Learn Korean

Combining Vowels and Consonants

How to Combine Consonant with Vowel Symbol
The basic unit of a Korean letter is a syllable. In other words, a complete Korean written letter must have at least one consonant and a vowel symbol. Hindi katulad dito sa atin na kapag sa isang syllable ay ang present lang ay isang letter e isang letter lang talaga ang isusulat natin, sa Korea kailangan may at least one consonant at one vowel. Paano kaya yun? We will discuss that further on. The combinations of the vowels and consonant symbols are fivefold.

One Vowel

A syllable consist of only one vowel sound (e.g., like English "a") although the letter pronunciation is consisted of only one vowel pronunciation like "a" (without any spoken consonant), you still need to start the syllable with a consonant symbol to make the letter complete. Dito papasok ang paggamit ng Korean placeholder consonant na "ㅇ".

If a syllable in romanization/pronunciation has only one vowel, you write it in Hangeul with the placeholder consonant "ㅇ" before it. Wala itong value (zero-value consonant) if it appears before a vowel, so wala din itong sound. Gaya nga ng sinabi ko dati, ang sound ng "ㅇ" ay nakadepende kung saan siya nakapwesto sa isang Hangeul syllable. Therefore, dahil nakapwesto siya as first/initial consonant, wala siyang sound.

E.g., The letter "a" should be written in Korean as "아" (hindi "ㅏ" lang). Gets?

Another example.

E.g., Writing a letter for the sound of "yo" should look like "요" at hindi bastang "ㅛ". Kasi diba Korean vowels naman ang y-semivowels (ya, ye, yae, yo, yu, yeo)? Meron ba kayong nakitang consonant character para sa letter na "y"? Diba wala naman. Hence, it is a vowel.

Consonant + Vowel

Vowel: ㅏ (a)
ㄱ (g) + ㅏ (a) = 가 (ga)
ㄴ (n) + ㅏ (a) = 나 (na)
ㄷ (d) + ㅏ (a) = 다 (da)

Vowel: ㅗ (o)
ㄱ (g) + ㅗ (o) = 고 (go)
ㄴ (n) + ㅗ (o) = 노 (no)
ㄷ (d) + ㅗ (o) = 도 (do)

Vowel: ㅣ (i)
ㄱ (g) + ㅣ (i) = 기 (gi)
ㄴ (n) + ㅣ (i) = 니 (ni)
ㄷ (d) + ㅣ (i) = 디 (di)

Consonant + Vowel + Consonant

Consonant: ㄴ (n)
ㄱ (g) + ㅏ (a) + ㄴ (n) = 간 (gan)
ㄴ (n) + ㅏ (a) + ㄴ (n) = 난 (nan)
ㄷ (d) + ㅏ (a) + ㄴ (n) = 단 (dan)

Consonant: ㅁ (m)
ㄱ (g) + ㅗ (o) + ㅁ (m) = 곰 (gom)
ㄴ (n) + ㅗ (o) + ㅁ (m) = 놈 (nom)
ㄷ (d) + ㅗ (o) + ㅁ (m) = 돔 (dom)

Consonant: ㅇ (ng)*
ㄱ (g) + ㅣ (i) + ㅇ (ng) = 깅 (ging)
ㄴ (n) + ㅣ (i) + ㅇ (ng) = 닝 (ning)
ㄷ (d) + ㅣ (i) + ㅇ (ng) = 딩 (ding)

*Dahil place ang ㅇ as last/final consonant sa isang syllable, the sound it makes is "ng".

As shown in the examples above, merely 5 consonants (g, n, d, m, ng) and 3 vowels (a, o, i) is already capable of expressing virtually any sound. The Korean language has a well-developed and expansive vocabulary, and therefore, it is very difficult to express fully in foreign letters.

However, due to its scientific design (Hangeul is the World's Most Scientific Writing System!), it is quite easy to approximate the sounds of foreign words in the Korean Alphabet.

Following are some examples of English words expressed in Hangeul.

I (아이) am (앰) a (어) girl (걸).
Good morning (굿 모닝).

Ganyan ang pag-pronounce ng mga Korean sa mga English words, parang tinutugma nila sa sarili nilang alphabet at pronunciation.

Because of Hangeul's simplicity and small number of letters, Hangeul is very easy to learn even by foreigners.

Pinapatunayan nito ang easy learnability at accessibility ng Korean alphabet. Yeeessss! Kala mo lang hard ang Hangeul pero actually it's very easy to learn!

;-)

~Mam Seoyeon

Any questions? Reactions? Suggestions?
Comment na lang. Thank you!