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:
| ㄴ
n | + | ㅏ
a |
= | 나 na |
A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "horizontal vowel" is written with the consonant on top and the vowel underneath:
| ㅁ
m | + | ㅗ
o | = | 모
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.
| ㅁ
m | + | ㅏ
a | + | ㄴ
n |
= | 만
man |
| ㅁ
m | + | ㅗ
o | + | ㄱ
k |
= | 목
mok |
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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