Explanation 5 · Three-Sound Harmony

Tone characteristics

    In native Korean words, 활 Hwal belongs to the level tone,
    while :돌 Dol belongs to the rising tone. Korean
    pronunciation consists of four tones: level tone, rising tone,
    departing tone, and checked tone. For example, ㆍ갈 Gal
    follows the departing tone, while ㆍ붇 But follows the
    checked tone.
    Adding one dot to the left of any character creates the
    departing tone, adding two dots creates the rising tone, and
    leaving it without a dot results in the level tone.
    The checked tone in Hanja closely resembles the departing
    tone, but in native Korean, the checked tone is not fixed and
    sometimes resembles the level tone. Examples include ㆍ 긷
    Gid and :녑 Nyeop. Other cases, such as ㆍ못 Mot and ㆍ입
    Ip , show similarities to the departing tone. Words that end
    with consonants that close the final sound, such as ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ
    ㅅ (익 읻 입 잇) ( iD iB iT), are classified as entering-tone
    words. Examples include 깍 KKaK, 닫 DaT, 밥 BaP, 값 GaP,
    and 옷 OT.




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