Basic Consonants

Korean has 14 basic consonant letters, but in this lesson we will focus on the first nine that form the foundation. These nine are the most common and serve as the building blocks from which other consonants are derived.

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The Nine Basic Consonants

Character	Name (Korean)	Name (Romanised)	Sound (Initial)	Sound (Final/Batchim)
ㄱ	기역	giyeok	g (as in go)	k
ㄴ	니은	nieun	n (as in no)	n
ㄷ	디귿	digeut	d (as in do)	t
ㄹ	리을	rieul	r/l (between r and l)	l
ㅁ	미음	mieum	m (as in mom)	m
ㅂ	비읍	bieup	b (as in boy)	p
ㅅ	시옷	siot	s (as in sun)	t
ㅇ	이응	ieung	silent (initial)	ng (as in sing)
ㅈ	지읒	jieut	j (as in joy)	t

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Speech Organ Groups

Remember from Lesson 1 that consonant shapes are based on the speech organs. Let's see how these nine consonants group:

Velar Group (tongue root / back of tongue)

ㄱ (g/k) — base shape: tongue touching soft palate

The shape ㄱ represents the side view of the tongue raised to the back of the mouth.

Alveolar Group (tongue tip)

ㄴ (n) — base shape: tongue touching upper gum ridge
ㄷ (d/t) — ㄴ with an extra stroke (stronger sound)
ㄹ (r/l) — tongue curled (related to ㄴ)

Notice that ㄴ, ㄷ, and ㄹ all involve the tongue tip and look visually related.

Bilabial Group (lips)

ㅁ (m) — base shape: square representing closed lips
ㅂ (b/p) — ㅁ with extra strokes (stronger sound)

Dental Group (teeth)

ㅅ (s) — base shape: representing the teeth
ㅈ (j) — ㅅ with an extra stroke on top

Glottal Group (throat)

ㅇ (silent/ng) — base shape: open circle representing the throat

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Pronunciation Details

ㄱ (giyeok)

• Initial position: soft "g" as in "go" — but softer than English "g"
• Between vowels: even softer, almost like a light "g"
• Final position (batchim): unreleased "k" sound — your tongue goes to position but you don't release the air

Example words:

Word	Romanisation	Meaning
가	ga	to go
구	gu	nine
기	gi	energy

ㄴ (nieun)

• All positions: "n" as in "no" — virtually identical to English "n"

Example words:

Word	Romanisation	Meaning
나	na	I / me
누나	nuna	older sister (for males)
눈	nun	eye / snow

ㄷ (digeut)

• Initial position: soft "d" as in "do"
• Final position (batchim): unreleased "t" sound

Example words:

Word	Romanisation	Meaning
다	da	all
두	du	two
달	dal	moon

ㄹ (rieul)

• Initial position: a light "r" — a single flap of the tongue (similar to the Spanish "r")
• Final position (batchim): "l" sound
• Between vowels: light flap "r"

This is one of the trickiest sounds for English speakers. It is between an r and an l.