w-Series Vowels and ㅢ — ㅘ ㅝ ㅙ ㅞ ㅚ ㅟ ㅢ

What You Will Learn in This Unit

In this unit, you will learn to recognize and read the structure of six vowel letters formed by combining ㅗ or ㅜ with another basic vowel. You will distinguish the similar-sounding ㅙ, ㅚ, and ㅞ by their letter shapes, and you will learn the rules by which ㅢ is read as [의], [이], or [에] depending on its position, so that you can read words correctly.

Structure of the w-Series Vowels

ㅘ, ㅝ, ㅙ, ㅞ, ㅚ, and ㅟ are called w-series vowels because ㅗ or ㅜ comes first and produces the [w] sound. When ㅏ, ㅐ, or ㅣ combines with ㅗ, it forms ㅘ, ㅙ, or ㅚ, and when ㅓ, ㅔ, or ㅣ combines with ㅜ, it forms ㅝ, ㅞ, or ㅟ. The two vowels in these letters are pronounced in sequence within one syllable. The results are summarized as follows.

When reading the two-vowel letters, do not separate ㅗ and ㅏ and read them as [고] and [아]. 과 is read as [과], with the two vowels connected at once. This structure does not change when the preceding consonant changes; whether the consonant is ㄱ or ㅂ, the vowel part is read in the same way.

ㅙ, ㅚ, and ㅞ Sound Alike

ㅙ, ㅚ, and ㅞ differ clearly in letter shape, but in modern Korean they are difficult to distinguish by sound. ㅙ is often pronounced almost the same as ㅐ, and ㅞ is often pronounced almost the same as ㅔ, while ㅚ also sounds close to [웨]. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish the three letters by remembering their structure rather than by listening alone.

• 왜(wae) is the letter ㅙ, which combines ㅗ and ㅐ, and is read as [왜]. — why
• 회사(hoesa) is the letter ㅚ, which combines ㅗ and ㅣ, and is read as [회사]. — company
• ㅞ is a letter that combines ㅜ and ㅔ. It is not used in the basic words of this unit, so remember only its shape and structure.