Lesson 4. The 14 Basic Consonants, Memorized by Mouth Position

Chapter 1. Hangul Mastery · Week 1 · Prerequisites: Lessons 2–3 · Est. time: ~30 min (review included)

Learning Objectives

• Produce the sounds of all 14 basic consonants
• Group consonants by where they're made in the mouth
• Know the two roles of ㅇ
• Read all 14 consonant+ㅏ blocks

Warm-up Review

• Say the 10 vowels in order: 아야어여오요우유으이 (out loud!)
• What was the practical tip about ㅐ/ㅔ? (→ They sound nearly identical; just memorize the spelling word by word.)

Main Lesson

1. 14 consonants, 5 families

As you learned in Lesson 2, consonants are mouth-drawings. Grouped by where the sound is made, they form 5 families.

Family (position)	Consonants	Sounds	Memory hook
Back of the mouth	ㄱ ㅋ	g/k, k	ㄱ = root of tongue blocking the throat; ㅋ = ㄱ + a stroke (stronger)
Tongue tip	ㄴ ㄷ ㅌ ㄹ	n, d/t, t, r/l	ㄴ = tongue tip on the gums; ㄷ·ㅌ add strokes to ㄴ
Lips	ㅁ ㅂ ㅍ	m, b/p, p	ㅁ = a mouth shape; ㅂ·ㅍ add strokes to ㅁ
Teeth	ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ	s, j, ch	ㅅ = a tooth shape; ㅈ·ㅊ add strokes to ㅅ
Throat	ㅇ ㅎ	-/ng, h	ㅇ = the round throat; ㅎ = ㅇ + strokes

More strokes = stronger sound: ㄱ→ㅋ, ㄷ→ㅌ, ㅂ→ㅍ, ㅈ→ㅊ.

2. Consonant names

Consonant	Name	Consonant	Name
ㄱ	기역 (giyeok)	ㅅ	시옷 (siot)
ㄴ	니은 (nieun)	ㅇ	이응 (ieung)
ㄷ	디귿 (digeut)	ㅈ	지읒 (jieut)
ㄹ	리을 (rieul)	ㅊ	치읓 (chieut)
ㅁ	미음 (mieum)	ㅋ	키읔 (kieuk)
ㅂ	비읍 (bieup)	ㅌ	티읕 (tieut)
—	—	ㅍ	피읖 (pieup)
—	—	ㅎ	히읗 (hieut)

Name pattern: most follow "X-i-eu-X" — the consonant appears as both the first and last sound of its own name. (니은 = ㄴi euㄴ)

3. The two faces of ㅇ

Position	Sound	Example
At the start of a block (initial)	silent placeholder	아 = "a" (ㅇ just holds the seat)
At the bottom of a block, as batchim (final)	[ŋ] "ng"	강 = "gang"

This is exactly why the vowel-only words in Lesson 3 (아이, 오이) all had ㅇ in front!

4. Sound tips for English speakers

• ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅈ: At the start of a word they sound slightly softer than g/d/b/j — somewhere between g/k, d/t, b/p, j/ch. In the middle of a word they're a soft g/d/b/j. Don't stress about getting it perfect — you'll be understood either way.
• ㄹ: Neither r nor l, but in between. Tap the gum ridge lightly with the tip of your tongue, like a Spanish single r.

Key Expressions & Vocabulary

Korean	Pronunciation	English
나	na	I / me
다리	da-ri	leg / bridge
머리	meo-ri	head
사람	sa-ram	person
하나	ha-na	one

Reading Drill

Consonants + ㅏ, in dictionary order:

가 나 다 라 마 바 사 아 자 차 카 타 파 하 ga na da ra ma ba sa a ja cha ka ta pa ha

Repeat 3 times with rhythm, like a song.

Practice

A. Which family?

1. Where are ㅁ ㅂ ㅍ made? (lips / tongue tip / throat)
2. Which two consonants are made by adding strokes to ㅅ?

B. The role of ㅇ 3. What sound does ㅇ make in 아? 4. What sound does the final ㅇ (batchim) make in 강?

C. Read aloud 5. 나 6. 머리 7. 사람 8. 하나 9. 다리

D. Say the names 10. Say the names of ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ in order.

Mission

1. Record the 14 blocks — Record yourself reading 가 through 하 (all 14 blocks), then compare with a native audio recording.
2. Consonant-name quiz — Shuffle consonant flashcards and say each name (기역, 니은, …). 10+ correct = pass!

Coming Up Next

Lesson 5: Freely combining consonants + vowels — and at last, time to check the name you guessed in Lesson 2!

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Show Answer Key

A. 1. Lips 2. ㅈ, ㅊ B. 3. Silent 4. [ŋ] "ng" C. 5. na (I/me) 6. meo-ri (head) 7. sa-ram (person) 8. ha-na (one) 9. da-ri (leg/bridge) D. 10. 기역, 니은, 디귿, 리을, 미음