Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

한글
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangeul in South Korea, is a writing system for the Korean
language created by King Sejong the Great in 1443. It is currently the official writing system of
both South and North Korea.
Before Hangeul, Koreans used Classical Chinese characters to write. This was not ideal as
only the upper class can study the extensive number of Chinese characters and the stark differences
between the Chinese and Korean languages. The Korean alphabet was specifically designed so that
even people with little education at the time could learn how to read and write Korean.
Modern Hangeul uses 24 basic letters: 14 consonant letters and 10 vowel letters.

Consonants ①

Korean consonants have letter names, demonstrating how each consonant is pronounced
in both the initial and final positions.

When working with Hangeul, always make sure to follow the proper stroke order (as
indicated on the right side). Sometimes, letters will look alike when written quickly (like ㅇ and ㅁ)
and only stroke order will give you a hint on which letter it is supposed to be.
When in doubt, the general rule is “left to right, top to bottom.”

기역 (gi-yeok)

ㄱ ㄱ ㄱ ㄱ
니은 (ni-eun)

ㄴ ㄴ ㄴ ㄴ
디귿 (di-geut)

ㄷ ㄷ ㄷ ㄷ
리을 (ri-eul)

ㄹ ㄹ ㄹ ㄹ

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

미음 (mi-eum)

ㅁ ㅁ ㅁ ㅁ
비읍 (bi-eup)

ㅂ ㅂ ㅂ ㅂ
시옷 (shi-ot)

ㅅ ㅅ ㅅ ㅅ
이응 (i-eung)

ㅇ ㅇ ㅇ ㅇ
지읒 (ji-eut)

ㅈ ㅈ ㅈ ㅈ
치읓 (chi-eut)

ㅊ ㅊ ㅊ ㅊ
키읔 (ki-euk)

ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ ㅋ
티읕 (ti-eut)

ㅌ ㅌ ㅌ ㅌ
피읖 (pi-eup)

ㅍ ㅍ ㅍ ㅍ

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

히읗 (hi-eut)

ㅎ ㅎ ㅎ ㅎ
Vowels ①

Vowels are more straightforward than the consonants.

/i/

ㅣ ㅣ ㅣ ㅣ
/eu/

ㅡ ㅡ ㅡ ㅡ
/a/

ㅏ ㅏ ㅏ ㅏ
/eo/

ㅓ ㅓ ㅓ ㅓ
/o/

ㅗ ㅗ ㅗ ㅗ
/u/

ㅜ ㅜ ㅜ ㅜ

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

/ya/

ㅑ ㅑ ㅑ ㅑ
/yeo/

ㅕ ㅕ ㅕ ㅕ
/yo/

ㅛ ㅛ ㅛ ㅛ
/yu/

ㅠ ㅠ ㅠ ㅠ
Syllable Blocks ①

Korean letters are written in syllabic blocks with the letters arranged in two dimensions. For
example, the Korean word for ‘love’ is written as 사랑 sarang instead of ㅅㅏㄹㅏㅇ. There are many
ways to write a Korean syllable.
Each syllable is always composed of (1) an initial consonant, (2) a vowel, and (3) optionally,
a final consonant.

If you only have an initial consonant and a vowel, you can form a syllable by combining
them side-by-side if your vowel is vertical. If your vowel is horizontal, combine them top-bottom.

C1
C1 V
V

커 피 커 피
우 유 우 유

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

치 즈 치 즈
오 이 오 이
고 기 고 기
주 스 주 스
초 코 초 코
※ The examples above (and other examples below) are real Korean words. Try looking up what
these words mean!

A final consonant, if present, is always written at the bottom, under the vowel. This is
called 받침.

C1
C1 V
V
C2 C2

한 국 한 국
일 본 일 본
미 국 미 국
독 일 독 일
필 리 핀 필 리 핀
프 랑 스 프 랑 스
폴 란 드 폴 란 드

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

Consonants ②

In addition to the 14 basic consonant letters, there are also 5 tense consonants. The stroke
orders are the same as the consonants from which they are based on, only doubled, and they take
one block space.

쌍기역 (ssang-gi-yeok)

ㄲ ㄲ ㄲ ㄲ
쌍디귿 (ssang-di-geut)

ㄸ ㄸ ㄸ ㄸ
쌍비읍 (ssang-bi-eup)

ㅃ ㅃ ㅃ ㅃ
쌍시옷 (ssang-shi-ot)

ㅆ ㅆ ㅆ ㅆ
쌍지읒 (ssang-ji-eut)

ㅉ ㅉ ㅉ ㅉ

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

Vowels ②

You can combine some of the basic vowels to create complex vowels. Follow the same
stroke order rule: “left to right, top to bottom.”

/ui/

ㅢ ㅢ ㅢ ㅢ
/oe/

ㅚ ㅚ ㅚ ㅗ
/ae/

ㅐ ㅐ ㅐ ㅐ
/wi/

ㅟ ㅟ ㅟ ㅟ
/e/

ㅔ ㅔ ㅔ ㅔ
/yae/

ㅒ ㅒ ㅒ ㅒ
/ye/

ㅖ ㅖ ㅖ ㅖ

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

/wa/

ㅘ ㅘ ㅘ ㅘ
/wo/

ㅝ ㅝ ㅝ ㅝ
/wae/

ㅙ ㅙ ㅙ ㅙ
/we/

ㅞ ㅞ ㅞ ㅞ
Syllable Blocks ②

Using these complex consonants, let’s try to combine them into syllable blocks.

꿈 꿈
딱 딱
뿐 뿐
씨 씨
짝 짝
빨 리 빨 리
뚜 껑 뚜 껑

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Lingua: Korean (October 2021)

As for complex vowels, the blocks may seem a bit different. For complex vowels with
both horizontal and vertical components, the syllable is constructed as:

C1
C1 V|
V| V-
V- C2

희 망 희 망
사 과 사 과
개 월 개 월
외 국 외 국
돼 지 돼 지
Sometimes, two consonants can appear in the final position. In such case, they appear
side-to-side below the vowel.

C1
C1 V
V
C2 C2 C2 C2

닭 닭
삶 삶
여 덟 여 덟
볶 음 밥 볶 음 밥
괜 찮 아 요 괜 찮 아 요

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