First, Korean has distinctions between aspirated and unaspirated sounds as well as voiced and voiceless sounds.
Second, in Korean, each syllable has at least one vowel. A syllable can be composed of only one vowel or a vowel with one or two consonants.
- Syllables composed of a vowel (in this case consonant ㅇis added to the vowel when writing)
ㅇ+ ㅏ = 아
ㅇ + ㅗ = 오 - Syllables composed of a vowel and a consonant
ㅇ + ㅓ + ㅂ = 업
ㅇ + ㅏ + ㄹ = 알 - Syllables composed of a consonant and a vowel
ㄱ + ㅏ = 가
ㄹ + ㅜ = 루 - Syllables composed of a consonant, a vowel and a consonant
ㄱ + ㅜ + ㄴ = 군
ㅁ + ㅏ + ㄹ = 말
