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Hangul: The Korean Alphabet

A featural alphabet in syllable blocks

Hangul is a featural alphabet

Letters group into syllable blocks; it is not Chinese characters.

📊 Basic letters
Letter Type Sound
ㄱ consonant g / k
ㄴ consonant n
ㅁ consonant m
ㅏ vowel a
ㅗ vowel o
💬 Examples
한글
han-geul
Hangul
📝 Two syllable blocks: 한 + 글
안녕하세요
annyeonghaseyo
hello
📝 Read left to right, block by block
A syllable = consonant + vowel (+ consonant)

Each block has a fixed structure.

💬 Examples
가
ga
ga
📝 ㄱ (g) + ㅏ (a)
한
han
han
📝 ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ (final consonant)
A final consonant is the 받침 (batchim)

The bottom consonant of a block; it often affects which particle is used.

💬 Examples
밥
bap
rice / meal
📝 받침 ㅂ at the bottom
책
chaek
book
📝 Final consonant ㄱ