Korean compound vowels ㅘ ㅝ ㅢ ㅟ ㅚ, two vowels together 한글 읽기 · 7분
You know ㅗ and ㅏ. Put them together and you get ㅘ, “wa”. Korean builds its last vowels this way: two vowels you already know, said fast, written as one.
ㅘㅗ + ㅏ · wa · 사과 · apple
ㅙㅗ + ㅐ · wae · 왜 · why
ㅚㅗ + ㅣ · oe (said “we”) · 회사 · company
ㅝㅜ + ㅓ · wo · 뭐 · what
ㅞㅜ + ㅔ · we · 웨이터 · waiter
ㅟㅜ + ㅣ · wi · 귀 · ear
ㅢㅡ + ㅣ · ui · 의자 · chair
One pattern to remember: ㅗ teams up with ㅏ, and ㅜ teams up with ㅓ. You will never see ㅗ + ㅓ. The first vowel becomes a quick “w”, the second one is the vowel you hold.
Where the consonant sits
These vowels have a flat part and a tall part, so the consonant sits in the top-left corner and the vowel wraps around it: ㄱ + ㅘ = 과, ㅁ + ㅝ = 뭐.
과 · gwaㄱ + ㅘ. As in 사과, apple.
뭐 · mwoㅁ + ㅝ. “What?”: you will hear it all day.
화 · hwaㅎ + ㅘ. As in 화장실, restroom.
귀 · gwiㄱ + ㅟ. Ear.
의 · uiㅇ + ㅢ. As in 의자, chair.
ㅙ, ㅚ and ㅞ sound almost the same in everyday Seoul speech, all close to “we” in wet. Like ㅐ and ㅔ, you learn which one to write with each word.
ㅢ changes with its place
At the start of a word it is ㅡ sliding into ㅣ: 의사 (ui-sa, doctor). After a consonant it is said like ㅣ: 희망 sounds like “hi-mang”. You will meet the rest with real words.
연습 Practice
이 레슨에는 풀어 보는 문제가 6개 있습니다. 앱에서 하나씩 맞히며 넘어갑니다. 6 exercises come with this lesson — open it to work through them.
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