Conquer Batchim And Master Korean Reading Part-1

Read Hangul Like A Pro👩🏼‍🏫

Hangul is easier when we first begin to learn it. However, as we progress and come across this thing called batchim, it begins to get difficult. Korean can be intimidating for a lot of beginners. For beginners, I would recommend getting the basics of Korean reading and writing nailed down. Even if you haven't learned it yet please do it will just take about an hour.

What is Batchim?

What is batchim, exactly? Batchim is a final consonant. But it doesn't necessarily only appears at the end. It can appear at the initial, middle or the final part of the word like 선생님 (seonsaengnim). It is more of a support consonant than a final consonant as it provides support to the syllable from the base. The origin of this word is 받치다, which means to support. Thus, Batchim is a support consonant rather than a final consonant. It is placed at the bottom, pronounced at the end of the syllable block. It is pronounced as ‘Bachim’ [바침] and written as 받침[Batchim].

The significance of Batchim

What is the significance of batchim? Romanized Korean cannot help us differentiate words and their meanings but with batchim, it is easier to distinguish the words along with their meaning. Eg: 같이(together) and 갇이(trapped) both are pronounced with the same ‘gachi’ sound and written similarly when romanized but each word has a different meaning. With batchim, it is easier to distinguish the two. The concept of batchim is intriguing as such concept don’t exist in other languages and that’s what makes it fun to learn.

Here Are Some Sound Rules

There are a lot of rules when it comes to reading words that consist of batchim. Let’s go through them one after another. The following consonants can be used as a support consonant ‘ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇㅈㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎㄲㅆ’ however the pronunciation is restricted to only seven sounds of the consonants ‘ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅇ’.

ㄱ ㅋ ㄲ all of these consonants make the [K] sound. ㄷㅌㅅㅆㅈㅊㅎ all have the [T] sound. ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅇ don’t change the sound. ㅂ/ㅍ are pronounced with a [P] sound.

There are some exceptions

Exception: ㄷ[d] and ㅌ[t]: ㄷ[d] sound is pronounced ㅈ[j] often with 이[i] eg: 굳이[guji][구지]. ㅌ[t] sound ㅊ[ch] with 이[i] eg: 같이[gachi][가치]. Another example, whenㅇ[ng] comes after ㅎ[h] in batchim, ㅎ will not be pronounced eg: 좋아[joaha][조아].

More Rules:

Batchim with consonants and vowels:

When a syllable block ends with a consonant and the next block starts with a consonant, it changes the sound. 국수[guksu] means noodle and 걷다 [goetda] means to walk. (refer to the sound rule chart)

If the next syllable block starts with a silent consonant [ㅇ] or [ㅎ], batchim keeps the original sound and moves over to the next syllable block. eg: 먹어[meogo] means to eat is pronounced as 머거.

Stronger Sound:

When ㅎ appears before or after ㄱㄷㅂㅈ makes a stronger sound ㅋㅌㅍㅊ eg: 축하해[Congratulations][추카해], 맞히다[To hit][마치다], 잡히다[to be caught][자피다]. The exception is ㄹ it does not follow the ㅎ sound, eg: 실현[present][시련].

Double Consonant Sound:

When the consonants ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ,ㅅ,ㅈ come after the batchim that are pronounced ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ, their pronunciation will become double consonants like ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ eg: 책상[desk][책쌍].

Pronouncing Every Single Batchim:

All the syllables are pronounced accordingly when the support consonant is present at all positions. eg: 만원[man-won] meaning Ten thousand won.

A Bit Of Nasal Sound:

When the consonant ㅁ comes after the batchim that are pronounced ㄱ,ㄷ or ㅂ, batchim ㄱ sounds like ㅇ, batchim ㄷ gets the ㄴ sound and batchim ㅂ is pronounced as ㅁ. Example: 박물관[Museum][방물관], 믿는[to believe][민는], 감사합니다[Thank you][감사함니다].

When the consonant ㄹ comes after the batchim ㅁ or ㅇ, ㄹ will become ㄴeg:심리학[Psychology][심니학].

Also, if the consonant ㄹ follows after the batchim ㄱ or ㅂ, the batchim will become ㅇ or ㅁ each respectively and the consonant ㄹ will become ㄴ eg: 학력[Educational background][항녁].

Smooth Consonant:

When ㄴ batchim is followed by the consonant ㄹ or ㄹ batchim is followed by the consonant ㄴ, both ㄴ, ㄹ batchim become ㄹ. eg: 관리[Management][괄리].

There are exceptions where the batchim does not become ㄹ and the following consonant becomes ㄴ. eg: 횡단로[Cross road][횡단노].

Reference:

Tammy’s Korean Class.

Korean Class.

Quick Walk-Through:

I know this is alot but study-well and you’ll get it. Practice reading Hangul regularly to read like a native.

Next time we’ll discuss the rules for Double Batchim.

Thank you for reading, I hope you got some value from it. Keep learning.

파이팅! You did well and are doing well.