Korean Alphabet with Russian Translation: 40 Letters, Sounds and Examples
October 15, 2026 · KoryoTalk · 7 min read
Short answer: a Korean letter names a sound, not a “bee-cee” style label: ㄱ is always k/g, ㄴ is always n. In Russian practice reading is written with Cyrillic: 기윽 sounds like “kyk”, 니은 like “niyn”, 리을 like “riyl”. Below — all 40 letters of the Northern alphabet 조선글 with romanization, Russian transcription and examples taken from the Northern dictionary: 어머니 “mum”, 평양 “Pyongyang”, 로동자 “worker”. The closing section covers 받침, the final-consonant rule without which a syllable cannot be read correctly.
The logic first: syllable blocks, not a letter row
Korean writing assembles into syllable blocks: the initial consonant goes left or on top, the vowel to the right or below, and an optional final consonant sits at the bottom. “Mum” is three blocks: 어 + 머 + 니. A block may also close with a final consonant: in 학생 the ㄱ sits under the first block. Readers used to a linear script decode Korean in two passes: split the block into sounds, then blend them into a syllable. The inventory behind the blocks is the Northern alphabet 조선글 — 40 letters, covered in the previous article of this series.
Consonants: 19 letters with sounds and examples
| Letter | Name (DPRK) | Sound | Russian reading | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ㄱ | 기윽 | k / g | к/г | 책 “chaek” — a book |
| ㄴ | 니은 | n | н | 나라 “nara” — a country |
| ㄷ | 디읃 | t / d | т/д | 다르다 “taryta” — to differ |
| ㄹ | 리을 | r (between vowels closer to l) | р/ль | 로동자 “rodondzha” — worker |
| ㅁ | 미음 | m | м | 어머니 “omoni” — mum |
| ㅂ | 비읍 | p / b | п/б | 밥 “pap” — cooked rice, a meal |
| ㅅ | 시읏 | s | с | 사람 “saram” — a person |
| ㅇ | 이응 | silent at the start of a syllable; nasal ng at the end | — / н | 옆 “yop” — beside; 강 “kan” — a river |
| ㅈ | 지읒 | ch (between vowels closer to j) | ч/дж | 지우개 — an eraser |
| ㅊ | 치읓 | aspirated ch | чх | 창 “chhan” — a window |
| ㅋ | 키읔 | aspirated k | кх | 키 “khi” — height |
| ㅌ | 티읕 | aspirated t | тх | 탁자 “thakcha” — a table |
| ㅍ | 피읖 | aspirated p | пх | 평양 “phyongyang” — Pyongyang |
| ㅎ | 히읗 | h | х | 허리 “hyori” — a waist |
| ㄲ | 된기윽 | tense kk | кк | 꽃 “kkot” — a flower |
| ㄸ | 된디읃 | tense tt | тт | 딸 “ttal” — a daughter |
| ㅃ | 된비읍 | tense pp | пп | 아빠 “appa” — dad |
| ㅆ | 된시읏 | tense ss | сс | 쌀 “ssal” — rice grain |
| ㅉ | 된지읒 | tense cc | чч | 찌개 “ccigae” — stew |
Letter names follow the Northern norm — 기윽, 디읃, 시읏 instead of the Southern 기역, 디귿, 시옷. The tense series ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ is pronounced tighter, with no extra puff of air; the Russian transcription marks them by doubling.
Vowels: 21 letters with sounds
| Letters | Sound | Russian reading | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ㅏ | a | а | 아침 “achim” — morning |
| ㅑ | ya | я | 야자 “yaja” — a palm tree |
| ㅓ | open o | о | 어머니 “omoni” — mum |
| ㅕ | yŏ | ё | northern 녀자; the Southern form starts with 여- |
| ㅗ | o | о | 오늘 “onyl” — today |
| ㅛ | yo | йо | 교실 “kyosil” — a classroom |
| ㅜ | u | у | 우물 “umul” — a well |
| ㅠ | yu | ю | 유리 “yuri” — glass |
| ㅡ | eu (high central) | ы | 은 “yn” — silver |
| ㅣ | i | и | 이름 “irym” — a name |
| ㅐ ㅔ | e (merged in speech) | э/е | 책 “chaek” — a book |
| ㅒ ㅖ | yae / ye | яэ/йе | 예술 “yesul” — art |
| ㅘ ㅝ | wa / wo | уа/уо | 과일 “kwail” — fruit |
| ㅙ ㅞ | we | уэ | mostly in loanwords |
| ㅚ ㅟ | we / wi (merged) | уэ/ви | 위 “wi” — top, stomach |
| ㅢ | ui | ый | 의사 “yisa” — a doctor |
받침: the final consonant that decides the reading
A syllable may end in a consonant placed under the block — the 받침 (“support”). The rule is short but breaks more readings than anything else: only seven consonants sound as themselves in final position — ㄱ (k), ㄴ (n), ㄷ (t), ㄹ (l), ㅁ (m), ㅂ (p), ㅇ (nasal ng). Every other letter collapses into one of these seven in final position: ㅅ ㅆ ㅈ ㅊ ㅌ sound as “t”, ㅍ as “p”, ㄲ ㅋ as “k”. That is why 밥 reads “pap”, 꽃 reads “kkot”, 책 reads “chaek”: one letter on the page, its neutral sound in the ear.
Then comes the sandwich rule: before a following vowel or ㄴ, the final consonant resurfaces at the start of the next block. 음악 “music” reads “ymag”, not “ym-yak”: the ㅇ opening the second block is silent, and ㄱ sounds as “g” between vowels. For learners this is the least intuitive mechanism of Korean reading — and the most common beginner mistake.
Five words to test yourself
- 어머니 — mum: ㅇ silent, ㅓ “o”, final ㄴ “n”.
- 아버지 — father: three blocks, no 받침.
- 평양 — Pyongyang: ㅍ aspirated, final ㅇ nasal “ng”.
- 학생 — a pupil: final ㄱ “k” plus liaison into the vowel.
- 로동자 — worker: ㄹ between vowels, ㅈ “j”.
The vocabulary here is Northern: 로동자, not 노동자; 녀자, not 여자 (the initial-sound rule, 두음법칙). Southern spellings appear only as marked counterexamples — a quick way to tell which norm a text follows.
How to learn it fast
A working sequence: (1) the 10 basic vowels — their names are their sounds; (2) the 14 plain consonants with their readings; (3) 받침 on the examples 밥 and 책; (4) the tense and compound letters, which reuse the same sounds “tighter”. One evening gets you reading; a week gets you fluent at it. To check a word’s translation or pronunciation, try the KoryoTalk bot: a common Korean-Russian dictionary fund of 2.2 million entries plus a separately built layer of verified Northern equivalents.
Fact-checking: the Northern words in this article — 조선글, 한글, 자모, 자음, 모음, 받침, 쌍, 음절, 초성, 종성, 단어, 뜻, 발음, 어휘, 이름, 소리, 사람, 나라, 학생, 평양, 밥, 로동자, 어머니, 아버지, 옆, 아침, 우물, 예술, 창, 탁자, 키, 허리, 찌개, 과일, 위, 의사, 은, 유리, 교실, 오늘, 강, 야자, 문화어, 표준어, 규범, 다르다, 음악 — are confirmed against the KoryoTalk dictionary base. Russian readings follow Kontsevich’s practical transcription; 꽃, 딸, 아빠, 쌀 are dictionary lemmas. The composition and order of the 40 jamo follow 조선말규범집 (1987 edition, clause 1). Northern spellings 로동자 and 녀자 follow the 두음법칙 rule; Southern forms appear intentionally as counterexamples.