Every letter and rule
Generated from the same module the labs run on, so it cannot drift from what the app teaches. First-use terms: batchim, liaison, and deck tiers are expanded here; lesson prose defines them in context.
Vocabulary
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19 consonants
- ㄱ g 기역 final: ㄱ
- ㄲ kk 쌍기역 final: ㄱ
- ㄴ n 니은 final: ㄴ
- ㄷ d 디귿 final: ㄷ
- ㄸ tt 쌍디귿 final: —
- ㄹ r 리을 final: ㄹ
- ㅁ m 미음 final: ㅁ
- ㅂ b 비읍 final: ㅂ
- ㅃ pp 쌍비읍 final: —
- ㅅ s 시옷 final: ㄷ
- ㅆ ss 쌍시옷 final: ㄷ
- ㅇ — 이응 final: ㅇ
- ㅈ j 지읒 final: ㄷ
- ㅉ jj 쌍지읒 final: —
- ㅊ ch 치읓 final: ㄷ
- ㅋ k 키읔 final: ㄱ
- ㅌ t 티읕 final: ㄷ
- ㅍ p 피읖 final: ㅂ
- ㅎ h 히읗 final: ㄷ
10 simple vowels
- ㅏ a bright
- ㅑ ya bright
- ㅓ eo dark
- ㅕ yeo dark
- ㅗ o bright
- ㅛ yo bright
- ㅜ u dark
- ㅠ yu dark
- ㅡ eu neutral
- ㅣ i neutral
11 compound vowels
- ㅐ ae ㅏ + ㅣ = ㅔ
- ㅒ yae ㅑ + ㅣ = ㅖ
- ㅔ e ㅓ + ㅣ = ㅐ
- ㅖ ye ㅕ + ㅣ = ㅒ
- ㅘ wa ㅗ + ㅏ
- ㅙ wae ㅗ + ㅐ = ㅚ ㅞ
- ㅚ oe ㅗ + ㅣ = ㅙ ㅞ
- ㅝ wo ㅜ + ㅓ
- ㅞ we ㅜ + ㅔ = ㅙ ㅚ
- ㅟ wi ㅜ + ㅣ
- ㅢ ui ㅡ + ㅣ
Batchim — 27 finals, 7 sounds
ㄱ ㄱ ㄲ ㅋ ㄳ ㄺ
ㄴ ㄴ ㄵ ㄶ
ㄷ ㄷ ㅅ ㅆ ㅈ ㅊ ㅌ ㅎ
ㄹ ㄹ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㅀ
ㅁ ㅁ ㄻ
ㅂ ㅂ ㅍ ㄿ ㅄ
ㅇ ㅇ
11 clusters
ㄳ ㄱ + ㅅ → ㄱ first letter wins
ㄵ ㄴ + ㅈ → ㄴ first letter wins
ㄶ ㄴ + ㅎ → ㄴ ㅎ aspirates what follows
ㄺ ㄹ + ㄱ → ㄱ second letter wins
ㄻ ㄹ + ㅁ → ㅁ second letter wins
ㄼ ㄹ + ㅂ → ㄹ first letter wins
ㄽ ㄹ + ㅅ → ㄹ first letter wins
ㄾ ㄹ + ㅌ → ㄹ first letter wins
ㄿ ㄹ + ㅍ → ㅂ second letter wins
ㅀ ㄹ + ㅎ → ㄹ ㅎ aspirates what follows
ㅄ ㅂ + ㅅ → ㅂ first letter wins
Named exceptions
Lexical, not derivable — written into the Standard Pronunciation Rules by name.
밟다 → [밥따] Before a consonant, 밟- takes ㅂ instead of the expected ㄹ.
넓죽하다 → [넙쭈카다] A short list of 넓- compounds behaves like 밟-.
읽고 → [일꼬] A verb stem in ㄺ keeps ㄹ when the next sound is ㄱ — Rule B inverts.
The derivation map
Five shapes drawn from the articulators; a stroke adds breath, doubling adds tension. Rebuilt here from the same map the labs use.
ㄱ ㄱ ㄲ ㅋ velar · 아음
ㄴ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㅌ alveolar · 설음
ㅁ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅍ labial · 순음
ㅅ ㅅ ㅆ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ sibilant · 치음
ㅇ ㅇ ㅎ guttural · 후음
Block layouts
tall vowel ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ ㅐ ㅔ ㅒ ㅖ consonant sits to the left 가 나 미
wide vowel ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ consonant sits on top 고 무 트
wrapping vowel ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ consonant tucks into the top-left 과 위 의
with a batchim any the final consonant goes underneath everything 강 곰 관
The eight sound changes
Korean spelling preserves what a word is; these rules are how it sounds. They are the roadmap for everything after Lab 05.
Liaison 연음 a batchim followed by a syllable starting with ㅇ 한국어 → [한구거]음악 → [으막]
Tensification 경음화 a plain consonant after a ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ stop becomes tense 학교 → [학꾜]잡지 → [잡찌]
Nasalization 비음화 ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ before ㄴ/ㅁ become ㅇ/ㄴ/ㅁ 국물 → [궁물]입니다 → [임니다]
Aspiration 격음화 ㅎ next to ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㅈ gives ㅋ/ㅌ/ㅍ/ㅊ 좋고 → [조코]축하 → [추카]
Lateralization 유음화 ㄴ+ㄹ or ㄹ+ㄴ become ㄹㄹ 신라 → [실라]한라산 → [할라산]
ㄹ becomes ㄴ ㄹ의 비음화 ㄹ after ㅁ/ㅇ/ㄱ/ㅂ becomes ㄴ 대통령 → [대통녕]심리 → [심니]
ㅎ deletion ㅎ 탈락 a ㅎ batchim before a vowel simply drops 좋아요 → [조아요]많아 → [마나]
Palatalization 구개음화 not scored yet ㄷ/ㅌ followed by 이 become ㅈ/ㅊ 같이 → [가치]굳이 → [구지]
Dictionary order (가나다순)
consonants
ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ
vowels
ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ
South Korean order. The name ganada is itself the order: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ each on ㅏ.
Sources
- National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) — the language regulator; publisher of the 1988 Standard Pronunciation Rules (표준 발음법) that govern the batchim, cluster and sound-change sections above.
- 표준 발음법, full text — Articles 10 and 11 are the source for the cluster rules and their exceptions.
- “Hunminjeongeum Phonetics (II)” — peer-reviewed assessment of the articulatory rationale behind the letter shapes.
- How To Study Korean, Unit 0 — free, with native audio for every letter. This app ships isolated letter clips (leads, vowels, neutralized finals); word-level audio is still ahead.