Korean phrasebook consonants · Consonants in Korean phrasebook
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Consonants in Korean phrasebook
Consonants in Korean phrasebook
Most Korean consonants come in three versions, namely unaspirated (without a puff of air), aspirated (with a puff of air) and tensed (stressed). Unaspirated consonants exist in English too, but never alone: compare the sound of 'p' in "pot" (aspirated) and "spot" (unaspirated). Many English speakers find it helpful to pronounce an imperceptible little "m" in front to 'stop' the puff. Tensing isn't really found in English, but pronouncing the consonant quick and hard is a reasonable substitute.
b (p) ㅂ�
like 'p' in "spit" (unaspirated)
p (p', ph) ㅍ�
like 'p' in "pig" (aspirated)
pp ㅃ�
tensed 'p', like 'p' in "petit" in French
d (t) ㄷ
like 't' in "stab" (unaspirated)
t (t', th) ㅌ�
like 't' in "top" (aspirated)
tt ㄸ�
tensed 't'
g (k) ㄱ�
like 'k' in "skate" (unaspirated)
k (k', k) ㅋ�
like 'c' in "cat" (aspirated)
kk ㄲ�
tensed 'k'
j (ch) ㅈ�
like 'g' in "gin" (unaspirated)
ch (ch') ㅊ�
like 'ch' in "chin" (aspirated). Usually pronounced as a light aspiratd 't' as a final consonant
jj ㅉ�
tensed 'j'
s ㅅ�
like 's' in "soon", 'sh' before i or any "y" dipthong. Usually pronounced as a very light 't' as a final consonant
ss ㅆ�
tensed 's', 's' in 'sea', never 'sh'
Standalone consonants:
n ㄴ�
like 'n' in "nice"
m ㅁ�
like 'm' in "mother"
l ㄹ�
somewhere between 'l', 'r' and 'n', original sound is 'r' or 'l'. and 'n' sound occurs through initial consonant mutation.
h ㅎ�
like 'h' in "help"
ng ㅇ�
like 'ng' in "sing". Unpronounced (placeholder) when at the start of a syllable.
While the rules above are usually correct for the first consonant, those in the middle of a word are usually (but not always) voiced, which means that ㅂㄷㅈㄱ turn into English "b", "d", "j" and "k". The best rule of thumb is to concentrate on remembering that the first consonant is "special" and the rest are more or less as in English: bibimbap (비빔밥) is pronounced "pee-bim-bap", not "bee-bim-bap" or "p'ee-bim-bap".
The aspirated spellings with "h" are used only in the official North Korean orthography.
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Korean phrasebook Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.