W-Vowels 2

Korean Alphabet 2

Course 2 · Chapter 6 · W-Vowels 2

ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ — The Last Compound Vowels

Three compound vowels remain: ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ, built on ㅜ the way ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ were built on ㅗ. When this chapter is done you will know all 11 compound vowels, and you will have a table that puts them side by side.

Your Three Letters — ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ

How They Are Built

• ㅝ = ㅜ + ㅓ, ㅞ = ㅜ + ㅔ, ㅟ = ㅜ + ㅣ. Wikipedia's Hangul page lists all three among the 11 compound vowels.
• Block rule. The same as for ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ and ㅢ: the consonant goes above the horizontal stroke (ㅜ), and the vertical stroke(s) go to the right. So in 위 the ㅇ is on top and the ㅜ and the ㅣ follow.

How They Sound: What the Sources Say

• ㅟ. Wikipedia's Korean phonology page says Korean "used to have two additional phonemes, [ø] ㅚ and [y] ㅟ, but they are replaced by the diphthongs [we] and [ɥi] by the majority of speakers", and adds that "in a 2003 survey of 350 speakers from Seoul, nearly 90% pronounced the vowel ㅟ as [ɥi]". A web source says the simple-vowel pronunciation (close to German ü) is heard in southern and eastern Korea and occasionally in the capital, but cannot be considered the standard.
• ㅞ. A learner page says ㅞ is pronounced like ㅚ and ㅙ, so most speakers do not distinguish ㅙ ㅚ ㅞ. This matches the Chapter 3 and Chapter 5 facts: since /e/ and /ɛ/ merged for most South Korean speakers, "w + e" and "w + ae" end up the same.
• ㅝ. I found no source that questions its "wo" value. Take it as the learner pages give it.

The Block Table

All valid blocks; only some are common in words (for example 워, 뭐, 웨, 귀, 쥐, 위 and 휘). Notice again: consonant on top, the horizontal ㅜ underneath, the vertical stroke(s) to the right.

Look-Alike Warnings

• ㅝ and ㅘ. ㅝ has ㅜ underneath and the tick on the left of the vertical bar; ㅘ has ㅗ underneath and the tick on the right.
• ㅞ and ㅙ; ㅟ and ㅚ. Only the base differs: ㅜ (a bar hanging down) against ㅗ (a bar standing up).
• ㅟ and ㅢ. ㅟ has ㅜ at the bottom; ㅢ has ㅡ, a flat bar, with the ㅣ at its end.

All 11 Compound Vowels at a Glance

• Where the consonant goes. ㅐ ㅔ ㅒ ㅖ have a long vertical stroke, so the vowel sits to the right of the consonant. ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ begin with a horizontal stroke followed by a vertical one, so the consonant goes above the horizontal stroke.
• A running count. You now know the 24 basic letters, the 5 tense consonants and the 11 compound vowels: 40 jamo. Wikipedia's Hangul page says "North Korea [counts] 40 (not counting 11 heterogeneous consonant digraphs)". The 11 double final consonants, the last group, come in Chapters 7 to 9.

Read It — Words With ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ

Only letters you know. Say each aloud.

Try It Yourself — 연습

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.