자음
Korean consonants (자음)
Plain, aspirated, and tensed stops — the three-way contrast English lacks.
g/k
n
d/t
r/l
m
b/p
s
ng/–
j
ch
k
t
p
h
Three of each stop
Korean distinguishes plain ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ ㅅ ㅈ, aspirated ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅊ, and tensed ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ. Aspiration is a puff of air (like English pin). Tension is a stiff, unaspirated burst — no extra air, extra muscle.
At the start of a word, plain ㄱ sounds closer to English k than g. Between vowels it voices toward g. Romanization writes both as g or k depending on system — toggle Revised Romanization on this site and treat it as a hint, not a law.
가다
gada
to go
키
ki
height / key
까마귀
kkamagwi
crow
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