ㄾ (리을티읕): the Korean double final consonant

Before a consonant or at the end of a word you hear the ㄹ, and the ㅌ is silent. 핥다 is read [할따], with the following consonant made tense, and 훑다 is [훌따].

Before a vowel the ㅌ moves forward and keeps its strong, puffed sound: 핥아요 is [할타요] and 훑어요 is [훌터요]. The puff is what you hear.

Say 핥다 (to lick) on its own first, as [할따], and then 핥아요, which is read [할타요]. Say 훑다 (to skim) on its own first, as [훌따], and then 훑어요, which is read [훌터요].

Before a consonant the ㄹ is kept and the next consonant turns tense, and before a vowel the ㅌ comes back with its full puff.

Forms worth repeating are 핥고 [할꼬], 핥지 [할찌], 핥은 [할튼]; the written letters are the same, but the sounds shift around them.

Think of ㅌ as a puff of air held in reserve until a vowel lets it out.

Learners often drop the strong ㅌ in 핥아요 and say [할아요]. The ㅌ is pronounced with a puff, as in [할타요].

ㄾ is written as ㄹ followed by ㅌ (tieut), both small enough to fit side by side under the vowel. With ㄾ (rieul-tieut), together they take six strokes: 3 strokes and 3 strokes.

For ㄾ (rieul-tieut), draw the consonant and vowel first, then add ㄾ (rieul-tieut) underneath without letting the block grow out of its square.

ㄹ (리을) is made with the tip of the tongue and gives a quick touch of the tongue tip, while ㅌ (티읕) is made with the tip of the tongue and gives a strong puff of air.

In the case of ㄾ (rieul-tieut), each of the two letters has its own page, so you can compare ㄹ and ㅌ (tieut) before reading how they behave together.

In 핥다 (to lick) the first block 핥 is made of ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄾ (rieul-tieut), so the double final sits at the bottom.

With ㄾ (rieul-tieut), a block can hold only one final spot, which is why two consonants must share it and why Korean needs rules about which one is read.

The words below all contain ㄾ (rieul-tieut); the right-hand column shows how their ending sounds before a vowel.

Of the eleven double finals, ㄳ, ㄵ, ㄶ, ㄼ, ㄽ, ㅀ, and ㅄ share ㄾ (rieul-tieut)'s habit of keeping the first letter, and ㄺ, ㄻ, and ㄿ keep the opposite letter.

For ㄾ (rieul-tieut), learning them in two groups, those read from the first letter and those read from the last, covers all eleven.

Switch between [할따] and [할타요] again and again until the change feels natural.

The worksheet for ㄾ (rieul-tieut) is a single printable page made from the same data as this page: it has the stroke order, tracing rows and a find-the-letter game.