View source for Help:IPA/Korean

{{IPA key|H:IPA-KO|H:IPAKO}}

The charts below show the way in which the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)]] represents [[Korean language]] pronunciations in [[Wikipedia]] articles. It is based on the [[South Korean standard language|standard dialect of South Korea]] and may not represent some of the sounds in the [[North Korean dialect|North Korean]] dialect or in other dialects. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see [[Template:IPA]] and {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation#Entering IPA characters}}.

See [[Korean phonology]] for a more thorough look at the sounds of Korean.

{{horizontal TOC|nonum=yes}}

{| style="background: none;"
| style="vertical-align: top;" |
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Korean [[consonants]]
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Hangul]]
! colspan="2" | Example
! rowspan="2" | English approximation
|-
|-
! [[Hangul]]
! [[Revised Romanization of Korean|RR]]
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|b}}</big><ref name="between voiced">The plain stops and affricate {{IPA|/p t tɕ k/}} are voiced to {{IPA|[b d dʑ ɡ]}} respectively between voiced sounds.</ref> || ㅂ<big></big> || 이불 || i'''b'''ul || '''b'''all
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|β}}</big><ref name="h between voiced"/><ref name="labialized h"/> || ㅎ || 오후 || o'''h'''u || ''roughly like'' a'''w'''ay
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ç}}</big><ref name="palatalized h">{{IPA|[ç]}} is the allophone of {{IPA|/h/}} before {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/j/}}.</ref> || ㅎ<big></big> || 힘, 흉내 || '''h'''im, '''hy'''ungnae || '''h'''uman
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɕ}}</big><ref name="palatalized s">{{IPA|[ɕ ɕ͈]}} are the allophones of {{IPA|/sʰ s͈/}} before {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/j/}}.</ref>|| ㅅ || 시루 || '''s'''iru || ''roughly like'' '''sh'''e
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|ɕ͈}}</big><ref name="palatalized s"/> || ㅆ ㅅ || 씨, 국수 || '''ss'''i, guk'''s'''u || ''roughly like'' '''s'''ure, ''tensed''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|d}}</big><ref name="between voiced"/> || ㄷ<big></big> || 민들레 || min'''d'''eulle || '''d'''oll
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|dz}}</big><ref name="back affricates">{{IPA|[ts ts͈ tsʰ dz]}} occur in the North Korean dialect.</ref> || ㅈ ||  나중|| na'''j'''ung || be'''ds'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|dʑ}}</big><ref name="between voiced"/> || ㅈ [ㄷ이] || 아버지, 해돋이 || abeo'''j'''i, haedo'''j'''i || ''roughly like'' '''j'''eans
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɸ}}</big><ref name="labialized h">{{IPA|[ɸ]}} is the allophone of {{IPA|/h/}} before {{IPA|/u/}} or {{IPA|/w/}}.</ref> || ㅎ<big></big> [호] [후] || 활, 훗날 || '''hw'''al, '''h'''unnal || ''roughly like'' '''ph'''ew
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɡ}}</big><ref name="between voiced"/> || ㄱ || 마개 || ma'''g'''ae || '''g'''all
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɣ}}</big><ref name="h between voiced"/><ref name="velarized h"/> || ㅎ || 마흔 || ma'''h'''eun || a'''g'''ain, ''but without the tongue touching the roof of the mouth''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|h}}</big> || ㅎ || 햇잎 || '''h'''aennip || '''h'''all
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɦ}}</big><ref name="h between voiced">ㅎ is voiced between voiced sounds.</ref> || ㅎ<big></big> || 더하기 || deo'''h'''agi || ''[[Received Pronunciation|RP]]'' be'''h'''ind
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|j}}</big> || [{{nowrap|ㅛ, ㅠ,ㅑ,ㅕ,}}<br>{{nowrap|ㅖ, ㅒ}}]<big></big><ref>{{IPA|/j/}} cannot be spelled by itself, but by doubling the short line on the vowel which it phonetically precedes.</ref> || 여울 || '''y'''eoul || '''y'''ou
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ʝ}}</big><ref name="h between voiced"/><ref name="palatalized h"/> || ㅎ || 감히 || gam'''h'''i || ''roughly like'' '''y'''ou
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|k}}</big> || ㄱ<big></big> || 구이 || '''g'''ui || s'''k'''y
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|k̚}}</big> || ㄱ ㅋ<ref>ㄱ and ㅋ are {{IPA|[k̚]}} and RR ''k'' at the end of a syllable.</ref> || 바지락 || bajira'''k'''|| lo'''ck'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|k͈}}</big> || ㄲ || 꿩, 젓갈 || '''kk'''wong, jeot'''g'''al || s'''k'''in, ''tensed''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|kʰ}}</big> || ㅋ [ㄱㅎ] [ㅎㄱ] || 코, 석회, 않기 || '''k'''o, seo'''kh'''oe, an'''g'''i || '''c'''up
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɭ}}</big> || ㄹ [ㄴ]<ref>ㄹ is {{IPA|[ɭ]}} at the end of a syllable. ㄹㄴ and ㄴㄹ may be {{IPA|[ɭː]}}.</ref> || 알, 신라 || a'''l''', Si'''ll'''a || ha'''ll'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|m}}</big> || ㅁ [ㅂ]<ref>ㅂ is {{IPA|[m]}} before {{IPA|/n/}} or {{IPA|/m/}}.</ref> || 못, 압력 || '''m'''ot, a'''m'''nyeok || '''m'''all
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|n}}</big> || ㄴ<br> [{{nowrap|ㄹ, ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅈ}}]<ref>ㄹ may be {{IPA|[n]}} at the start of a word. ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅈ are {{IPA|[n]}} before {{IPA|/n/}} or {{IPA|/m/}}.</ref> || 누리 || '''n'''uri || '''n'''ot
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ŋ}}</big> || ㅇ [ㄱ]<ref>ㅇ is {{IPA|[ŋ]}} at the end of a syllable. ㄱ is {{IPA|[ŋ]}} before {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/m/}}, or {{IPA|/ɾ/}}.</ref> || 가랑비, 먹물 || gara'''ng'''bi, meo'''ng'''mul || ki'''ng'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|p}}</big> || ㅂ<big></big> || 바다 || '''b'''ada || s'''p'''a
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|p̚}}</big> || ㅂ<big></big> ㅍ<big></big> <ref>ㅂ and ㅍ are {{IPA|[p̚]}} and RR ''p'' at the end of a syllable.</ref> || 부삽, 잎 || busa'''p''', i'''p'''|| cli'''p'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|p͈}}</big> || ㅃ<big></big> ㅂ || 뿔, 먹보 || '''pp'''ul, meok'''b'''o || s'''p'''it, ''tensed''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|pʰ}}</big> || ㅍ<big></big> [ㅂㅎ] [ㅎㅂ] || 푸서리, 잡학 || '''p'''useori, ja'''ph'''ak || '''p'''aint
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɾ}}</big> || ㄹ [ㄹㅇ] || 여드레, 얼음 || yeodeu'''r'''e, eo'''r'''eum || ''[[Scottish English|Scottish]]'' g'''r'''eat ''or [[American English|American]]'' a'''t'''om
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|{{IPAlink|s}}ʰ}}</big> || ㅅ<big></big> || 수박 || '''s'''ubak || ''like'' '''s'''ee, ''but [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] (with more breath)''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|s͈}}</big> || ㅆ || 쌀, 열쇠 || '''ss'''al, yeol'''s'''oe || '''s'''aw, ''tensed''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|t}}</big> || ㄷ<big></big> || 돌 || '''d'''ol || s'''t'''ar
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|t̚}}</big> || ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ<ref>ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ are {{IPA|[t̚]}} and RR ''t'' at the end of a syllable.</ref> || 곧, 뭍, 옷, 젖, 낯 || go'''t''', mu'''t''', o'''t''', jeo'''t''', na'''t'''|| le'''t'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|t͈}}</big> || ㄸ ㄷ || 떡, 막대 || '''tt'''eok, mak'''d'''ae || s'''t'''all, ''tensed''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|tʰ}}</big> || ㅌ<big></big> [ㄷㅎ] [ㅎㄷ] || 구태여, 맞흥정, 닳다 || gu'''t'''aeyeo, ma'''th'''eungjeong, dal'''d'''a || '''t'''all
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ts}}</big><ref name="back affricates"/> || ㅈ ||  측정|| cheuk'''j'''eong || ca'''ts'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|ts͈}}</big><ref name="back affricates"/> || ㅉ ||  짤림|| '''jj'''allim || ca'''ts''', ''tensed''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|tsʰ}}</big><ref name="back affricates"/> || ㅊ [ㅈㅎ] [ㅎㅈ] ||  참새|| '''ch'''amsae || le'''t's h'''ave
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|tɕ}}</big> || ㅈ || 자투리 || '''j'''aturi || ''roughly like'' pa'''tch'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|tɕ͈}}</big> || ㅉ || 돌쩌귀, 꺽지 || dol'''jj'''eogwi, kkeok'''j'''i || ''roughly like'' pa'''tch''', ''tensed''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|tɕʰ}}</big> || ㅊ [ㄷ히] [ㅎㅈ] || 눈초리, 맞히다, 닳지 || nun'''ch'''ori, ma'''ch'''ida, dal'''j'''i || ''roughly like'' '''ch'''eek
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|w}}</big> || [ㅙ, ㅞ]<ref name="w">{{IPA|/w/}} is spelled ㅜ before {{IPA|/ʌ/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}} (the latter combination producing {{IPA|/y/}}~{{IPA|[ɥi]}}) and ㅗ before {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, {{IPA|/a/}}; ㅚ {{IPA|/ø/}} can also be pronounced {{IPA|[we]}}.</ref> || 왜가리, 꿰맴질 || '''w'''aegari, kk'''we'''maemjil || '''w'''all
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|x}}</big><ref name="velarized h">{{IPA|[x]}} is the allophone of {{IPA|/h/}} before {{IPA|/ɯ/}}.</ref> || ㅎ<big></big> || 흙 || '''h'''euk || ''[[Scottish English|Scottish]]'' lo'''ch'''
|}
| style="vertical-align: top;" |

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Korean [[vowels]] and [[diphthongs]]<ref>In Standard Korean, [[vowel length]] is contrastive, but this has mostly been lost in the spoken language.</ref>
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Hangul]]
! colspan="2" | Example
! rowspan="2" | English approximation
|-
|-
! [[Hangul]]
! [[Revised Romanization of Korean|RR]]<ref>[[Vowel length]] is not reflected in the romanization.</ref>
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɐ|a}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅏ || 하루 || h'''a'''ru || ''[[General American English|GA]]'' l'''o'''st
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|aː}}</big> || 밤 || b'''a'''m || sp'''a'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ʌ}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅓ || 거울 || g'''eo'''ul || ''Conservative'' '''u'''p
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ə|əː}}</big> || 어른 || '''eo'''reun || ''[[Received Pronunciation|RP]]'' h'''er'''d
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɛ}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅐ || 개구리 || g'''ae'''guri || b'''e'''t
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|ɛː}}</big> || 냇물 || n'''ae'''nmul || ''[[General American English|GA]]'' b'''e'''d
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|e}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅔ || 메주 || m'''e'''ju || r'''a'''te
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|eː}}</big> || 게장 || g'''e'''jang || r'''ai'''d
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|i}}</big> || ㅢ<ref name="not word initial ui"/> || 흰색 || h'''ui'''nsaek || rowspan="2" | p'''ea'''k
|-
| rowspan="2" | ㅣ || 피 || p'''i'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|iː}}</big> || 실타래 || s'''i'''ltarae || b'''ea'''d
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|o}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅗ || 오늘 || '''o'''neul || s'''o'''rt
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|oː}}</big> || 모레 || m'''o'''re || sw'''o'''rd
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ø}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅚ<ref name="w"/> || 쇠뇌 || s'''oe'''n'''oe'''|| '''wai'''t
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|øː}}</big> || 왼손 || '''oe'''nson || '''weigh'''ed
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|u}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅜ || 우물 || '''u'''mul || r'''oo'''t
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|uː}}</big> || 둘 || d'''u'''l || r'''u'''de
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɯ}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅡ || 버들 || beod'''eu'''l || ''like'' g'''oo'''se ''for some speakers''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|ɯː}}</big> || 그림 || g'''eu'''rim || ''like'' c'''oo'''l ''for some speakers''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|ɰ}}{{IPA|i}}</big> || ㅢ<ref name="not word initial ui">When ㅢ is preceded by anything but ㅇ, {{IPA|/ɰi/}} is interchangeable with, or completely shifted to {{IPA|/i/}}.</ref> || 민주주의 || minjuju'''ui''' || ''like'' '''we''' ''but unrounded (with relaxed lips)''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPAlink|y}}</big> || rowspan="2" | ㅟ<ref name="w"/> || 귀엣말 || g'''wi'''enmal || ''somewhat like'' s'''wee'''t
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|yː}}</big> || 쉰 || s'''wi'''n || ''somewhat like'' s'''we'''de
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Korean [[International Phonetic Alphabet#Suprasegmentals|suprasegmentals]]
|-
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !! '''Description'''
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|ː}}</big> || [[Geminated consonant]]<ref>Resulting from various sequences of consonants (and their relative transcriptions) in [[regressive assimilation]].</ref>
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|ˈ}}</big> || [[Primary stress]] (placed before the stressed syllable)
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>{{IPA|ˌ}}</big> || [[Secondary stress]] (placed before the stressed syllable)
|-
| style="text-align: center;" | <big>.</big> || Syllable break
|}
|}
==See also==
* [[Revised Romanization of Korean]]
* {{clc|Pages with Korean IPA|pages}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite journal |author=Heo, Yong |date=2013 |title=An analysis and interpretation of Korean vowel systems |journal=Acta Koreana |volume=16 |issue=1 |page=23–43}}
*{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Hyun-bok |date=1999 |chapter=An IPA Illustration of Korean |title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association |page=120–123}}
*{{cite conference |last=Lee |first=Hyun-bok |year=2002 |url=http://www.itfind.or.kr/Report/200201/IITA/IITA-0114-003/IITA-0114-003.pdf |trans-title=Phonetic Notation in Phonetic Research: IPA and International Korean Phonetic Alphabet |script-title=ko:음성의 연구와 음성의 표기법 |conference=INTERSPEECH-2002}}
*{{cite conference |last=Lee |first=Hyun-bok |year=2004 |url=https://www.isca-speech.org/archive_v0/archive_papers/interspeech_2004/i04_P3.pdf |title=In search of a universal phonetic alphabet – theory and application of an organic visible speech |conference=INTERSPEECH-2004}}
*Shin, J. (2015). Vowels and Consonants. In L. Brown & J. Yeon (Eds.). ''The Handbook of Korean Linguistics'' (pp. 36–21). Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.
*Shin, J., Kiaer, J., & Cha, J. (2012). ''The Sounds of Korean''. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
*{{cite book |last=Sohn |first=Ho-min |year=2001 |title=The Korean Language |series=Cambridge language surveys |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ISBN=0521369436}}

==External links==
* [http://pronunciation.cs.pusan.ac.kr/ Hangul–IPA Converter] at [http://borame.cs.pusan.ac.kr/ Artificial Intelligence Laboratory] of [[Pusan National University]]

{{IPA keys}}