Syllables 2:
All Syllables
Now you learned all the letters in Korean and it's time to see all the syllables you can make. In this lesson, consonants can be referred to as "C" and vowels can be written as "V". Each section will show you some examples.
1. All Consonants
There are a total of 19 consonants in Korean. They will be referred to as C.
2. All Vowels
There are a total of 21 vowels in Korean. They will be referred to as V.
3. Diagrams
By combining all these consonants and vowels, you can make so many syllables! However, there are technically only two syllable structures in Korean. C-V and C-V-C. Let's see the detailed diagrams to help you understand their looks better! Each one shows some random examples.
C-V Diagrams
There are three possible looks when only one consonant and one vowel exist. When you make a Korean syllable, imagine you put letters in one square.
The top-down long vowels can come to the right side of a consonant. To match in size, C gets taller.
1: C on the left, V on the right.
e.g. 가, 너, 디, 래, 에, 꺠, 떼
2: C on the top, V on the bottom.
e.g. 고, 뇨, 두, 류, 으, 뽀, 쑈
The left-right long vowels can come to the bottom of a consonant. To match in size, C gets wider.
3: C on the top-left, V on the right and bottom.
e.g. 귀, 뤄, 돼, 뫼, 화, 쀄, 쯰
For some compound vowels like ㅟ, ㅚ, ㅘ, to match the size of a square, a consonant gets smaller.
C-V-C Diagrams
When there are a first consonant, a vowel, and the final consonant, you have to cramp them in one square!
1: C1 on the left, V on the right, C2 at the bottom
e.g. 간, 얻, 딜, 쳇, 깩, 뗏, 쨉
The first consonant and vowel get smaller and are placed on half of the top. The final consonant gets wider to match the size.
2: C on the top, V on the bottom.
e.g. 속, 욘, 쿱, 흉, 튿, 똡, 쯧
Both consonants 1 and 2 get wider to match the horizontally long vowels.
C-V 3: C on the top-left, V on the right and bottom.
e.g. 권, 뉙, 쇙, 왼, 환, 쀌, 쯸
To match the size of some compound vowels, the first consonant gets smaller. The final consonant gets wider to cover the width.