang

깅 = king

공 = kong

The letter ‘ㅇ’ can be placed as both Number 1 and 3:

앙 = ang

Question 3

ㄱ set

ㄱ is the letter you already learned (k)

Answer 3

ㄲ
is a new letter. It is two ㄱ’s placed side by side. It sounds very similar to the original ‘ㄱ’ but it is more forced at the beginning of the pronunciation. It is Romanized as ‘kk’

ㅋ
is also a new letter, this also sounds very similar to the original ‘ㄱ’ and is Romanized as ‘k’

Question 4

ㅂ set

ㅂ is the letter you already learned (b)

Answer 4

ㅃ
is a new letter. It is two ㅂ’s placed side by side. It sounds very similar to the original ‘ㅂ’ but it is more forced at the beginning of the pronunciation. It is Romanized as ‘bb’

ㅍ
is also a new letter, this also sounds very similar to the original ‘ㅂ’ but is Romanized as ‘p.’ It is closer to a ‘p’ in English, but, even in English, B and P are VERY similar (say box and pox and try distinguishing the two)

Question 5

ㅈ set

ㅈ is the letter you already learned (j)

Answer 5

ㅉ
is a new letter. It is two ㅈ’s placed side by side. It sounds very similar to the original ‘ㅈ’ but it is more forced at the beginning of the pronunciation. It is Romanized as ‘jj’

ㅊ
is also a new letter, this also sounds very similar to the original ‘ㅈ’ but is Romanized as ‘ch.’ It is closer to a ‘ch’ in English, but, even in English, J and CH are VERY similar (say char and jar and try distinguishing the two)

Question 6

ㄷ set

ㄷ is the letter you already learned (d)

Answer 6

ㄸ
is a new letter. It is two ㄷ’s placed side by side. It sounds very similar to the original ‘ㄷ’ but it is more forced at the beginning of the pronunciation. It is Romanized as ‘dd’

ㅌ
is also a new letter, this also sounds very similar to the original ‘ㄷ’ but is Romanized as ‘t’ It is closer to a ‘t’ in English, but, even in English, T and D are VERY similar (say task and dask and try distinguishing the two)

Question 7

ㅅ set

ㅅ is the letter we already learned (s)

Answer 7

ㅆ
is a new letter. It is two ㅅ’s placed side by side. It sounds very similar to the original ‘ㅅ’ but it is more forced at the beginning of the pronunciation. It is Romanized as ‘ss’