Korean Consonants
This section will introduce the Korean consonants. Before introducing the actual consonants, however, an introduction to Korean consonantal phonology should prove helpful. There are two distinct features of Korean consonants: tense/lax and aspirated/unaspirated. Unlike in English, voiced/voiceless is not a distinctive feature in Korean phonology. As a general rule, the stop consonants (p, t, k, b, d, g) are voiced when they occur between vowels and voiceless otherwise. Thus "k" and "g" are the same consonant in Korean. The same is true for "p" and "b," as well as "t" and "d." Tense consonants are written as two of the same consonant together and are pronounced with more tension than their lax counterparts. Aspirated consonants are pronounced with a noticeable breath of air. Note that aspiration is not a distinctive feature of English phonology.