Lesson 2: Vowels

The vowels and combinations of y or w with a vowel are pronounced somewhat as follows:
i                        as in marine (meet, cheat)
          wi            as in we (queen, between, sweet)


e                       as in met (or hey, say, mate)
           ye          as in yes (or yeah)
           we          as in wet (or way, sway, quake)

oe                     usually pronounced just like "we"


ae                     as at (cap, sack, ham)
            yae       as in yam
            wae       as in swam


a                        as ah (father)
            ya          as yard, German ja
            wa          as Wahshington (but not Worshington or Wohshington!)


eu                      as "jist" (= just), "pirty" (= pretty); or as June, soon, too, cool (WITH LIPS PULLED      
                          BACK HARD)


u                         as June, soon, too (WITH LIPS PUSHED OUT)
             yu          as you, cue, pew (WITH LIPS PUSHED OUT)


eo                       between song and sung; like song, law, bought (WITH LIPS PULLED BACK HARD);
                           or like sung, lung, butt (WITH TONGUE PULLED BACK AND PUSHED DOWN,
                           AS IF WITH A SPOON)
             yeo        between yawn and young
             wo          between wall and won


o                         as in no
              yo         as in yokel


ui                        The combination ui has 3 different pronunciations depending on the usage:
                           (1) At the beginning of a word, it is pronounced like u.
                           (2) At the end of a word, it is pronounced like i.
                           (3) As a separate particle meaning of, it is pronounced like e.

In this course, you will find that the first pronounciation indicated as ui(i) and the second as eu i.
But you will have to remember that the particle ui is pronounced like e.

Here are some common words to practice the vowels on:

Romanized	English	Korean
i	tooth	이
jip	house	집
gwi	ear	귀
jwi	rat	쥐
dwi	behind	뒤
ne	yes	네
ye	yes	예
gyohoe	church	교회
hoeui	meeting	회의
Choi	Choi (name)	최
soe	iron	쇠
sae	bird	새
sonyeo	girl	소녀
agi	baby	아기
hae	sun, year	해
maeil	every day	매일
iyagi	story, talk	이야기
wae	why	왜
mal	horse	말
bam	night	밤
joreugi	teasing	조르기
wanja	meatballs	완자
gwanggo	advertisment	광고
eumsik	food	음식
eunhaeng	bank	은행
geurim	picture	그림
nun	eye	는
mu	turnip, radish	무
yuri	glass	유리
dubu	bean curd, toufu	두부
gyuyul	regulations	규율
bubu	husband-and-wife	부부
meonjeo	first of all	먼저
eonje	when	언제
neomu mani	too much	너무 많이
gyeongjehak	Economics (subject)	경제학
geokjeong	worry	걱정
won	won (currency)	원
ssaum	quarrel, argument	싸움
don	money	돈
sori	sound	소리
gong	ball	공
pyo	ticket	표
hakgyo	school	학교
uija	chair	의자
uisa	doctor	의사
uimi	meaning	의미
jipjung	attention	집중
uinon	discussion	의논