n
a
na
A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "vertical vowel" is written with the consonant on the left and the vowel on the right:
|
n | + |
a | = |
na |
A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "horizontal vowel" is written with the consonant on top and the vowel underneath:
m | + | 
o | = | 
mo |
If a syllable has a consonant, vowel, and consonant, the final consonant, called patch'im (meaning "supporting floor" in Korean) goes to the bottom -- or floor -- of that syllable.
|
m | + |
a | + |
n |
= | 
man |
|
m | + |
o | + | 
k |
= | 
mok |
Notice that all these examples follow the basic rule that all syllables must begin with a consonant. This means that we may have a problem...
Decoding a Word
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