Letters are to be arranged in the following manner, largely based on the modern South Korean order but modified to better reflect certain phonological and graphical progressions. Consonant digraphs are treated as two separate letters, and are thus subject to recursive collation with priority to the consonant; for example, ga would be followed by go and then by gga, gka, and so on. Therefore, they are not listed here but may still be used to represent single phonemes as desired. For the vowels, basic letters are followed by iotized, if a distinct graph exists; diphthongal or higher order combinations are not listed, but it is assumed that they can be formed through any composition of the listed vowels.
| Letter | Short Name | Long Name | Category | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consonants | ||||
| ㅇ | iŭng (이응) | root letter | null only; as ŋ, precedes ㆁ | |
| ㄱ | g | giyŏk (기역) | ||
| ㄴ | n | niŭn (니은) | ||
| ㄷ | d | digŭt (디귿) | ||
| ㄹ | l | riŭl (리을) | ||
| ᄛᅠ | r | gabyŏunriŭl (가벼운리을) | ||
| ㅁ | m | miŭm (미음) | ||
| ㅱ | w | gabyŏunmiŭm (가벼운미음) | ||
| ㅂ | b | biŭp (비읍) | ||
| ㅸ | v | gabyŏunbiŭp (가벼운비읍) | ||
| ㅅ | s | siot (시옷) | ||
| ᄼᅠ | x | jŏngchiŭmsiot (正齿音시옷) | formerly chiduŭmsiot | |
| ᄾᅠ | sh | sŏlsang'ŭmsiot (舌上音시옷) | formerly jŏngchiŭmsiot | |
| ㅿ | z | bansiot (半시옷) | ||
| ㆁ | ng | yet'iŭng (옛이응) | ㅇ+1 | |
| ㆆ | q | yŏrinhiŭt (여린히읗) | ||
| ㅋ | k | kiŭk (키읔) | ㄱ+1 | |
| ㅌ | t | tiŭt (티읕) | ㄷ+1 | |
| ㅍ | p | piŭp (피읖) | ㅂ+1 | |
| ㆄ | f | gabyŏunpiŭp (가벼운피읖) | ||
| ㅈ | j | jiŭt (지읒) | ㅅ+1 | |
| ᅎᅠ | tz | chiduŭmjiŭt (齿頭音지읒) | ||
| ᅐᅠ | zh | sŏlsang'ŭmjiŭt (舌上音지읒) | formerly jŏngchiŭmjiŭt | |
| ㅊ | c | chiŭt (치읓) | ㅅ+2 | |
| ᅔᅠ | tc | chiduŭmchiŭt (齿頭音치읓) | ||
| ᅕᅠ | ch | sŏlsang'ŭmchiŭt (舌上音치읓) | formerly jŏngchiŭmchiŭt | |
| ㅎ | h | hiŭt (히읗) | ㅇ+2 | |
| Vowels | ||||
| ㅏ | a | 아 | ||
| ㅐ | ae | 애 | distinct from ㅐ ai | |
| ㅑ | ya | 야 | ||
| ㅒ | yae | 얘 | distinct from ㅒ yai | |
| ㅓ | eo | ŏ (어) | ||
| ㅔ | e | 에 | distinct from ㅔ ŏi | |
| ㅕ | yeo | yŏ (여) | ||
| ㅖ | ye | 예 | distinct from ㅖ yŏi | |
| ㅗ | o | 오 | ||
| ㅛ | yo | 요 | ||
| ㅜ | u | 우 | ||
| ㅠ | yu | 유 | ||
| ㅡ | eu | ŭ (으) | ||
| ㅣ | i | 이 | ||
| ㆍ | aw | araea (아래아) | ||
| ᆢ | yaw | ssang'araea (双아래아) | ||
| Plain | Aspirate | Nasal | Fricative | Liquid | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial Series: | ㅂ (/p/ b) | ㅍ (/pʰ/ p) | ㅁ (/m/ m) | ㆄ (/f/ f) | ||
| Dental/lateral Series: | ㄷ (/t/ d) | ㅌ (/tʰ/ t) | ㄴ (/n/ n) | ㄹ (/l/ l) | ||
| Gutteral Series: | ㄱ (/k/ g) | ㅋ (/kʰ/ k) | ㅎ (/h/ h) | |||
| Sibilant Series: | ᅎ (/ts/ z) | ᅔ (/tsʰ/ c) | ㅅ (/s/ s) | |||
| Palatal Series: | ㅈ (/tɕ/ j) | ㅊ (/tɕʰ/ q) | ᄼ (/ɕ/ x) | |||
| Retroflex Series: | ᅐ (/ʈʂ/ zh) | ᅕ (/ʈʂʰ/ ch) | ᄾ (/ʂ/ sh) | ᄿ (/ʐ/ r) | ||
| Nucleus | ∅ | /i/ | /o/ | /ɛ/ | /e/ | /y/ | /ə/ | /a/ | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coda | ∅ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | ∅ | /u/ | /ŋ/ | ∅ | /n/ | /i/ | ∅ | /n/ | ∅ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | ∅ | /i/ | /u/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | ||
| Medial | ∅ | [ɹ̩~ɻ̩] 으 ih |
[i] 이 i |
[in] 인 in |
[iŋ] 잉 ing |
[o] 오 o |
[ou̯] ᄋᆃ ou |
[ʊŋ] 옹 ong |
[ɛ] ᄋᆘ ê |
[ei̯] 에2 ei |
[y] ᄋᆖ ü |
[yn] ᄋᆖᆫ ün |
[ɤ] 어 e |
[ən] 언 en |
[əŋ] 엉 eng |
[a] 아 a |
[ai̯] 애 ai |
[au̯] ᄋᅶ ao |
[an] 안 an |
[aŋ] 앙 ang | |
| /j/ | [jo] 요 io |
[jou̯] ᄋᆇ1 you, iu |
[jʊŋ] 용 iong |
[jɛ] ᄋᆙ ie |
[jɛn] ᄋᆙᆫ ian |
[ja] 야 ia |
[jau̯] ᄋᅸ iao |
[jaŋ] 양 iang | |||||||||||||
| /w/ | [u] 우 u |
[wo] ᄋᆂ uo |
[wei̯] 웨2 wei, ui |
[wən] 원 wen, un |
[wəŋ] 웡 weng |
[wa] 와 ua |
[wai̯] 왜 uai |
[wan] 완 uan |
[waŋ] 왕 uang | ||||||||||||
| /ɥ/ | [ɥɛ] ᄋힹ3 üe |
[ɥɛn] ᄋힹᆫ3 üan |
|||||||||||||||||||
1 Unencoded, substitute character used. Properly written as a ㅛ on top of ㅜ.
2 Unencoded, substitute character used. [ei̯] should be written as ㅔ + ㅣ.
3 Unencoded, substitute character used. [ɥɛ] should be written as ᅟᆖ + ᅟᆘ.
The rhotic coda /ɚ/ er is always written as a separate syllable ᄋᆞퟝ.
There are two notations for describing tones:
| Romanized Name + Tone | Zhuyin Fuhao-style | Pinyin-style |
|---|---|---|
| yīn píng | 인 핑〪 | 인〮 핑〪 |
| yáng píng | 양〪 핑〪 | 양〪 핑〪 |
| shǎng | ᄾᅡᆼ〫 | ᄾᅡᆼ〫 |
| qù | ᄎᆖ〬 | ᄎᆖ〬 |
| qing | 칭〮 | 칭 |
Each system has its benefits and drawbacks, but as a rule of thumb, use Zhuyin Fuhao when transcribing literary works and Pinyin when transcribing spoken language.
| Gojūon | Yōon | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 아 a | 이 i | 으 u | 에 e | 오 o | |||
| 카 ka | 키 ki | 크 ku | 케 ke | 코 ko | 캬 kya | ᄏᆜ kyu | 쿄 kyo |
| 사 sa | ᄼᅵ shi | 스 su | 세 se | 소 so | ᄼᅡ sha | ᄼᅳ shu | ᄼᅩ sho |
| 타 ta | 치 chi | ᅎᅳ tsu | 테 te | 토 to | 차 cha | 츠 chu | 초 cho |
| 나 na | 니 ni | 느 nu | 네 ne | 노 no | 냐 nya | ᄂᆜ nyu | 뇨 nyo |
| 하 ha | 히 hi | ᅗᅳ fu | 헤 he | 호 ho | 햐 hya | ᄒᆜ hyu | 효 hyo |
| 마 ma | 미 mi | 므 mu | 메 me | 모 mo | 먀 mya | ᄆᆜ myu | 묘 myo |
| 야 ya | ᄋퟄ yi | ᄋᆜ yu | 예 ye | 요 yo | |||
| 라 ra | 리 ri | 르 ru | 레 re | 로 ro | 랴 rya | ᄅᆜ ryu | 료 ryo |
| 와 wa | 위 wi † | ᄋᆍ wu | 웨 we † | ᄋᆂ wo ‡ | |||
| ㄴ n /n' | |||||||
| 가 ga | 기 gi | 그 gu | 게 ge | 고 go | 갸 gya | ᄀᆜ gyu | 교 gyo |
| ᅀᅡ za | ᄽᅵ ji | ᅀᅳ zu | ᅀᅦ ze | ᅀᅩ zo | 자 ja | 즈 ju | 조 jo |
| 다 da | 지 ji | ᅏᅳ zu | 데 de | 도 do | 자 ja | 즈 ju | 조 jo |
| 바 ba | 비 bi | 브 bu | 베 be | 보 bo | 뱌 bya | ᄇᆜ byu | 뵤 byo |
| 파 pa | 피 pi | 프 pu | 페 pe | 포 po | 퍄 pya | ᄑᆜ pyu | 표 pyo |
The sokuon kana is represented by the doubling of the following consonant in its syllable; in particular, ㅋ (k) becomes ㄲ (kk), ㅌ (t) becomes ㄸ (tt), ㅊ (ch) becomes ㅉ (tch), and ㅍ (p) becomes ㅃ (pp).
Long vowels are represented differently depending on the lengthened vowel. If it is reflected in the kana orthography as a doubling of the vowel, it is represented as a chōonpu, otherwise, it is represented as a final ㅎ:
| Romaji | Hangeul |
|---|---|
| hā (haa) | 하ー |
| hī (hii) | 히ー |
| fū (fuu) | ᅗᅳー |
| hē (hee or hei) | 헤ー or 헿 |
| hō (hoo or hou) | 호ー or 홓 |
Also note that for nonstandard lengthening of vowels (beyond one mora), only the chōonpu is used, and with multiple instances, each instance representing the length of one mora.
| Implosive | Plain | Aspirate | Nasal | Fricative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial Series: | ㅃ (/ɓ/ b) | ㅂ (/p/ p) | ㅁ (/m/ m) | ㆄ (/f/ ph) | ㅸ (/v/ v) | |
| Dental Series: | ㄸ (/ɗ/ đ) | ㄷ (/t/ t) | ㅌ (/tʰ/ th) | ㄴ (/n/ n) | ||
| Gutteral Series: | ㄱ (/k/ c, k, q) | ㆁ (/ŋ/ ng, ngh) | ꥷ (/x/ kh) | ᅁ (/ɣ/ g, gh) | ||
| Sibilant Series: | ㅅ (/s/ s, x) | ㅿ (/z/ d, gi, r) | ||||
| Palatal Series: | ㅈ (/tɕ/ ch, tr) | ㅥ (/ɲ/ nh) | ||||
| Glottal | ㅎ (/h/ h) | |||||
| Liquid | ||||||
| Lateral | ㄹ (/l/ l) | |||||
Cross-dialectically, ᄛ may be used for ⟨r⟩, ᄾ for ⟨s⟩, and ᅐ for ⟨tr⟩.
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Long | |||
| Close | ㅣ (/i/ i, y) | ㅡ (/ɨ/ ư) | ㅜ (/u/ u) | |
| Mid | ᅟퟀ, ㅔ (/e/ ê) | ㅕ(/ə̆/ â) | ㅓ (/ə/ ơ) | ㅗ (/o/ ô) |
| Open | ᅟힾ, ㅐ (/ɛ/ e) | ㅑ (/ă/ ă) | ㅏ (/a/ a) | ㆍ (/ɔ/ o) |
As /j/ on-glides do not exist in the language, some iotized vowels have been repurposed to reduce the character set. ㅔ and ㅐ represent plain vowels only when preceded by ㅗ and ㅜ, respectively (in all other circumstances they are diphthongs).
| Front | Central | Back |
|---|---|---|
| ᅟힿ (/iə̯/ ia, iê) | ᅟힺ (/ɨə̯/ ưa, ươ) | ᅟힵ (/uə̯/ ua, uô) |
/w/ off-glides are written using the consonant ㅱ.
| Nucleus | /ɛ/ | /e/ | /i/ | /iə̯/ | /a/ | /ă/ | /ə̆/ | /ə/ | /ɨ/ | /ɨə̯/ | /ɔ/ | /o/ | /u/ | /uə̯/ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-glide | /w/ | /w/ | /w/ | /w/ | /j/ | /w/ | /j/ | /w/ | /j/ | /w/ | /j/ | /w/ | /j/ | /w/ | /j/ | /w/ | /j/ | /j/ | /j/ | /j/ | |
| On-glide | ∅ | /ɛw/ ᅟힾᇢ eo |
/ew/ ᅟퟀᇢ êu |
/iw/ ᅟᅵᇢ iu |
/iə̯w/ ᅟힿᇢ iêu, yêu |
/aj/ ㅐ ai |
/aw/ ᅟᅡᇢ ao |
/ăj/ ㅒ ay |
/ăw/ ᅟᅣᇢ au |
/ə̆j/ ㅖ ây |
/ə̆w/ ᅟᅧᇢ âu |
/əj/ ㅔ ơi |
/əw/ ᅟᅥᇢ ơu |
/ɨj/ ㅢ ưi |
/ɨw/ ᅟᅳᇢ ưu |
/ɨə̯j/ ᅟힻ ươi |
/ɨə̯w/ ᅟힺᇢ ươu |
/ɔj/ ㆎ oi |
/oj/ ㅚ ôi |
/uj/ ᅟힶ ui |
/uə̯j/ ᅟᆌ uôi |
| /w/ | /wɛw/ ᅟᆊᇢ oeo, ueo |
/wiw/ ᅟᅱᇢ uyu |
/waj/ ㅙ oai, uai |
/waw/ ᅟᅪᇢ oao, uao |
/wăj/ ᅟᆧ oay, uay |
/wə̆j/ ᅟᆁ uây |
|||||||||||||||
| /wɛ/ ᅟᆊ oe, ue |
/we/ ᅟᆀ uê |
/wi/ ㅟ uy |
/wiə̯/ ㆊ uyê, uya |
/wa/ ㅘ oa, ua |
/wă/ ᅟᆦ oă, uă |
/wə̆/ ᅟힰ uâ |
/wə/ ㅝ uơ |
||||||||||||||
| Off-glide | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | ∅ | |||||||
If desired, a more phonetically faithful spelling may be used for certain rimes ending in ㄱ or ㆁ:
| Chữ Quốc ngữ | Phonemic | Phonetic |
|---|---|---|
| ach, anh | ᄋힾᆨ, ᄋힾᇰ | 얙, 얘ᇰ |
| oc, ong | ᄋᆞᆨ, ᄋᆞᇰ | ᄋᅸᆨ, ᄋᅸᇰ |
| êch, ênh | ᄋퟀᆨ, ᄋퟀᇰ | 옉, 예ᇰ |
| ôc, ông | 옥, 오ᇰ | ᄋᅾᆨ, ᄋᅾᇰ |
| oach, oanh | ᄋᆊᆨ, ᄋᆊᇰ | ᄋᆧᆨ, ᄋᆧᇰ |
| uêch, uênh | ᄋᆀᆨ, ᄋᆀᇰ | ᄋᆁᆨ, ᄋᆁᇰ |
| Category (thanh) | Hangeul | Chữ Quốc ngữ |
|---|---|---|
| âm bình | ᅌᅡᇰ | ngang |
| dương bình | ᄒᆑᆫ〪 | huyền |
| âm thượng | ᄒᆡ〫 | hỏi |
| dương thượng | ᅌᅡ〮 | ngã |
| âm khứ | 샥〯 | sắc |
| dương khứ | 냐ᇰ〬 | nặng |
| Voiced | Plain | Aspirate | Nasal | Fricative | Approximant | Rhotic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial Series: | ㅃ (/b/) | ㅂ (/p/) | ㅍ (/pʰ/) | ㅁ (/m/) | ㆄ (/f/) | ㅱ (/w/) | |
| Dental Series: | ㄸ (/d/) | ㄷ (/t/) | ㅌ (/tʰ/) | ㄴ (/n/) | ㅅ (/s/) | ㄹ (/l/) | ᄛ (/r/) |
| Gutteral Series: | ㄱ (/k/) | ㅋ (/kʰ/) | ㆁ (/ŋ/) | ㅎ (/h/) | |||
| Palatal Series: | ㅈ (/tɕ/) | ㅊ (/tɕʰ/) | ㆀ (/j/) |
Note that the null initial ㅇ is realized as a glottal stop at the beginning of words. Word-finally it is not written but pronounced obligatorily following a short vowel with no other final consonant.
The initial ㅱ is replaced by a vowel glide ㅗ or ㅜ when it is the second sound in a consonant cluster. ㆀ is also simplified to ㅇ. Due to lack of encodings, one may substitute the initial consonant + ㅡ as a separate preceding syllable in place of a cluster, and word-final ㆀ can be written as ᇮ.
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long | |
| Close | ㅣ (/i/) | ᅟퟄ (/iː/) | ㅡ (/ɯ/) | ᅟᆖ (/ɯː/) | ㅜ (/u/) | ㅠ (/uː/) |
| Mid | ㅔ (/e/) | ㅖ (/eː/) | ㅓ(/ɤ/) | ㅕ (/ɤː/) | ㅗ (/o/) | ㅛ (/oː/) |
| Open | ㅐ (/ɛ/) | ㅒ (/ɛː/) | ㅏ (/a/) | ㅑ (/aː/) | ㆍ (/ɔ/) | ᅟᆢ (/ɔː/) |
As /j/ is analyzed as a consonant in the language, the iotized and i-offglide vowels have been repurposed to reduce the character set.
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short | Long | Short | Long | Short | Long |
| ᅟᆘ (/ia/) | ᅟힿ* (/iːa/) | ᅟힹ (/ɯa/) | ᅟힺ* (/ɯːa/) | ᅟᆉ (/ua/) | ᅟᆎ (/uːa/) |
* substitute characters, should combine with respective long vowel letters in regular usage
According to sources, Old Thai distinguished mid, high, and low tones, numbered 1-3 respectively. Considering tone splits, we can fit it into our Chinese system accordingly:
| Contour | Example |
|---|---|
| middle (mid+) | 캬 |
| "rising" (mid-) | 캬〪 |
| high (high+) | 캬〫 |
| "falling" (high-, low+) | 캬〯 |
| low (low-) | 캬〮 |