Dipthongs: Complex Vowels - Hangul

There are only a few vowels remaining to know all characters of the Korean alphabet.

Dipthongs Vowels

Dipthongs are two vowels in one. They are just a combination of the vowels we already know.

You should remember these simpler vowels from our earlier lesson:

• ㅏ = a
• ㅓ = eo
• ㅗ = o
• ㅜ = u

By adding an extra line we can add a “y” sound like this:

• ㅑ = ya
• ㅕ = yeo
• ㅛ = yo
• ㅠ = yu

Combined with the consonant “ㄱ” they sound like this: 갸(“gya”), 겨(“gyeo”), 교(“gyo”), 규(“gyu”).
Combined with the consonant “ㄷ” they sound like this: 댜(“dya”), 뎌(“dyeo”), 됴(“dyo”), 듀(“dyu”).

The common vowels “ㅐ” and “ㅔ”

• ㅐ = ae (sounds like “eh”)
• ㅔ = e (sounds like “eh”)

Both 애 and 에 sound like “eh”.
In modern Korean they actually have the same sound. Officially and historically there is/was a difference but nowadays they sound the same. (By the way, they are not dipthongs)

By adding an extra line we can add a “y” sound like this:

• ㅒ = yae (sounds like “yeh”)
• ㅖ = ye (sounds like “yeh”)

With these vowels you can build words like these:

• 네 (ne): Yes
• 새 (sae): Bird, New
• 예약 (yeyak): Reservation

The more complex dipthongs

There are only a few vowels remaining until you know all characters in Hangul.
These vowels are all a combination of vowels we already know:

• ㅘ: ㅗ + ㅏ = “woa”
• ㅙ: ㅗ + ㅐ = “weh”
• ㅚ: ㅗ + ㅣ = “weh”
• ㅝ: ㅜ + ㅓ = “wo”
• ㅞ: ㅜ + ㅔ = “weh” (very uncommon)
• ㅟ: ㅜ + ㅣ = “wi”
• ㅢ: ㅡ + ㅣ = “ui”*

Aside from 외 and 의 they all sound mostly like you would expect from combining them.
의 has some special pronunciation rules I will go into in a later chapter.
외 is pronounced just like 왜 and 웨, yes they are all pronounced the same.

So these are all vowels in Hangul: ㅏ, ㅐ, ㅑ, ㅒ, ㅓ, ㅔ, ㅕ, ㅖ, ㅗ, ㅘ, ㅙ, ㅚ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅝ, ㅞ, ㅟ, ㅠ, ㅡ, ㅢ, ㅣ