Writing Syllables

As mentioned earlier, every syllable is written to fit into the same imaginary square box—no matter how many characters are in the syllable. How the box is divided up depends first on the shape of the vowel. When you look at the pure vowels, you will see that they have a predominant shape. Thus we can think of them as being vertical: ㅏ ㅓ ㅣ ㅐ ㅔ, horizontal: ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ, or combined: ㅚ. Have a look at how the vowel shapes the syllable:

With vertical vowels with no end consonant, the box is divided vertically in half, with the initial consonant on the left and the vowel on the right:

가

커

이

새

테

With vertical vowels with an end consonant, the space for the initial consonant and vowel is reduced to allow room underneath for the final consonant:

강

컴

일

색

텐

With horizontal vowels with no end consonant, the box is divided in half horizontally, with the initial consonant at the top and the vowel at the bottom:

도

우

크

괴

With horizontal vowels with an end consonant, again the end consonant is placed at the bottom. The initial consonant and vowel are pushed upwards:

돈

움

클

굉

Examples:

Hangeul	Pronounce	Meaning
레몬	le-mon	lemon
버스	beo-seu	bus
슈퍼마켓	syu-peo-ma-ket	supermarket
아이스크림	a-i-seu-keu-rim	ice cream
앨범	ael-beom	album
오렌지	o-ren-ji	orange
주스	ju-seu	juice
카세트	ka-se-teu	cassette
캥거루	kaeng-geo-ru	kangaroo
커피	keo-pi	coffee
컴퓨터	keom-pyu-teo	computer
택시	taek-shi	taxi
테니스	te-ni-seu	tennis
텔레비전	tel-le-bi-jeon	television
피아노	pi-a-no	piano
피자	pi-ja	pizza
햄버거	haem-beo-geo	hamburger
호텔	ho-tel	hotel

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