Started to learn Korean
Korean alphabet
The Korean alphabets are Hangul(한글). All Hangul representing pronunciation. It’s like Kana in Japanese. There are about 70% Korean are Hanja(한자/漢字/Han characters). Korean was written in a mixed Hanja-Hangul script (like the mixed Kanji-Kana script that modern Japanese are using), but modern Korean only uses Hangul in common.
There are 40 types of characters in Hangul. 21 are vowels and 19 are consonants.
10 basic vowels and 11 combined vowels:
| Basic vowels | ㅏ(a) | ㅑ(ya) | ㅓ(eo) | ㅕ(yeo) | ㅗ(o) | ㅛ(yo) | ㅜ(u) | ㅠ(yu) | ㅡ(eu) | ㅣ(i) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combined with ㅣ | ㅐ(ae) | ㅒ(yae) | ㅔ(e) | ㅖ(ye) | ㅚ(oe) | ㅟ(wi) | ㅢ(ui) | |||
| Combined with ㅏ or ㅓ | ㅘ(wa) | ㅝ(wo) | ||||||||
| Combined with ㅐ or ㅔ | ㅙ(wae) | ㅞ(we) |
14 basic consonants and 5 double consonants:
| Basic consonants (Plain) | ㄱ(g) | ㄴ(n) | ㄷ(d) | ㄹ(l) | ㅁ(m) | ㅂ(b) | ㅅ(s) | ㅇ | ㅈ(j) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic consonants (Aspirated) | ㅋ(k) | ㅌ(t) | ㅍ(p) | ㅊ(ch) | ㅎ(h) | |||||
| Double consonants (Tensed) | ㄲ(kk) | ㄸ(tt) | ㅃ(pp) | ㅆ(jj) | ㅉ(ss) |
How to make a Hangul?
Positive and negetive
Vowels were made from the Confucian “three realms”(三才) of 天 heaven, a dot for the sun, ⟨ㆍ⟩; 地 earth, a flat line, ⟨ㅡ⟩; and 人 man, an upright line, ⟨ㅣ⟩.
- ㅣ + ㆍ = ㅏ (positive, sun raises in the east.)
- ㆍ + ㅣ = ㅓ (negetive, sun sets in the west.)
- ㅡ + ㆍ = ㅗ (positive, sun above the earth.)
- ㅡ + ㆍ = ㅜ (negetive, sun under the earth.)
Combined vowels
| Basic vowels | Combine with | Combined vowels |
|---|---|---|
| ㅏ (positive) | ㅣ (natural) | ㅐ ( ㅏ + ㅣ ) (positive) |
| ㅑ (positive) | ㅣ (natural) | ㅒ ( ㅑ + ㅣ ) (positive) |
| ㅓ (negative) | ㅣ (natural) | ㅔ ( ㅓ + ㅣ ) (negative) |
| ㅕ (negative) | ㅣ (natural) | ㅖ ( ㅕ + ㅣ ) (negative) |
| ㅗ (positive) | ㅏ (positive) | ㅘ ( ㅏ + ㅣ ) (positive) |
| ㅗ (positive) | ㅣ (natural) | ㅚ ( ㅑ + ㅣ ) (positive) |
| ㅗ (positive) | ㅐ (positive) | ㅙ ( ㅑ + ㅐ ) (positive) |
| ㅜ (negative) | ㅓ (negative) | ㅝ ( ㅜ + ㅓ ) (negative) |
| ㅜ (negative) | ㅣ (natural) | ㅟ ( ㅜ + ㅣ ) (negative) |
| ㅜ (negative) | ㅔ (negative) | ㅞ ( ㅜ + ㅔ ) (negative) |
Positive can be together with positive or natural(ㅣ). Negetive can be together with negetive or natural(ㅣ). Positive and negitive can’t be together.
A Hangul block
You can’t write ㅏ or ㄱ only in a text. A Hangul block needs one vowel and at least one consonant.
The zero/null consonant ㅇ:
| Vowels + the zero consonant ㅇ | 아 | 야 | 어 | 여 | 오 | 요 | 우 | 유 | 으 | 이 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pronounced the same as | ㅏ(a) | ㅑ(ya) | ㅓ(eo) | ㅕ(yeo) | ㅗ(o) | ㅛ(yo) | ㅜ(u) | ㅠ(yu) | ㅡ(eu) | ㅣ(i) |