Korean/RWP/Lesson 6

Consonants learned so far: hide the following: Vowels learned so far: hide the following: 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 Romanization: g o a gwa Pronunciation: [ gwa ] [ gwa ] Exercise The following Korean words contain ㅘ (wa). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers. 우루과이 Uruguay 하와이 Hawaii 괌 Guam 오타와 Ottawa 아이오와 Iowa 보츠와나 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 Romanization: m u eo mweo Pronunciation: [ mwʌ ] [ mwʌ ] Exercise The following Korean words contain ㅝ (weo). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers. 남산 타워 Namsan Tower 워싱턴 Washington 샤워 Shower 태권도 Taekwondo 워크샵 Workshop 원(₩; South Korean Currency) 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 Romanization: d o ae dwae Pronunciation: [ dwɛ ] [ dwɛ ] Exercise The following Korean words contain ㅙ (wae). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers. 왜건 Wagon 왜관 (a city of South Korea) Waegwan 왜구 (Japanese pirates) 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 Romanization: g u e gwe Pronunciation: [ gwe ] [ gwe ] Exercise The following Korean words contain ㅞ (we). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers. 퀘벡 Quebec 노르웨이 Norway 스웨덴 Sweden 짐바브웨 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. 까르보나라 Carbonara 깍두기 Kkakdugi 떡 Tteok 찌개 Jjigae 안동찜닭 Andong jjimdak (ㄹ(ɾ/l) is silent) 짜장면 Jjajangmyeon 짬뽕 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 Romanization: s o i soe Pronunciation: [ swe ] [ swe ] or [ sø ] Exercise The following Korean words contain ㅚ (oe). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers. 괴테 Goethe 쾰른 Köln 된장 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 Romanization: d u i dwi Pronunciation: [ 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. 위스콘신 Wisconsin 퀸 Queen 윈도 window 위스퍼 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 [ e ]. Letter (jamo): ㅇ ㅣ => 의 ㅡ Romanization: (none) eu i ui Pronunciation: [ ɯi ] [ ɯi ] Exercise The following Korean words contain ㅢ (ui). Guess what the words mean. Click "Show" to check your answers. 의성 (a county of South Korea) eu-i-seong Uiseong Guess how to read 의사 (which means a doctor in Korea). eu-i-sa How about this one: 정의 (which means justice in Korea)? 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.