# Korean/RWP/Lesson 6

* Learn Korean (Introduction)
* Read, write, pronounce Korean:
* Course —
* Lesson 1 •
* Lesson 2 •
* Lesson 3 •
* Lesson 4 •
* Lesson 5 •
* Lesson 6 •
* Summary
* Orthography •
* Essential Pronunciation Rules •
* Advanced Pronunciation Rules
* Grammar •
* Conversation
Consonants learned so far: :
| Basic 예사소리 | Letter (jamo) | ㄱ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅅ | ㅇ | ㅈ | ㅎ |
| Basic 예사소리 | Romanization Pronunciation | g or k or | n | d or t or | r or l or | m | b or p or | s | - or ng silent or | j or ch or | h |
| Aspirated 거센소리 | Letter (jamo) | ㅋ | | ㅌ | | | ㅍ | | | ㅊ | |
| Aspirated 거센소리 | Romanization Pronunciation | k [kʰ] | | t [tʰ] | | | p [pʰ] | | | ch [ʨʰ] | |
Vowels learned so far: :
| Letter (jamo) | ㅏ | ㅑ | ㅓ | ㅕ | ㅗ | ㅛ | ㅜ | ㅠ | ㅡ | ㅣ |
| Romanization Pronunciation | a | ya [ja] | eo | yeo [jʌ] | o | yo [jo] | u [u] | yu [ju] | eu | i |
| Letter (jamo) | ㅐ | ㅒ | ㅔ | ㅖ | | | | | |
| Romanization Pronunciation | ae | yae [jɛ] | e | ye [je] | | | | | |
Help complete it by reading Korean/Writing lessons plan or clicking "edit".
Welcome back! This is the sixth lesson of "Learn to read, write and pronounce Korean". This lesson covers the remaining jamo, all just variations on the letters you already learned.

## The diphthong ㅘ (wa)

The vowel ㅘ is pronounced like the wa in swan (IPA: [ wɑ ]) and transcribed as wa.
| Letter (jamo): | ㄱ | ㅏ | => | 과 |
| | ㅗ | ㅏ | => | 과 |
| Romanization: | g o | a | | gwa |
| Pronunciation: | [ gwa ] | [ gwa ] | | [ gwa ] |

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain ㅘ (wa). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers.
English: Uruguay
English: Hawaii
English: Guam
English: Ottawa
English: Iowa
English: Botswana

## The diphthong ㅝ (weo)

The vowel ㅝ is pronounced like the wa in was (IPA: [ wʌ ]) and transcribed as weo.
| Letter (jamo): | ㅁ | ㅓ | => | 뭐 |
| | ㅜ | ㅓ | => | 뭐 |
| Romanization: | m u | eo | | mweo |
| Pronunciation: | [ mwʌ ] | [ mwʌ ] | | [ mwʌ ] |

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain ㅝ (weo). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers.
English: Namsan Tower
English: Washington
English: Shower
English: Taekwondo
English: Workshop
English: Won

## The diphthong ㅙ (wae)

The vowel ㅙ (wae) consists of the vowel ㅗ (o) and the vowel ㅐ (ae), so the vowel ㅙ (wae) is pronounced similarly like the wa in wagon (IPA: [ wæ ]) and transcribed as wae.
| Letter (jamo): | ㄷ | ㅐ | => | 돼 |
| | ㅗ | ㅐ | => | 돼 |
| Romanization: | d o | ae | | dwae |
| Pronunciation: | [ dwɛ ] | [ dwɛ ] | | [ dwɛ ] |

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain ㅙ (wae). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers.
English: Wagon
English: Waegwan
English: Wokou

## The diphthong ㅞ (we)

The vowel ㅞ (we) consists of the vowel ㅜ (u) and the vowel ㅔ (e), so the vowel ㅞ (we) is pronounced the whe in when (IPA: [ we ]) and transcribed as we.
| Letter (jamo): | ㄱ | ㅔ | => | 궤 |
| | ㅜ | ㅔ | => | 궤 |
| Romanization: | g u | e | | gwe |
| Pronunciation: | [ gwe ] | [ gwe ] | | [ gwe ] |

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain ㅞ (we). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers.
English: Quebec
English: Norway
English: Sweden
English: Zimbabwe

## The Tense Consonants

It is very important for Korean language to recognize the difference between basic sound, aspirated sound, and tense sound. It is not aspirated, but is pronounced strong and tense. Tense consonants are derived from their basic form by doubling the basic letter.
| Letter (jamo): | ㄲ | ㄸ | ㅃ | ㅆ | ㅉ |
| Pronunciation: | [k͈] | [t͈] | [p͈] | [s͈] | [tɕ͈] ] |
The difference of the consonants' three aspects can distinguish the meanings of words: For example, 달dal[tal] means 'the moon', 탈tal[tʰal] means 'a mask', and 딸ttal[t͈al] means 'a daughter'.

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain the tensed consonants. Guess what the words mean.
English: Carbonara
English: Kkakdugi
English: Tteok
English: Jjigae
English: Andong jjimdak (ㄹ(ɾ/l) is silent)
English: Jjajangmyeon
English: Jjamppong

## The diphthong ㅚ (oe)

The vowel ㅚ is pronounced like the ö in the German word schön (IPA: [ ø ]) or the wea in weather (IPA: [ we ]), and transcribed as oe. Its appearance shows that it was originally a diphthong of ㅗ (o) and ㅣ (i) - but you can just consider that ㅣ acts as the umlaut mark (¨) of German language.
| Letter (jamo): | ㅅ | ㅣ | => | 쇠 |
| | ㅗ | ㅣ | => | 쇠 |
| Romanization: | s o | i | | soe |
| Pronunciation: | [ swe ] | [ swe ] | | [ swe ] or [ sø ] |

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain ㅚ (oe). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers.
English: Goethe
English: Köln
English: Doenjang

## The diphthong ㅟ (wi)

The vowel ㅟ is pronounced like the whi in whiskey (IPA: [ wi ]) or the u in the French word chute (IPA: [ y ]), and transcribed as wi.
| Letter (jamo): | ㄷ | ㅣ | => | 뒤 |
| | ㅜ | ㅣ | => | 뒤 |
| Romanization: | d u | i | | dwi |
| Pronunciation: | [ dwi ] | [ dwi ] | | [ dwi ] or [ dy ] |

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain ㅟ (wi). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers, as usual.
English: Wisconsin
English: Queen
English: window
English: whisper
You can check your answers by clicking at "Show" above, as usual.

## The diphthong ㅢ (ui)

The vowel ㅢ consists of the vowel ㅡ (eu) and the vowel ㅣ (i), so when you pronounce this vowel ㅢ, pronounce ㅡ and move your tongue to pronounce ㅣ softly (IPA: [ ɯi ]). The vowel ㅢ transcribed as ui because of efficiency. Sometimes this is pronounced simply.
| Letter (jamo): | ㅇ | ㅣ | => | 의 |
| | ㅡ | ㅣ | => | 의 |
| Romanization: | (none) eu | i | | ui |
| Pronunciation: | [ ɯi ] | [ ɯi ] | | [ ɯi ] |

### Exercise

The following Korean words contain ㅢ (ui). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers.
English: eu-i-seong Uiseong
eu-i-sa
jeong-eu-i or simply jeong-i

## End of lesson 6

Congratulations! You have now learned the whole Korean alphabet! If you'd like to review or brush up, visit the course summary.
Consonant jamo :
| Basic 예사소리 | Letter (jamo) | ㄱ | ㄴ | ㄷ | ㄹ | ㅁ | ㅂ | ㅅ | ㅇ | ㅈ | ㅎ |
| Basic 예사소리 | Romanization Pronunciation | g or k or | n | d or t or | r or l or | m | b or p or | s | - or ng silent or | j or ch or | h |
| Aspirated 거센소리 | Letter (jamo) | ㅋ | | ㅌ | | | ㅍ | | | ㅊ | |
| Aspirated 거센소리 | Romanization Pronunciation | k [kʰ] | | t [tʰ] | | | p [pʰ] | | | ch [ʨʰ] | |
| Tense 된소리 | Letter (jamo) | ㄲ | | ㄸ | | | ㅃ | ㅆ | | ㅉ | |
| Tense 된소리 | Romanization Pronunciation | gg or kk [k͈] | | dd or tt [t͈] | | | bb or pp [p͈] | ss [s͈] | | jj [ʨ͈] | |
Vowel jamo :
| Letter (jamo) | ㅏ | ㅑ | ㅓ | ㅕ | ㅗ | ㅛ | ㅜ | ㅠ | ㅡ | ㅣ |
| Romanization Pronunciation | a | ya [ja] | eo | yeo [jʌ] | o | yo [jo] | u [u] | yu [ju] | eu | i |
| Letter (jamo) | ㅐ | ㅒ | ㅔ | ㅖ | ㅚ | | ㅟ | | ㅢ |
| Romanization Pronunciation | ae | yae [jɛ] | e | ye [je] | oe [wø] | | wi [wi] | | ui [ɰi] |
| Letter (jamo) | ㅘ | | ㅝ |
| Romanization Pronunciation | wa [wa] | | wo [wʌ] |
| Letter (jamo) | ㅙ | | ㅞ |
| Romanization Pronunciation | wae [wɛ] | | we [we] |
* Learn Korean (Introduction)
* Read, write, pronounce Korean:
* Course —
* Lesson 1 •
* Lesson 2 •
* Lesson 3 •
* Lesson 4 •
* Lesson 5 •
* Lesson 6 •
* Summary
* Orthography •
* Essential Pronunciation Rules •
* Advanced Pronunciation Rules
* Grammar •
* Conversation