양념치킨
Yangnyeom Chicken · official romanization Yangnyeom Chikin
Watch it come together
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Build it step by step
The letters of each block, then the block they build. Tap a play button to hear it.
Red first consonantBlue vowelBlack final consonant (batchim)
Block 1: 양 [yang]
3 letters
First consonant
이응 ieung
[silent]silent at the start: it only holds the place
Vowel
[ya]ya as in “yacht”
Final (batchim)
이응 ieung
[ng]ng as in “sing”
Built block · vowel on the right, final at the bottom
ㅇ + ㅑ + ㅇ =
양
Block 2: 념 [nyeom]
3 letters
First consonant
니은 nieun
[n]Vowel
[yeo]“y” + the “uh” of ㅓ
Final (batchim)
미음 mieum
[m]plain m
Built block · vowel on the right, final at the bottom
ㄴ + ㅕ + ㅁ =
념
Block 3: 치 [chi]
2 letters
First consonant
치읓 chieut
[ch]ch with a strong puff of air
Vowel
[i]i as in “see”
Built block · vowel on the right
ㅊ + ㅣ =
치
Block 4: 킨 [kin]
3 letters
First consonant
키읔 kieuk
[k]k with a strong puff of air
Vowel
[i]i as in “see”
Final (batchim)
니은 nieun
[n]plain n
Built block · vowel on the right, final at the bottom
ㅋ + ㅣ + ㄴ =
킨
All blocks together
양 + 념 + 치 + 킨 =
양념치킨
Spelling vs. sound
The official romanization is yangnyeom chikin. Menus usually write the second word as “chicken”, because 치킨 is simply the English word written in Hangul; the romanization follows the Korean letters (ㅊ+ㅣ = chi, ㅋ+ㅣ+ㄴ = kin).
Say it yang-nyeom-chi-kin, four even beats. 양 starts with a silent ㅇ and ends in “ng” as in “sing”; 념 is n + “yuh” + a closed m; ㅊ and ㅋ are said with a strong puff of air, and the last ㄴ is a plain n.
양념 means seasoning or marinade, here a sticky red sauce. Koreans use 치킨 for fried chicken in particular; the bird and its meat in general is 닭 (dak).
Read any Korean word like this
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