Hangul: the vowels and the silent ㅇ

An alphabet that hides inside squares

Korean looks like a script of pictures, but it is an alphabet. Every block you see is one syllable, and inside it the letters sit in a fixed arrangement: a consonant first, then a vowel, and sometimes a consonant underneath. There are ten basic vowels: ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ. Each is a long stroke with short ticks, and the direction of the long stroke decides where the vowel goes. A vertical vowel (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ) stands to the right of its consonant; a horizontal one (ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ) sits below it.

The consonant that says nothing

A syllable may begin with a vowel sound, but a block may not begin with a vowel letter. So Korean uses the circle ㅇ as a placeholder: at the start of a block it is silent and simply holds the consonant's seat. That gives you the ten vowels as readable syllables: 아 야 어 여 오 요 우 유 으 이. Say them in pairs: ㅏ is the a of father and ㅑ adds a y in front (ya); ㅓ is an open o as in hot and ㅕ is yo with that same open sound; ㅗ is the rounded o of more and ㅛ its yo; ㅜ is u as in moon and ㅠ is yu. Two have no y partner: ㅡ is a flat eu made with the lips spread, and ㅣ is the ee of see.

오, 우유!Oh, milk!

아이 요요a child's yo-yo