Batchim: the final consonant

Many letters can sit at the bottom of a block, but only seven sounds come out.

Batchim (받침) means “support”. It is the consonant at the bottom of a block, like the ㄴ in 한 or the ㄹ in 말.

Almost any consonant can be written as batchim, but at the end of a word only seven sounds are actually pronounced: ㄱ (k), ㄴ (n), ㄷ (t), ㄹ (l), ㅁ (m), ㅂ (p) and ㅇ (ng). Other letters borrow one of these. For example ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅌ and ㅎ all sound like ㄷ, so 옷 (clothes) is pronounced “ot”.

When the next block starts with the silent ㅇ, the batchim slides over and is pronounced there with its real sound. 한국어 is said “han-gu-geo”, and 옷이 becomes “o-si”. This linking is why Korean sounds so smooth.

Spelling does not change, only the sound. That is exactly why typing helps: listening teaches you the sound, and typing fixes the correct spelling in your memory.

Some blocks have two final consonants, such as 닭 (chicken) or 없다 (to not have). Usually only one of the two is pronounced, but you always type both.

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