Compound Vowels

In addition to the ten basic vowels, Korean has 11 compound vowels (이중 모음, ijung moeum). These are formed by combining two basic vowels into a single character. While they may look complex at first, understanding how they are constructed makes them much easier to learn.

---

The 11 Compound Vowels

Character	Romanisation	Pronunciation	Formed From
ㅐ	ae	"eh" as in bed	ㅏ + ㅣ
ㅒ	yae	"yeh" as in yes	ㅑ + ㅣ
ㅔ	e	"eh" as in bed	ㅓ + ㅣ
ㅖ	ye	"yeh" as in yes	ㅕ + ㅣ
ㅘ	wa	"wah" as in wand	ㅗ + ㅏ
ㅙ	wae	"weh" as in wet	ㅗ + ㅐ
ㅚ	oe	"weh" (historically "we")	ㅗ + ㅣ
ㅝ	wo	"wuh" as in wonder	ㅜ + ㅓ
ㅞ	we	"weh" as in wet	ㅜ + ㅔ
ㅟ	wi	"wee" as in weed	ㅜ + ㅣ
ㅢ	ui	"eui" (ㅡ + ㅣ glide)	ㅡ + ㅣ

---

The "Eh" Vowels: ㅐ and ㅔ

These two vowels are historically different but in modern Korean they are pronounced almost identically — both sound like "eh" as in "bed."

Character	Historical Pronunciation	Modern Pronunciation	Formed From
ㅐ	between "ah" and "ee"	"eh"	ㅏ + ㅣ
ㅔ	between "uh" and "ee"	"eh"	ㅓ + ㅣ

Tip: Most native Korean speakers under 40 cannot distinguish ㅐ and ㅔ by sound alone. Context and spelling distinguish them. Don't worry about pronouncing them differently — just say "eh" for both.

Example words with ㅐ:

Word	Romanisation	Meaning
개	gae	dog
대	dae	big / great
내	nae	my

Example words with ㅔ:

Word	Romanisation	Meaning
네	ne	yes (polite)
세	se	three (counter)
제	je	my (formal)

---

The "Yeh" Vowels: ㅒ and ㅖ

Similarly, ㅒ and ㅖ both sound like "yeh" in modern Korean:

Character	Romanisation	Example	Meaning
ㅒ	yae	얘기 (yaegi)	story/talk
ㅖ	ye	예 (ye)	yes (formal) / example

ㅒ is quite rare. ㅖ is much more common.

---

The "W" Compound Vowels

These are formed by combining a rounded vowel (ㅗ or ㅜ) with another vowel, creating a "w" glide:

ㅘ (wa) — "wah"

Formed from ㅗ + ㅏ. Sounds like "wa" in "wand."

┌───┐
│ C │
├───┼───┐
│ ㅗ │ ㅏ │    Example: 과 = ㄱ + ㅘ = "gwa"
└───┴───┘

Word	Romanisation	Meaning
과일	gwail	fruit
화	hwa	anger / fire
사과	sagwa	apple / apology

ㅙ (wae) — "weh"

Formed from ㅗ + ㅐ. Sounds like "weh" in "wet."

Word	Romanisation	Meaning
왜	wae	why
돼지	dwaeji	pig

ㅚ (oe) — "weh"

Formed from ㅗ + ㅣ. Historically pronounced "we" (with rounded lips), but in modern Korean it sounds like "weh" — essentially the same as ㅙ and ㅞ.