받침

Batchim — final consonants

How 받침 works, the seven surface sounds, and liaison into the next syllable.

Seven sounds at the end

Many letters can sit in the final slot, but Korean only releases seven coda sounds: ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅇ. So 밖, 밭, and 밤 do not all end the same — but 낱 and 낮 both close with a t-like unreleased stop when said alone.

When a batchim meets a syllable that starts with ㅇ (silent onset), the final consonant moves: 한국어 is [한구거], not [한글+어] with a hard break. That liaison is why reading block-by-block out loud sounds foreign.

Double batchim

Some syllables have two finals, e.g. 닭 dak (chicken), 읽다 ikda (to read). Usually only one of the two is pronounced, depending on the next sound. Learn common words as wholes first; the rule table can come later.

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