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What is the name of the Korean alphabet? |
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The Korean alphabet dates back to what century? |
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T/F: Korean may be written entirely with letters of the Han'gul alphabet only. |
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False. Korean may also be written in what is known as 'mixed script', where words of Chinese origin may be written in Chinese characters. |
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A large portion of Korean vocabulary was taken from what language? |
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How many letters are in the Korean alphabet? How many of these are consonant sounds? How many are vowel/dipthong sounds? |
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There are 40 letters. 19 represent the consonants, while 21 represent the vowel and dipthong sounds. |
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Short o (sounds like uh), as in mother, or cu
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Long o, as in awkward, or oh, or order |
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Yo as in yawn, or yo-yo, or Yoda |
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Long u, as in buoy, or Luke |
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Short u, or oo sound, as in good, or book, or le chateau |
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ae, as in at, add.
This sound may sometimes sound like a cross between a and eh |
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Yae, as in yak, or yam
The vowel in this may sound like a cross between a, and eh |
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wae, as in wangle, or wagon, wet
The vowel in this sound may sound like a cross between a and eh
Way, Wehh, Way-eh |
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we, as in west
A dry, weh. Almost a cross between wehh, and wihh.
This is usually pronounced like the German umlaut vowel (oe), but it is generally pronounced as (we), not usually distinguishable from the sound of the dipthong 웨 |
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wo (short o), as in wonder, or one |
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wi, as in wiener, we, or oui, |
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ui, as in buoy
Sounds like, oo-ee said together.
In most words, this letter is pronounced as if it were either 이 or 으, or in the case of a certain grammatical element, e |
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기역 (kiyok)
K/g as in kin, or begin
A soft k, but a harder g. |
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디귿 (tigut)
t/d, as in tidy
Sometimes sounds like a soft t sound. |
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리을 (riul)
r/l, as in attitude, or leaf
The sound is a cross between an r/l
Depending on the word, this character may also make the tt sound, like in butter |
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비읍 (biup)
p/b public
More of a b sound than a p sound. |
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시옷 (shiot)
s/sh as in sun, or sheep |
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이응 (iung)
ng, like in sang |
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지읏 (ch'iut)
ch/j as in chin, or agile
More often a j, than a ch |
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치읏 (chi'ut)
ch, as in achieve
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쌍기역 (ssang-giyok)
unaspirated, accented k/g, as in skate |
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쌍디긋 (ssang-tigut)
unaspirated, accented d/t, as in state
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쌍비읍 (ssang-piup)
unaspirated, accented b/p, like in spoon, or Bang! |
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쌍시옷 (ssang-shiot)
unaspirated, accented s, as in assign |
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쌍지읒 (ssang-jiut)
unaspirated, accented jj/tch/tz, as in pretzel |
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What are the three dipthongs that make the similar/same "wae/weh" sound? How does this phenomenon compare to English sounds and spellings? |
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외 왜 웨
(note the last one, 웨 is used when writing an English word in Korean EX: 웨딩 [wedding])
The three "wae" pronunciations is similar to how we use English dipthongs "ee" and "ea" or "ie" or in leek, read, and siege to all represent the LONG EEEE sound. Though they sound the same, using the different letters in spelling represent totally different words. (Ex: reed vs read)
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What are the two dipthongs that make the "ae/eh" sound? What distinction in pronunciation do they have? |
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애 에
Older generations of Korean speakers say that there is a distinction between the two in terms of pronunciation. 애 is a bright vowel and is spoken with a wider mouth, and has an elevated pitch to it with slight hints of the long "a" sound in it like the word "gay". It is almost a hybrid of "ay" and "eh" as if you were trying to say "say" and "set" at the same time. 에 is a dark vowel and is more narrow, softer, lower, 'gruntier', flatter, breathier/puffier and more relaxed like ehhh. It is easier as it is true to the short 'e' sound in "set". In modern Korean and rapid conversation, they will basically both sound much like the short "e" as "ehh" and are understandable without need for distinction in pronunciation. |
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How do you tell apart the two animals 개 and 게 in pronunciation? |
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개 means DOG
게 means CRAB
Since both these words contain the similar/same "ae/eh" sound, it can be difficult to distinguish in a sentence without context. ("I saw a 개 at the beach." vs "I saw a 게 at the beach.") These are both animals you could find at a beach. Often modifier words or context is added to avoid confusion. EX: 꽃게 (blue crab). There technically is a slight difference in pronunciation, the wider mouthed 개 "ay/eh" vs. the flatter 게 "eh" but this distinction has faded with contemporary Korean speakers. |
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What are 애 and 에'named' or 'referred to' to tell them apart? |
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The two spellings are referred to as ㅏㅣ (ah + i) and ㅓ ㅣ (oh + i) because of how the characters connect to form the vowel sound. |
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