Compound Vowels, Tense Sounds, and Aspirated Sounds
Now that you know the basic letters, let's learn the 'compound vowels' formed by joining two vowels and the 'tense sounds' made by pronouncing a consonant more forcefully.
Compound Vowels
| Vowel | Romanization | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ใ | ae | ๊ฐ (dog) |
| ใ | e | ๋ค (yes) |
| ใ | oe | ์ธ๊ตญ (foreign) |
| ใ | wi | ๊ท (ear) |
| ใ ข | ui | ์์ (chair) |
| ใ | wa | ๊ณผ์ผ (fruit) |
| ใ | wo | ์ (won) |
Tense Sounds (Doubled Consonants)
Writing the same consonant twice gives it a stronger, tenser pronunciation: ใฒ, ใธ, ใ , ใ , ใ .
๊น
kka
stronger than ใฑ
์ค๋น
o-ppa
older brother
ํ ๋ผ
to-kki
rabbit
์จ
ssi
a tense ใ
(seed)
์๋น
a-ppa
dad
๋
ttang
ground
๊ฐ์ง
ga-jja
fake
๊ฐ
gae
dog, with the compound vowel ใ
| Plain | Aspirated | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| ใฑ | ใ | ใฒ |
| ใท | ใ | ใธ |
| ใ | ใ | ใ |
| ใ | ใ | ใ |
๐ก Tip: Aspirated sounds (ใ , ใ , ใ , ใ ) are pronounced with a puff of air, while tense sounds (ใฒ, ใธ, ใ , ใ , ใ ) are pronounced with a tightened throat.
The Hidden 'y/w' in Compound Vowels
A compound vowel is two mouth shapes flowing quickly into each other. For ใ you glide from 'ใ to ใ ,' and for ใ from 'ใ to ใ ,' moving your lips within a single block.
ใ and ใ Sound Almost the Same
In modern Korean, ใ and ใ are barely distinguished in pronunciation; both sound close to the 'e' in the English 'bed.' It is best to memorize whole words to tell the two letters apart.