You finished this day
Six vowels and a silent circle
Korean is written in square blocks, one per syllable, and every block is built from letters. Today covers six vowels and the circle ㅇ, which is silent at the start of a block. By the end you can read 아이 (ai), 'child', and 오이 (oi), 'cucumber', and you will know why each vowel sits where it does.
A Korean syllable block always opens with a consonant slot, and a vowel is never written at the front on its own. When a syllable starts with a vowel sound, the slot is filled with ㅇ, which says nothing in that position, so 아 is simply a. The vowel's shape decides where it goes: the upright vowels ㅏ, ㅓ and ㅣ sit to the right of the consonant, and the flat ones ㅗ, ㅜ and ㅡ sit underneath it. All six were built from three elements, a dot for the sky, a flat line for the ground and an upright line for a person, and the dot has since become a short stroke. A stroke pointing right or up, as in ㅏ and ㅗ, marks a brighter vowel, and one pointing left or down, as in ㅓ and ㅜ, marks its darker partner.
ㅏ 아
- Sound
- a, as in 아
- How it sounds
- Like the a in 'father', but shorter.
- Memory hook
- The upright line is a person, and the short stroke was once a dot for the sun, placed on the outer side. Open shape, open mouth: a.
- Watch for
- Saying it like the a in 'cat', which is nearer to ㅐ.
ㅓ 어
- Sound
- eo, as in 어
- How it sounds
- Between the o in British 'hot' and the u in 'cup', with the jaw dropped and the lips not rounded.
- Memory hook
- The mirror image of ㅏ: the stroke points inward, towards the left, and the sound is darker and further back.
- Watch for
- Rounding the lips so that it drifts towards ㅗ, or reading the romanisation eo as two separate sounds.
ㅗ 오
- Sound
- o, as in 오
- How it sounds
- A pure o with rounded lips, like the o in 'more' but short, with no glide at the end.
- Memory hook
- The flat line is the ground and the stroke points up, towards the sky. Round your lips and push them forward.
- Watch for
- Adding the English glide from 'go', so that the vowel ends in a w.
ㅜ 우
- Sound
- u, as in 우
- How it sounds
- Like the oo in 'food', with the lips rounded and pushed forward.
- Memory hook
- The stroke points down, below the ground line: the darker partner of ㅗ.
- Watch for
- Leaving the lips spread, which gives ㅡ instead.
ㅡ 으
- Sound
- eu, as in 으
- How it sounds
- An oo made with the lips spread flat, as if smiling, with no rounding at all. English has nothing quite like it; the vowel of 'good' said through a grin is close.
- Memory hook
- A single flat line, the ground in the original design, and the lips go flat to match.
- Watch for
- Rounding the lips so that it becomes ㅜ, or skipping it in loanwords such as 스키 (seuki), where it fills the gap between consonants.
ㅣ 이
- Sound
- i, as in 이
- How it sounds
- Like the ee in 'see', but shorter.
- Memory hook
- A single upright line, a person standing in the original design. The mouth is narrow and spread, like the line.
- Watch for
- Drawing it out into a long English 'ee' that slides at the end; the vowel stays still.
ㅇ 이응
- Sound
- ng, as in 아
- How it sounds
- At the start of a block it is silent and only fills the consonant slot, so 아 is just a. At the end of a block it is the ng of 'sing'.
- Memory hook
- The circle pictures the open throat, where no consonant is being made at all, which is why it can stand in a block and say nothing.
- Watch for
- Adding a hard g after a final ㅇ: 강 rhymes with 'sang', with no g released at the end.
Read these
Every word here uses only letters you have met so far. Say it before you press the speaker.
Write today's letters
- Top to bottom, left to right.
- Horizontal strokes are written left to right, vertical ones top to bottom.
- Many corners are turned without lifting the pen, so ㄱ and ㄴ are each a single stroke.
- ㅇ is drawn anticlockwise, starting from the top.
- Vowels follow the same order: ㅏ and ㅜ start with the long line, while ㅓ and ㅗ start with the short stroke.
- In a block, write the consonant first, then the vowel, then any final consonant.
Two passes each: trace it with the guide on, then write it from memory with the guide off and let the guide come back over your strokes. The second pass is the one that teaches you anything.
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.