The 21 Korean vowels
Korean has 21 vowel letters, built from a short vertical or horizontal stroke plus dots that were originally sky, earth and person. Ten are simple vowels; the rest add a y- or w- glide, which is why they look like a basic vowel wearing an extra stroke.
| Letter | Name | Sound | Romanized | Closest in English | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ㅏ | 아 | /a/ | a | the a in father | |
| ㅐ | 애 | /ɛ/ | ae | the e in bed — more open than ㅔ | |
| ㅑ | 야 | /ja/ | ya | the ya in yard | |
| ㅒ | 얘 | /jɛ/ | yae | the ye in yes, with a more open vowel than ㅖ | |
| ㅓ | 어 | /ʌ/ | eo | the u in but | |
| ㅔ | 에 | /e/ | e | the e in bet — closer than ㅐ | |
| ㅕ | 여 | /jʌ/ | yeo | the yu in yummy, with the vowel of but | |
| ㅖ | 예 | /je/ | ye | the ye in yes | |
| ㅗ | 오 | /o/ | o | the o in more, with rounded lips and no glide | |
| ㅘ | 와 | /wa/ | wa | the wa in wand | |
| ㅙ | 왜 | /wɛ/ | wae | the we in wet, with a more open vowel than ㅞ | |
| ㅚ | 외 | /ø/, also pronounced [we] | oe | the German ö; the standard also allows the we of wet | |
| ㅛ | 요 | /jo/ | yo | the yo in yoke | |
| ㅜ | 우 | /u/ | u | the oo in moon | |
| ㅝ | 워 | /wʌ/ | wo | the wo in wonder | |
| ㅞ | 웨 | /we/ | we | the we in wet | — |
| ㅟ | 위 | /y/, also pronounced [wi] | wi | the French u in tu; the standard also allows the wee of week | |
| ㅠ | 유 | /ju/ | yu | the you in you | |
| ㅡ | 으 | /ɯ/ | eu | no close English match — the oo of moon with lips spread flat | |
| ㅢ | 의 | /ɰi/ | ui | the ㅡ sound gliding straight into ㅣ | |
| ㅣ | 이 | /i/ | i | the ee in see |
Questions people ask
- How many vowels does Korean have? +
- 21. Ten are simple vowels and eleven are built from them by adding a y- or w- glide, which is why so many of them look like a basic vowel with an extra stroke.
- Are ㅐ and ㅔ pronounced the same? +
- In everyday Seoul speech, mostly yes. In the standard, no — Article 4 lists them as two separate monophthongs, and the spelling still tells words apart: 개 is a dog, 게 is a crab.
- Which Korean vowel is hardest for English speakers? +
- ㅡ, because English has nothing like it. Say the oo of moon, then spread your lips flat while keeping the tongue high and back.
- Why does the syllable chart show only 20 vowels? +
- It leaves out ㅞ, the rarest of the 21. The chart follows the layout used in Korean classrooms, and ㅞ barely occurs in real words — it still has a page of its own here.