The Position of Consonants and Vowels

 

Vowels and consonants can’t stand alone and have to be combined.

Consonants always come first.

 

 

1) CV combination (Basic form)

A CV combination, also can be called as a syllable or a block, is the most basic composition consisting of a consonant and a vowel. The position of a consonant depends on the vowel used. If a vowel has a vertical shape, a consonant is situated on the left side of the vowel. If a vowel has a horizontal shape, a consonant is situated above the vowel.

 

 

• Vowels: Vertical shape                      ② Vowels: Horizontal shape

                                          

               아기 baby                                               우유 milk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s practice the CV combination.

Trace the CV combination forms in the table.

 

가[ga]	가	가	가	가	가
야[ya]	야	야	야	야	야
너[neo]	너	너	너	너	너
혀[hyeo]	혀	혀	혀	혀	혀
소[so]	소	소	소	소	소
요[dyo]	요	요	요	요	요
무[mu]	무	무	무	무	무
유[you]	유	유	유	유	유
그[geu]	그	그	그	그	그
비[bi]	비	비	비	비	비
개[gae]	개	개	개	개	개
네[ne]	네	네	네	네	네
얘[yae]	얘	얘	얘	얘	얘
예[ye]	예	예	예	예	예
와[wa]	와	와	와	와	와
귀[gwi]	귀	귀	귀	귀	귀
뭐[mwar]	뭐	뭐	뭐	뭐	뭐
외[wae]	외	외	외	외	외
왜[wae]	왜	왜	왜	왜	왜
훼[hwae]	훼	훼	훼	훼	훼
의[eui]	의	의	의	의	의

 

 

 

2) CVC combination form

 

A CVC form is a combination of a consonant, a vowel, and another consonant. The first consonant and vowel are written together in the CV form, and the second consonant appears underneath.

 

• Vowels: Vertical shape                            ② Vowels: Horizontal shape                          

                       방 room                                               곧  soon

 

 

 

Pronunciation of the CVC form

 

***All consonants, except for ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ, and ㅇ, become stop sounds when the consonant is placed under the CV form

 

A. When the bottom consonant - CVC is one of ㄱ, ㄲ, andㅋ, the bottom consonant loses its consonant sound and makes a paused [k’] sound. It is because they are all pronounced from back of your mouth.

 

Ex)

박 [bak’], 밖 [bak’],  밬 [bak’] : They are all pronounced the same

 

 

B. When the bottom consonant – CVC is one ofㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, and ㅊ, the bottom consonant loses its consonant sound and makes a paused [t’] sound. It is because they are all pronounced from front of your mouth.

 

Ex)

받 [bat’],  밭 [bat’],  밧 [bat’],  밨 [bat’],  밭 [bat’],  밫 [bat’] : They are all pronounced the same

C. When the bottom consonant – CVC is one of ㅂ and ㅍ, the bottom consonant loses its consonant sound and makes a paused [p’] sound. It is because they are all pronounced from your lips.

 

Ex)

밥 [bap’],   밮 [bap’] : They are all pronounced the same

 

 

D. When the bottom consonant - CVC is one of ㅇ, ㄴ, ㄹ, and ㅁ, the bottom consonant is pronounced as [ng], [n], [l], and [m] respectively. As the example above shows, when ㅇ is placed under the CV form, it is pronounced with the [ng] sound. Therefore, 방 is pronounced as [bang]. In short, when the four consonants: ㄴ [n], ㄹ [l] , ㅁ [m], andㅇ [ng]  are located under the CV form, they are always pronounced.

 

 

Ex)

방 [bang],  반 [ban],  발 [bal],  밤 [bam]

 

 

 

 

Let’s practice the CVC combination.

Trace the CVC combination forms five times in the table.

 

각[gak’] angle	각	각	각	각	각
양[yang] sheep	양	양	양	양	양
발[bal] foot/feet	발	발	발	발	발
형[hyeong] older brother	형	형	형	형	형
손[son] hand(s)	손	손	손	손	손
용[yong] dragon	용	용	용	용	용
물[mul] water	물	물	물	물	물
밤[bam] night, chestnut	밤	밤	밤	밤	밤
꿈[qoom] dream	꿈	꿈	꿈	꿈	꿈
밥[bap’] meal, steamed rice	밥	밥	밥	밥	밥
꽃[qot’] flower(s)	꽃	꽃	꽃	꽃	꽃
춤[chum] dance	춤	춤	춤	춤	춤
잎[ip’] leaf, leaves	잎	잎	잎	잎	잎
같다[gat’da] to be the same	같다	같다	같다	같다	같다
왕[wang] king	왕	왕	왕	왕	왕
부엌[bueok’] kitchen	부엌	부엌	부엌	부엌	부엌
반[ban] class	반	반	반	반	반
곧[got’] soon	곧	곧	곧	곧	곧
있다[it’da] to exist/stay/have there is/are	있다	있다	있다	있다	있다
옷[ot’] clothes	옷	옷	옷	옷	옷
찾다[chat’da] to look for, find	찾다	찾다	찾다	찾다	찾다

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) CVCC combination

 

Sometimes we have two consonants placed together under the syllable. In this case only the dominant consonant is pronounced. For example, ㄲ [k’],ㄳ[k’], ㄺ[k’], ㅆ [t’], ㄵ[n], ㄶ [n], ㅀ[l], ㄽ[l], ㄾ[l], ㄻ[m],ㅄ[p’], ㄿ[p’], and ㄼ[l] can be paired at the third and forth position below the CV form. Each pair is pronounced differently and has to be memorized individually.   

 

Ex) 밖 [bak’],   삯[sak’],   닭 [dak’],   있 [it’],   앉 [an],   않 [an],   앓 [al],   앐 [al],      

 

       핥 [hal],    삶 [sam],  값 [gap’],   읊 [eup’],   얇 [yal]

           

 

• Vowels: Vertical shape                        ② Vowels: Horizontal shape          

                                   

      닭 chicken                                                        옳다 to be right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s practice the CVCC combination.

Trace the CVCC combination forms five times in the table.

 

있다[it’da] to exist/stay/have there is/are	있다	있다	있다	있다	있다
없다[eop’da] not to exist/stay/have there isn’t/aren’t	없다	없다	없다	없다	없다
앉다[anda] to sit down	앉다	앉다	앉다	앉다	앉다
닭[dak’] chicken	닭	닭	닭	닭	닭
옳다[olda] to be right/correct	옳다	옳다	옳다	옳다	옳다
밖[bak’] outside	밖	밖	밖	밖	밖
값[gap’] price	값	값	값	값	값
많다[manda] to be many/much	많다	많다	많다	많다	많다
밝다[bak’da] to be bright	밝다	밝다	밝다	밝다	밝다
넓다[neolda] to be wide/spacious	넓다	넓다	넓다	넓다	넓다
맑다[mak’da] to be clear	맑다	맑다	맑다	맑다	맑다
얇다[yalda] to be thin	얇다	얇다	얇다	얇다	얇다
핥다[halda] to lick	핥다	핥다	핥다	핥다	핥다
젊다[jeomda] to be young	젊다	젊다	젊다	젊다	젊다