Final Consonants and Syllable-Ending Sounds
A consonant placed at the bottom of a letter is called a 'batchim,' or final consonant, and it creates the letter's ending sound. Any consonant can serve as a final, but in actual speech they collapse into just 7 representative sounds.
| Representative Sound | Final Letters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ใฑ | ใฑ, ใ , ใฒ | ์ฑ (chaek) |
| ใด | ใด | ์ฐ (san) |
| ใท | ใท, ใ , ใ , ใ , ใ , ใ , ใ | ์ท (ot) |
| ใน | ใน | ๋ฌผ (mul) |
| ใ | ใ | ๋ฐค (bam) |
| ใ | ใ , ใ | ๋ฐฅ (bap) |
| ใ | ใ | ๊ฐ (gang) |
๐ก Tip: Final 'ใ , ใ , ใ , ใ , ใ ' and the like are all pronounced as [ใท] in the ending position. For example, ์ท sounds like [์ซ] and ๋น like [๋น].
Doubled and Cluster Finals
Final consonants include doubled ones like 'ใฒ, ใ ' that repeat the same consonant, and clusters like 'ใณ, ใบ' that combine two different consonants. At first, just assume only one representative sound is heard.
So even though a final consonant is written exactly as it appears, its pronunciation reduces to one of the 7 representative sounds. Early on, it is enough to remember just those representative sounds.
Final Consonants End with a Closed Mouth
The ใฑ, ใท, and ใ finals are not 'released'; you close off the sound and end with the mouth held shut. For example, the ใ at the end of '๋ฐฅ' (bap) stops with the lips pressed together, unlike English, where the ending is released sharply.