한글 배우기 with Eia : 3.Korean characters - double consonants, combined consonants

Hi guys

Today we are looking at double consonants and combined consonants.

There are 5 double consonants and 11 combined consonants.

 Note: Please study this chapter after 한글 배우기 with Eia : 2.Korean characters - basic consonants

Let's go! 

 Double consonants 

There are 5 double consonants: ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ and ㅉ. In Korean, we called them 쌍OO [ssang OO]. Ssang means "double". So their sounds become stronger than its initial sounds.

Because we do not have double consonant sounds in English, I will use some English word's to describe their right pronunciation.

They can always come to the first sound, but only 2 of them can come to the ending sound.

Let's have a closer look.

This is called 쌍기역 [ssang gi yeok] because there are double ㄱ.

When it comes to the first, it sounds like strong [g] or more like [k] but weaker than that.

When you try to pronounce this, try [g] just like ㄱ, then stop your breath for 2 seconds. And then give a gentle strength to your throat.

This one can come to the end and when it comes to the end, it sounds like [-k]. Just like ㄱ.

 Words containing ㄲ 

 깜깜하다 [ggam ggam ha da] : dark      꼬마 [ggo ma] : kid      낚시 [nak shi] : fishing

This is called 쌍디귿 [ssang di deut] because there are double ㄷ.

This one only can come to the first. When it comes to the first, it sounds like strong [d] or more like [t] but weaker than that.

Or more like Chinese [d] sound, which is bit different from English [d] sound right?

 Words containing ㄸ 

땀 [ddam] : sweat         따로 [dda ro] : separately          뜨겁다 [ddeu geop da] : (be) hot

This is called 쌍비읍 [ssang bi eup] because there are double ㅂ.

This one only can come to the first. When it comes to the first, it sounds like strong [b] or more like [p] but weaker than that.

This one is also more like Chinese [b] sound, which is bit different from English [b] sound.

 Words containing 

아빠 [a bba] : dad         뽀뽀 [bbo bbo] : peck   

This is called 쌍시옷 [ssang si ot] because there are double ㅅ.

This one can come to the first and to the end. When it comes to the first, it sounds like strong [s].

Let's say, when you say salt this s is more like ㅅ

But when you say see that s is more like ㅆ. If this is too difficult, when you say English alphabet C [see], that s sounds like ㅆ.

When it comes to the end, it sounds like [-t]. Just like ㅅ.

 Words containing ㅆ

싸움 [ssa woom] : fight        했습니다 [haet seum ni da] : (I) did

This is called 쌍지읒 [ssang ji eut] because there are double ㅈ.

This one only can come to the first. When it comes to the first, it sounds like strong [j] or [z] or more like [ch] but weaker than that.

 Words containing ㅉ 

짜장면 [jja jang myeon] : Korean black bean sauce noodle dish        짜다 [jja da] : (be) salty

Yeah that's all for double consonants. Let's have a look at combined consonants now.

 Combined consonants 

There are 11 combined consonants. They can ONLY come at the end of character. When you pronounce them, you only pronounce one of consonants, not 2 at the same time.

Because they only can come at the end, they are called OOOO받침 [OOOO bat chim]. "bat chim" means supporter. If you see some Korean characters which have end sounds, those end sounds come to the end and they seem like they are supporting the rest of character because they are located under the other consonant and vowel. So we call those combined consonants something something bat chim.

Let's have a look.

This is called 기역시옷받침 [gi yeok si ot bat chim] because it is composed of gi-yeok and si-ot.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄱ and so it sounds like [-k].

 Words containing ㄳ 

삯 [sak] : price of labour

This is called 니은지읒받침 [ni eun ji eut bat chim] because it is composed of ni-eun and ji-eut.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄴ and so it sounds like [-n].

 Words containing ㄵ 

앉다 [an da] : to sit        얹다 [eon da] : to put on 

This is called 니은히읗받침 [ni eun hi eit bat chim] because it is composed of ni-eun and hi-eut.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄴ and so it sounds like [-n].

 Words containing ㄶ

않다 [an da] : (something) is not.        많이 [man i] : (adverb) many

This is called 리을기역받침 [ri eull gi yeok bat chim] because it is composed of ri-eull and gi-yeok.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄱ and so it sounds like [-k].

 Words containing ㄺ 

 흙 [heuk] : (sand) earth        읽다 [ik da] : to read

This is called 리을미음받침 [ri eull mi eum bat chim] because it is composed of ri-eull and mi-eum.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㅁ and so it sounds like [-m].

 Words containing ㄻ 

삶 [sam] : life

This is called 리을비읍받침 [ri eull bi eup bat chim] because it is composed of ri-eull and bi-eup.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄹ and so it sounds like [-ll].

 Words containing ㄼ 

여덟 [yeo deoll] : eight 8

This is called 리을시옷받침 [ri eull si ot bat chim] because it is composed of ri-eull and si-ot.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄹ and so it sounds like [-ll].

This is called 리을티읕받침 [ri eull ti eut bat chim] because it is composed of ri-eull and ti-eut.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄹ and so it sounds like [-ll].

 Words containing ㄾ 

핥다 [hall da] : to lick

This is called 리을피읖받침 [ri eull pi eup bat chim] because it is composed of ri-eull and pi-eup.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㅍ and so it sounds like [-p].

This is called 리을히읗받침 [ri eull hi eut bat chim] because it is composed of ri-eull and hi-eut.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㄹ and so it sounds like [-ll].

 Words containing ㅀ 

싫다 [sill da] : to dislike (hate)

This is called 비읍시옷받침 [bi eup si ot bat chim] because it is composed of bi-eup and si-ot.

When it comes to the end, we only pronounce ㅂ and so it sounds like [-p].

 Words containing ㅄ

없다 [eop da] : not exist

It looks quite complicated right?

The double consonants sound quite unique and it is hard to find a similar sounds in English because there is hardly any. And combined consonants also look so hard to memorize...

A good news is only some double consonants and some combined consonants are used often. So, you don't really need to memorize them all. But it will be great if you know how to pronounce so you can actually read them although you don't know the meanings.

So..?

Practice practice!!

In the next lecture, we will learn about vowels and then, we can finally read out all Korean characters!!

Exciting.. right?!

Ok, see you next time!