Hangeul
Reading Hangeul, syllable by syllable.
Fourteen basic consonants and ten basic vowels, assembled into one block per syllable. Hangeul is read the way it is written, apart from a few sound changes when syllables follow one another.
한
han한국
Hangeul
Letters and syllables
Choose a group, then a letter. Listen to it in common words, at normal speed or slowly.
Sound
Reading rules
When syllables follow one another, some sounds change. Five rules cover the essentials.
음악
Linking
A final consonant moves to the start of the next syllable when that syllable begins with the silent ㅇ: 음악 is said eumak, 한국어 is said hangugeo.
꽃
Seven final sounds
At the end of a syllable, consonants are reduced to seven sounds, pronounced without release: ㄱ ㅋ ㄲ → k; ㄷ ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ ㅌ ㅎ → t; ㅂ ㅍ → p; ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅇ, ㄹ. 꽃 is said kkot.
바다
ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ ㅈ between two vowels
At the start of a word these consonants are almost voiceless, between k and g; between two vowels they become clearly voiced: in 바다 (bada), the ㄷ is a real d.
감사합니다
Nasal assimilation
Before ㄴ or ㅁ, a final ㅂ becomes m, ㄷ becomes n and ㄱ becomes ng: 감사합니다 is said gamsahamnida, 거짓말 is said geojinmal.
좋아요
The ㅎ that fades or breathes
A final ㅎ is silent before a vowel: 좋아요 is said joayo. Next to ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ or ㅈ, it makes them aspirated: 축하해요 is said chukahaeyo.
Reading