You finished this day
Four more
Four more consonants today: ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ and ㅎ. Three of them are made by adding strokes to a simpler shape, which makes them easy to remember once you see the pattern. By the end you can read words such as 바다 (bada), 'sea', and 아버지 (abeoji), 'father'.
The designers started from five base shapes, ㄱ, ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅅ and ㅇ, and built most of the other consonants by adding strokes. Each added stroke means the sound is made in the same place but with more force. ㄴ gains a lid and becomes ㄷ, where the tongue stops the air completely, and ㅁ gains two uprights and becomes ㅂ, where the closed lips burst open. ㅅ gains a bar and becomes ㅈ, a hiss that starts with a stop, and ㅇ gains strokes on top to become ㅎ, the open throat with breath pushed through it. So when you meet a letter you do not know, look for the base shape inside it and you already know where in the mouth it is made.
ㅂ 비읍
- Sound
- b or p, as in 바
- How it sounds
- At the start of a word it sits between b and p, with a light breath. Between vowels it is a clear b, and at the end of a block it is a p with the lips closed and kept closed.
- Memory hook
- ㅂ is the closed mouth ㅁ with two strokes rising from it: the lips pressed shut and ready to pop open for b.
- Watch for
- Blowing a strong English p at the start of a word, which turns 바 into the breathy 파.
ㅅ 시옷
- Sound
- s, as in 사
- How it sounds
- An s, though before ㅣ and the y vowels it moves towards sh, so 시 sounds close to 'she' while still being romanised si. At the end of a block it stops hissing and is said as an unreleased t.
- Memory hook
- ㅅ pictures a tooth, the place where the air hisses past for s. Its point stands up like a single front tooth.
- Watch for
- Reading a final ㅅ as s: 옷 is said ot, not os.
ㅈ 지읒
- Sound
- j, as in 자
- How it sounds
- At the start of a word it is a soft ch with no puff of air. Between vowels it is close to the j in 'jam', and at the end of a block it is an unreleased t.
- Memory hook
- ㅈ is ㅅ with a bar across the top: the tooth hiss of ㅅ, closed off first, so it comes out as j.
- Watch for
- Adding a strong puff of air, so that 자 turns into the breathy 차.
ㅎ 히읗
- Sound
- h, as in 하
- How it sounds
- An h at the start of a word. Between vowels, or after ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ and ㅇ, it weakens and often disappears, and next to ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ or ㅈ it turns them into their breathy partners.
- Memory hook
- ㅎ is the throat circle ㅇ with strokes added on top: the open throat plus the breath pushed through it.
- Watch for
- Sounding every ㅎ in full, when in 좋아요 (joayo) it is not said at all.
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.