Basic Consonants · 기본 자음

5. Summary

• Korean has 14 basic consonants. Five of them copy the mouth, and the others add strokes.
• An added stroke means a stronger sound. So ㄱ becomes ㅋ, and ㅂ becomes ㅍ.
• Four sounds come in three strengths: plain, aspirated, and tense. For example, ㄱ ㅋ ㄲ and ㅂ ㅍ ㅃ.
• ㄹ sits between r and l, and it is a quick tap of the tongue.
• ㅇ is silent at the start of a syllable. It only holds the place for a vowel.
• Your first words are 나라, 바다, 모자, 고기, 하나, 커피, 토마토, 아빠, 오빠 and 사과.
• Next lesson: Building Syllables (글자 만들기).