The Korean Alphabet

The Korean Alphabet is composed of 21 vowels and 19 consonants - a total of 40 letters.

A. The 21 vowels can further be divided into two categories :

• 8 monophthong vowels 
• 13 diphthong vowels

8 Monophthong Vowels (Pure Vowel Sound)

Letter	Transliteration	Syllable	Pronunciation
ㅏ	[a]	아	As the 'a' in 'gather'
ㅓ	[eo]	어	As the 'ou' in 'bought'
ㅗ	[o]	오	As the 'o' in 'old'
ㅜ	[u]	우	As the 'oo' in 'moon'
ㅡ	[eu]	으	As the 'u' in 'full'
ㅣ	[i]	이	As the 'i' in 'inn'
ㅔ	[e]	에	As the 'e' in 'set'
ㅐ	[ae]	애	As the 'a' in 'bare'

13 Dipthong Vowels (Two Vowels in a Syllable)

Letter	Transliteration	Syllable	Pronunciation
ㅑ	[ya]	야	As the 'ya' in 'yacht'
ㅕ	[yeo]	여	As the 'you' in 'young'
ㅛ	[yo]	요	As the 'yo' in 'yoga'
ㅠ	[yu]	유	As the 'u' in 'use'
ㅒ	[yae]	얘	As the 'ye' in 'yes'
ㅖ	[ye]	예	As the 'ye' in 'yes'
ㅘ	[wa]	와	As the 'wa' in 'wander'
ㅝ	[wo]	워	As the 'wo' in 'wonder'
ㅞ	[we]	웨	As the 'we' in 'wet'
ㅙ	[wae]	왜	As the 'wa' in 'wacko' or 'wag'
ㅚ	[oe]	외	As the 'oe' in 'noel'
ㅟ	[wi]	위	As the 'wi' in 'wicked'
ㅢ	[ui]	의	As the 'ue' in 'suet'

Notes :

• The dipthong vowels : ㅚ, ㅞ, ㅙ have similar pronunciation.

B. The 19 consonants can further be divided into two categories :

• 14 consonants (normal)
• 5 double consonants (tense)

14 Consonants

Letter	Transliteration	Pronunciation
ㄱ	[g]	As the 'g' in 'glue'
ㄴ	[n]	As the 'n' in 'network'
ㄷ	[d]	As the 'd' in 'door'
ㄹ	pronounced as [r] if at start of syllable, [l] if found at end of syllable	As the 'r' in 'river'
ㅁ	[m]	As the 'm' in 'mommy'
ㅂ	[b]	As the 'b' in 'busy'
ㅅ	[s]	As the 's' in 'ship'
ㅇ	no sound when at start of syllable, [ng] when at end	As the 'ng' in 'sing'
ㅈ	[j]	As the 'j' in 'jewelry'
ㅊ	[ch]	As the 'ch' in 'child'
ㅋ	[k]	As the 'k' in 'kitten'
ㅌ	[t]	As the 't' in 'telephone'
ㅍ	[p]	As the 'p' in 'puppy'
ㅎ	[h]	As the 'h' in 'house'

5 Double Consonants (Tense)

Letter	Transliteration	Pronunciation
ㄲ	[kk]	As the 'k' in 'skill'
ㄸ	[tt]	As the 't' in 'steam'
ㅃ	[pp]	As the 'p' in 'speak'
ㅆ	[ss]	As the 's' in 'sea'
ㅉ	[tch]	As the 'dg' in 'midget'