My Notebook of Korean Lessons

Alphabet

Hangeul

The Korean Script, Hangeul may seem intimidating and it is. You should be scared. Just joking with you! Don't worry! It's actually quite similar to English, with a small set of characters representing the sounds of the language. Of course, it's not perfect but in general it matches spoken Korean better than English letters would.

Syllable Blocks

Unlike English, written Korean is organized into syllable blocks. Each block represents a single syllable and consists of two to four letters. The Korean word of 'hello', 안여ㄴ하세요, is composed of 12 letters organized into five syllable blocks, Annyeonghaseyo! 

Both letters and syllables blocks are written from left to right and from top to bottom.

Basic Vowels

*English vowels recap: What are vowels again? A vowel is classified as "a speech sound produced by a comparatively open configuration of the vocal tract, with vibration of the vocal cords but without audible friction." English vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.

We begin with six basic vowels of Korean: ㅏ,ㅓ,ㅗ,ㅜ,ㅡ, andㅣ. Their names are 아,어,오,우,으, and 이, respectively, where the letter ㅇ, or ieung, remains silent, acting as a place holder. In the same way you may just add ㅏ, ㅓ, and ㅣ to get the name of any other vowel. Consonant while ㅗ, ㅜ, and ㅡ are written beneath the initial consonant. 

어 is a short 'o' sound, difficult for many American English speakers, like 'u' in 'cup' or the o in yogurt for British speakers.

ㅇ is also difficult, being rare in English, Although it is a short 'u', something similar to uh in uh-oh.

Iotized Vowels

*English Iotized Vowels recap: English speakers don't know what Iotized vowels are because English doesn't have them! Some other languages do, like Russian. Iotized vowels are spoken vowel that end with an 'i' or 'y' sound. In Russian these letters are  я, ю, ё, and е. This is the simplest way to understand them.

By adding an additional dash we get a 'y' sound.

Diphthongs

*English Diphthongs Recap: Diphthong is a sound formed by combining two vowels in a single syllable. The sound begins as one vowel sound and moves towards another. The two most common diphthongs in the English language are the letter combination "oy"/"oi", as in "boy" or "coin", and "ow"/ "ou", as in "cloud" or "cow".

*Origination of the word 'Dipthong': The word 'diphthong' is derived from the old Greek language. Here, di means two or double, while the part -phthong means sound or tone, from the basic word phthalein, which means speak, creating sound by the voice.

Korean has two ways of forming diphthongs the first is adding anㅣ to the base vowel.

Due to recent sound changes 애 (얘) and 에 (예) are pronounced the same in most Korean dialects.

의 is usually pronounced something like "we" on its own.

The second set of diphthongs is formed by adding an ㅗ and ㅜ.

Due to sound changes 왜, 외 and 웨 sound the same in most modern Korean dialects.

Author's Note:

SO GUYS!!! what do you think?!?  Was this helpful? Don't forget to follow duolingo as the practice. Remember this is just the textbook to get your understanding. Go to duolingo to actually practice. Remember practice makes perfect. so go! practice, practice, PRACTICE!!!

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