Basic Korean Lesson 1.06: The 오 Vowel

In Lesson 5, we have learned about the vowel 애 which sounds as soft “ae” as in speck.

In this lesson, we will learn a new vowel – the vowel 오, which sounds as “o” in toss or “ow” in float.

Hangeul	오
Phonetic Symbol	[o]	*from the International Phonetic Alphabet)
Romanization	o	*from the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2000)

As you can see, this vowel looks like the vowel 어 that’s been rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Sounds a bit complicated? Let’s put it more simply then. The vowel 오 is like letter O resting on the upside-down letter T. That’s your vowel 오! Very easy to recall, isn’t it?

Do your best to be familiar with this vowel, memorize its appearance, so that you will be able to combine it with the other vowels that we have studied before and the rest of the vowels and consonants that we will be studying on the next lessons.

Now, for you to get familiar with the vowel 오, we will use it the way we used the previous vowels. We will begin by using it as a substitute for the sound /o/ in English words.

오ver
m오rn이ng
b오wt아e
cr어ssr오d
st오ne
l어wnm오애r
w아rdr오be

Are you now familiar with the vowel오? Let’s take it to the next level by using it in Korean words this time.

오ppa	older brother (of a female)
오s	clothes or dress
Jeung오haeyo	detest
오da	come
radi오	radio (a borrowed word)
오cheonwoneochi	five thousand won worth
아niy오, moreugess어yo.	No, I don’t understand.
Annyonghi kashipshiy오.	Good-bye.
Yogi kyesanso chom kacho-osey오.	Please bring me the check.
오run-jjok uro doll아 ka-jusaeyo.	Please turn right.

(… to be continued)
Korean Lesson 1.05 << | >> Korean Lesson 1.07 More Korean Lessons