Word Wedneday: Syllables

Now, that we have learned all those Hangul letters, let's work on making some words!

So, Korean words are really easy to understand.  They are syllabic in consonant-vowel(-consonant) form...usually...and when they vary from this form, it still makes a lot of sense.

Let's start with something simple.  Like Seoul.  To Americans (or English speakers in general) this is a one syllable word.  It's 2 syllables in Hangul: Seo-ul.  The first is 서 (Seo) and then 울 (ul).  The first syllable is C-V, the second is C-V-C.  I know the second syllable looks like it is just V-C, but the ㅇ is considered a "placeholder" consonant...here it is a silent consonant, like the p in pneumonia.  Ok so far?

Let's look at my town: Jincheon.  Do you see it?  Jin-Cheon.  Two perfect C-V-C syllables:  진(Jin) 천(Cheon).  Because "ch" is the hangul letter ㅊ, right?

Some other Korean place names you may have heard:

Busan > 부(Bu) 산(San) >  C-V and then C-V-C
Cheongju > 청(Cheong) 주(Ju) > C-V-C and then C-V
Gangnam > 강(Gang) 남(Nam) > C-V-C and then C-V-C
Pyeongyang > 평(Pyeong) 양 (Yang) > C-V-C and then C(silent)-V-C

Pretty cool, huh?

Or my Korean name: Hee Jin.  희(Hee) 진(Jin)...C-V and then C-V-C.

Most Korean words are 1 or 2 syllables...I have (so far) not seen many exceptions...and those are usually Konglish (Korean-English) words or other foreign words...like 바나나 (ba-na-na) or 카나다 (Ka-na-da).

Let's leave it here and let all that sink in.