Window Hangul: A Guide to Korean Pronunciation175

Window Hangul is a system of romanization for the Korean language that uses the English alphabet to represent the sounds of Korean. It was developed by the Korean Language Society in the 1990s as an alternative to McCune-Reischauer, the previous standard romanization system for Korean. Window Hangul is designed to be easy for English speakers to learn and use, and it is now the most widely used romanization system for Korean outside of Korea.

The Window Hangul system is based on the principle of "one sound, one letter." This means that each Korean sound is represented by a single English letter or combination of letters. The following table shows the Window Hangul equivalents for the Korean alphabet:| Korean | Window Hangul |
|---|---|
| ㄱ | g |
| ㄴ | n |
| ㄷ | d |
| ㄹ | r |
| ㅁ | m |
| ㅂ | b |
| ㅅ | s |
| ㅇ | ng |
| ㅈ | j |
| ㅊ | ch |
| ㅋ | k |
| ㅌ | t |
| ㅍ | p |
| ㅎ | h |
| ㅏ | a |
| ㅑ | ya |
| ㅓ | eo |
| ㅕ | yeo |
| ㅗ | o |
| ㅛ | yo |
| ㅜ | u |
| ㅠ | yu |
| ㅡ | eu |
| ㅣ | i |

In addition to the basic Korean letters, Window Hangul also includes a number of diacritics that are used to represent the various tones and sounds of Korean. These diacritics are placed above or below the vowel letter.| Diacritic | Sound |
|---|---|
| ◌̄ | macron |
| ◌̂ | circumflex |
| ◌̌ | caron |
| ◌̆ | breve |
| ◌̣ | dot below |

The macron is used to indicate a long vowel sound. The circumflex is used to indicate a rising tone. The caron is used to indicate a falling tone. The breve is used to indicate a short vowel sound. The dot below is used to indicate a low tone.

Window Hangul is a relatively easy system to learn and use. It is a good choice for English speakers who want to learn Korean or who want to improve their pronunciation of Korean.## Pronunciation Tips
Here are a few tips for pronouncing Korean using Window Hangul:
* The consonants g, d, b, j, k, t, p, and h are pronounced like their English equivalents.
* The consonants n, m, and ng are pronounced like their English equivalents.
* The consonant r is pronounced like the r in "red."
* The consonant s is pronounced like the s in "sin."
* The consonant l is pronounced like the l in "let."
* The vowels a, o, and u are pronounced like their English equivalents.
* The vowels ya, yeo, yo, and yu are pronounced like the English diphthongs "ya," "ye," "yo," and "yu."
* The vowel eo is pronounced like the o in "hot."
* The vowel eu is pronounced like the u in "put."
* The vowel i is pronounced like the i in "sit."
## Conclusion
Window Hangul is a useful tool for learning and pronouncing Korean. It is a relatively easy system to learn and use, and it can help you to improve your pronunciation of Korean.

2025-02-21

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