안녕하세요!! I am Vaibhavi. In this blog, we will explore some common pronunciation challenges faced by Korean learners and provide helpful tips and exercises to improve your accuracy. Let's dive in!
There are some special pronunciation rules that exist when certain consonants are next to each other in syllables. Basically these rules exist because the final letter in a Korean consonant is not aspirated (try saying the word 'ship', there's this little sound of breath that follows the letter p; that what an aspiration is, the breath sound that follows the last consonant).
Another reason is consonant assimilation with Batchim (받침). The batchim is the bottom or lower position consonants in a syllable. Like the ㅂ consonant is the batchim in 밥. In 밟 - ㄹㅂ is the batchim
1. When the previous syllable ends in a consonant in the final position, and the next syllable begins with the letter ㅇ. In that case, the consonant sound gets moved to the beginning of the following syllable.
Example:
십이 -> 시비
먹어 -> 머거
Also, when the final consonant of a syllable is ㅎ, it will become silent in the world. Like this:
좋아-> 조아
If the last consonant is ㅌ or ㄷ and is followed by 이, their pronunciation becomes 치 and 지 respectively.
Example:
같이 -> 가치
Only when the last consonant of the syllable is ㅇ itself the consonant sound does not switch over to the following vowel.
Example:
종이 -> 종이
2. When wheone syllable ends in ㅇ and the next syllable starts with ㄹ. In these words, the ㄹ sound changes to a ㄴ sound.
Example:
능력 -> 능녁
정리하다 -> 정니하다
대통령 -> 대통녕
3. When one syllable ends in ㄴ and the next syllable starts with ㄹ. Here, the ㄴ sound changes to a ㄹ sound.
Example:
훈련 -> 훌련
신랑 -> 실랑
관련 -> 괄련
4. When syllable ends in ㄱ and the next syllable starts with ㄹ. Here, the ㄱ sound changes to a ㅇ sound and the ㄹ sound changes to an ㄴ sound.
Example:
국립 -> 궁닙
학력 ->항녁
석류 -> 성뉴
5. When one syllable ends in ㅁ and the next syllable starts with ㄹ. Here, the ㄹ sound changes to a ㄴ sound.
Example:
음료수 -> 음뇨수
음란마귀 -> 음난마귀
음료수 -> 음뇨수
6. When one syllable ends in ㄱ and the next syllable starts with ㅁ. Here, the ㄱ sound changes to a ㅇ sound.
Example:
박물관 -> 방물관
목마르다 -> 몽마르다
7. When one syllable ends in ㅊ and the next syllable starts with ㅁ. Here, the ㅊ sound changes to a ㄴ sound.
Example:
몇몇 -> 면멷
8. When one syllable ends in ㅍ and the next syllable starts with ㄴ. Here, the ㅍ sound changes to a ㅁ sound.
Example:
앞니 -> 암니
9. When the consonant ㅎ precedes or is followed by ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, or ㅈ, those consonants take on the sounds of their aspirated counterpart ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, or ㅊ.
Example:
어떻게 -> 어떠케
책하고 -> 채카고
입학 -> 이팍
시작합시다 -> 시자캅씨다
10. When the consonant ㅎ precedes or is followed by ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅇ, or ㄹ, the consonant ㅎ becomes silent.
Example:
전화 -> 저놔
사랑해요 -> 사랑애요
많아요 -> 마나요
11. When one syllable ends in ㅌ and the next syllable starts with ㄴ. Here, the ㅌ sound changes to a ㄴ sound.
Example:
끝내다 -> 끈내다
12. When a syllable ending in ㄷ or ㅌ is followed by a syllable that begins with a vowel ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ or the vowel ㅣ, the ㄷ and ㅌ are pronounced ㅈ and ㅊ respectively.
Example:
닫혀요 -> 다쳐요
같이 가요 -> 가치가요
붙여요 -> 부쳐요
13. When the final consonant is followed by a nasal consonant (ㅁ, ㄴ, and ㅇ when is a final consonant) in the next syllable the following changes occur:
ㅂ, ㅍ = (ㅁ)
ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ = (ㄴ)
ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ = (ㅇ)
Examples:
입만 -> 임만
앞문 -> 암문
없나요 -> 엄나요
받는다 -> 반는다
일학년 ->이랑년
14. When the consonants ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ,ㅅ,ㅈ come after the batchim that are pronounced ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ, their pronunciation will become double consonants like ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ .
Here basically you are tensifying the original consonant sounds.
Example:
책상 -> 책쌍
15. When Double batchim appears at the bottom of the syllable. Double Batchim refers to two consonants appearing together at the bottom of the syllable.
In total, there are 11consonants that appear as double batchim ㄳ, ㄺ, ㄵ, ㄶ, ㄼ, ㄽ, ㄾ, ㅀ, ㄻ, ㅄ and ㄿ.
a) Double batchim where first consonsnt sound is pronounced
ㄳ, ㄵ, ㄼ, ㄽ, ㄾ, and ㅄ are pronounced with the first consonant sound.
When the next syllable is a consonant the sound of the second batchim gets stronger. And, with a vowel, the sound of the second batchim travels to that vowel.
ㄵ and ㄶ have the ‘N’ sound example:
앉다 -> 앉아(anja) -> 안자
많이 ->많이(mani) -> 만이
ㄼ and ㅀ have ‘L’ sound example: 여덟, 짧다, 넓다, 얇다, 싫다, 뚫다, 잃다.
ㅄ carries the ‘P’ sound example: 없다
b) Double batchim where second consonant sound is pronounced
ㄺ, ㄻ, ㄿ are pronounced with the second batchim first. When the next syllable is a consonant the batchim sound becomes stronger with the combination of both the batchim and the consonant.
ㄺ has a ‘K’ sound. example: 읽다, 닭고기, 늙다, 낡다
ㄻ has an ‘M’ sound. example: 닮다, 젊다
ㄿ has a ‘P’ sound. example: 읊다.
That's it... whoo! i'll advise to not be terrified of all of these rules. You will get the hang of it. Keep learning, 화이팅! Check the website for more free lessons.
여러분 파이팅. 오늘 도 수고했어.