Lesson/4

Hangul 3/5

We continue our investigation of Hangul.

Overview

• Double-consonants, ㄲㄸㅃㅆㅉ
• y- vowels: ㅑㅕㅛㅠ

Double Consonants

Oftentimes, Koreans pronounce consonants that are the opposite of aspirated: the air stops completely and the vowel sound implodes.

These are written with two of the same consonants.

• ㄲ (gg): Pronounced by forming the 'g' sound, but blocking all air. Build up some pressure, and let it explode, but don't force a lot of air through.
• ㄸ (dd): Pronounced by forming the 'd' shape, but blocking all air. Build up some pressure, and let it explode, but don't force a lot of air through.
• ㅃ (bb): Pronounced by forming the 'b' shape, but blocking all air. Build up pressure, and let it explode, but don't force a lot of air through.
• ㅆ (ss): This one is different from the others, because it is more like a long ㅅ sound. Rather, ㅅ is a short, light 's' sound, and ㅆ sounds more like 's' in English.
• ㅉ (jj): Pronounced by forming the 'j' sound, but blocking all aid. Build up some presure, and let it exploder, but don't force a lot of air through.

Getting these sounds right takes some practice. It's critical, however, to get it right, since many words vary only by the single or double consonant.

Y- Vowels

When you put an ㅣ sound before a vowel, you create a new vowel that starts with a 'y' sound. Only certain vowels can be formed into this new vowel. All of them represent this change with an additional 'leg'.

• ㅣ + ㅏ = ㅑ (ya)
• ㅣ + ㅓ = ㅕ (yeo)
• ㅣ + ㅗ = ㅛ (yo)
• ㅣ + ㅜ = ㅠ (yu)

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