Hangul tiles with abstract phonetic waveform and mouth-position study marks.

IPA Reference for Korean

국제 음성 기호. Read the symbols shown on cards and in the Pronounce tool.

What is IPA?

The International Phonetic Alphabet gives each speech sound its own symbol. Spelling changes by language; IPA does not. ʌ points to the same vowel quality wherever you see it. When a card shows /ɾ/, it tells you where to put your tongue.

This page covers the symbols that appear in the Korean data on this site. Symbols in slash brackets /like this/ are phonemic (underlying sound); actual pronunciation may vary slightly by position.

Modifiers

These marks attach to a base letter and change how you pronounce it. You need them for the Korean plain, aspirated, and tense consonant split.

Superscript ʰ = aspirated

Hold your palm an inch from your mouth and say the sound. You should feel a clear puff of air. Korean aspirated consonants go further than English ones.

EN: The "p" in "pot" is aspirated; the "p" in "spot" is not. Korean pʰ is like "pot" with more air.

NL: De "k" in "kat" is geaspireerd, maar Koreaans kʰ gaat verder. Blaas een papier weg met je adem.

Aspirated consonants on this site: kʰ ㅋ · tʰ ㅌ · pʰ ㅍ · tɕʰ ㅊ

Combining diacritic ͈ = tense

Just before the sound, you tighten your throat (the glottis). No air escapes at all. The result sounds sharp and clipped, almost like a suppressed version of the base consonant. Neither English nor Dutch has this category.

EN: Try saying "uh-oh". The catch in your throat between the two syllables is the glottal constriction. Apply that just before the consonant.

NL: Vergelijkbaar met het keelgeluid vóór een klinker in "aan-eten". Knijp je keel dicht, dan de medeklinker zonder lucht.

Tense consonants on this site: k͈ ㄲ · t͈ ㄸ · p͈ ㅃ · s͈ ㅆ · t͈ɕ ㅉ

Vowel symbols

Most vowel symbols look familiar. These need attention.

ㅓ

EN"u" in "cup" or "uh" in "but". Open and unrounded. Do not read "eo" as two letters.

NLOpen en ongerond. De Engelse "u" in "cup" komt het dichtst. NIET de "o" in "bos" (die is gerond).

ㅡ

ENNo English equivalent. Say "oo" without rounding your lips, or say "ee" with the tongue pulled back and relaxed.

NLGeen equivalent. Start vanuit de "eu"-positie (deur), maar houd je lippen plat en ongerond. Het lippenronden is precies wat je NIET doet.

ㅐ

EN"a" in "cat". Open front vowel. In modern Korean ㅐ and ㅔ have largely merged.

NL"e" in "bed" of "het". Open voor, ongerond.

ㅚ

ENNo English equivalent. This is the historical value of ㅚ. In modern speech many speakers pronounce it close to ㅞ or ㅔ.

NL"eu" in "deur" of "neus". Dit is de historische waarde; in modern Koreaans ligt de uitspraak vaak dichter bij ㅞ of ㅔ.

ㅔ

ENClose to "e" in "bed" but slightly higher, between "bed" and "bay".

NLDichtbij de "ee" in "meer" maar wat opener. Klinkt vertrouwd.

j / w

ㅑ ㅛ ㅠ ㅕ / ㅘ ㅝ ㅞ ㅙ ㅟ

EN"j" is the "y" in "yes". "w" is the "w" in "we". They glide into the vowel that follows: ja = "ya", wʌ = "wuh".

NL"j" is de "j" in "ja". "w" is de "w" in "web". Ze glijden naar de volgende klinker: ja = "ja", wʌ = "wa".

ɯi

ㅢ

ENStarts at ɯ (see above), then glides to i ("ee"). Two distinct movements in one syllable.

NLBegin bij de vlakke ɯ-klank, glijd naar "ie". NIET als de Nederlandse "ui" in "huis"; dat is een heel andere combinatie.

Symbols a i u o sound broadly as expected in both languages and need no special note.

Consonant symbols

ㄹ (start)

ENAlveolar flap. Your tongue tip taps the ridge once and bounces off. Same sound as the flapped "tt" in American "butter" or "water".

NLAlveolair tik. De tongpunt tikt éénmaal tegen het tandvlees. NIET de Nederlandse huig-r of velaire r. Vergelijkbaar met de Spaanse "r" in "pero".

ㅇ (end)

EN"ng" in "sing" or "king". The back of the tongue lifts to the soft palate.

NL"ng" in "lang" of "ring". Precies dezelfde klank. Dit is een vertrouwd geluid voor Nederlandstaligen.

dʑ

ㅈ

ENLike "j" in "jazz", but with the tongue slightly further forward and raised. A palatalized affricate.

NLVergelijkbaar met de Engelse "j" in "jazz". Geen direct Nederlands equivalent. De tong ligt iets verder naar voren.

tɕʰ

ㅊ

ENAspirated palatalized "ch". Like "ch" in "cheese" with a strong puff of air.

NLGeaspireerde palatale affricaat. Dichtbij "tsj", uitgesproken met een duidelijke luchtstoot.

ɡ / b / d

ㄱ ㅂ ㄷ (lax)

ENIPA uses voiced symbols for the underlying phoneme, but word-initial ㄱ ㅂ ㄷ are usually voiceless or only weakly voiced. Between vowels they are often more voiced.

NLIPA gebruikt stemhebbende symbolen voor het onderliggende foneem, maar woordinitiaal zijn ze in het Koreaans meestal stemloos of slechts zwak stemhebbend.

n / m / h / s

ㄴ ㅁ ㅎ ㅅ

ENThese match their English values directly. No surprises.

NLDeze kloppen direct met de Nederlandse waarden. Geen verrassingen.

Quick reference: all symbols on this site

IPA	Korean	Closest English	Closest Dutch
ʌ	ㅓ	u in "cup"	geen; open, ongerond
ɯ	ㅡ	"oo" unrounded	eu (deur) maar ongerond
ɛ	ㅐ	a in "cat"	e in "bed"
ø	ㅚ (hist.)	historical value only	eu in "deur" (hist. waarde)
ɾ	ㄹ (begin)	flapped t in "butter"	niet jouw r; tongpunttik
ŋ	ㅇ (einde)	ng in "sing"	ng in "lang"
dʑ	ㅈ	j in "jazz" (palataal)	Engelse j in "jazz"
tɕʰ	ㅊ	ch in "cheese" + air	tsj + luchtstoot
kʰ	ㅋ	k in "key" + strong air	k in "kat" maar sterker
tʰ	ㅌ	t in "top" + strong air	t in "tafel" maar sterker
pʰ	ㅍ	p in "pen" + strong air	p in "pan" maar sterker
k͈	ㄲ	tense k, no air	gespannen k; geen lucht
t͈	ㄸ	tense t, no air	gespannen t; geen lucht
p͈	ㅃ	tense p, no air	gespannen p; geen lucht
s͈	ㅆ	tense s, sharper	gespannen s; scherper
t͈ɕ	ㅉ	tense j, no air	gespannen dzj; geen lucht

Worked example: 한글 /han.ɡɯl/

한

/han/

h + a + n

All familiar symbols

글

/ɡɯl/

ɡ + ɯ + l

ɡ is lax (unvoiced initial); ɯ is the unrounded back vowel

You can see the full IPA breakdown of any Korean text in the Pronounce tool. Enable IPA display in settings first.

See IPA on character cards

Turn on IPA display to show phonemic transcription on cards and in the Pronounce tool.

Consonants →Pronounce tool