#learnkorean
Just leaving notes here for myself and the few interested. This is already the third part.
In Korean, the alphabet “lacks” a bunch of sounds, yet there is a plethora of “extra” ones. There are diphthongs, double vowels. The complication is that they have almost the same pronunciation when written differently. For example, 애 and 에 are both read as “e”, and the following three 외, 왜 and 웨 are also read as “we”. There are very similar letters ㄱ (k+g) and ㅋ (k+h), and ㄷ (t+d) and ㅌ (t+h), ㅂ (p+b) and ㅍ (p+h). There are long consonants, such as “ㅃ” (a bright and accented “ㅂ” (p)), “ㅉ” (a bright ㅈ, closer to ts), “ㄸ” – a bright sound from “ㄷ”, “ㄲ” – a bright and accented “ㄱ”, “ㅆ” – a bright from “ㅅ” (s).
Interestingly, Korea in Korean is 한국 (Hangook), which means “One nation”, and its full name is 대한민국 (Daehanminguk) – “Democratic Nation of Great Han”. More precisely, not quite so. Hangook refers to both Koreas, while the South is called Namhan, i.e. “Southern Han” (남한). North Korea is called by Koreans as 조선 (Joseon) or Bukhan, “Northern Han” (“북한”).
Over this weekend, I somehow managed to primarily learn the alphabet, and I can read words like 샌프란시스코 (San Francisco) or 코카콜라 (Coca-Cola), 러시아 (Russia). Basically, everything that does not require knowing any word from the Korean vocabulary. I still need to better memorize the diphthongs and not hesitate while reading, and also get acquainted with grammar on a superficial level, and then we’ll see whether to continue or that’s enough)
It’s interesting how Koreans themselves describe the pronunciation of Russian alphabet letters through Korean and English. http://orus.tistory.com/14.
P.S. Oh, I can also now greet like this:
ㅐㅌㄴㄴㅇ!
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 