Korean Sarangheyo: Korean Word Pronunciation

Korean Word Pronunciation - Detail Version

Posted by Bruce828 |

Posted in Korean alphabet , korean language , Korean pronunciation

Last time I had teach you guys on how to read Korean word, but that's the basic part. This time I will teach more on the pronunciation with detail and more advance level so be prepared =) There are generally three types of sound you use when reading Korean word: Basic, Aspirated and Tense.

Let's take 대학교 ("University") for example.

We use the basic sound when pronouncing the initial consonant and the vowel-consonant sequence. Therefore 대 is pronounce as "dae" with normal sound. 학 is pronounce as "hak" because the ㅎ is after the vowel ㅐ.
We use more tense sound when pronouncing consonant-consonant sequence and also the double consonant "ㄲ,ㄸ,ㅃ,ㅆ". Therefore 교 is pronounce as "kkyo", with a more tense sound of "k" because the "ㄱ" in 교 is after "ㄱ" in 학. This rule apply for "ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ,ㅈ".
So, 대학교 is pronounce as "dae hak kkyo".

For final consonant, there are a few consonant which end the sound with "t". This consonants are ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, and ㅊ. For example:

맛 is pronounce as "mat"
꽃 is pronounce as "kkot"
있 is pronounce as "it"
If we add 다 to every word above, 맛다 will be "mat dda", 꽃다 will be "kkot dda" and 있다 will be "it dda" as the "ㄷ" in 다 is after the ㅅ,ㅊ and ㅆ giving the 다 a hard tense sound.
However if we add 이 to every word above, 맛이 will be "mashi", 꽃이 will be "kko chi" and 있이 will be "i sshi" as the final consonant move over to replace the ㅇ because ㅇ is no sound as initial consonant. * take note Korean often pronounce "시" as "shi"

Finally the aspirated sound for ㅋ,ㅌ,ㅊ,ㅍ is pronounce by letting out burst to sound. For example the word "tore" and "store", to pronounce "tore" you will need to let out a burst out from your mouth. The sound of "ㅋ" will be "kh", "ㅌ" will be "th", "ㅊ" will be "ch" and "ㅍ" will be "ph".

Do check on my How to read Korean Word and Korean Alphabet if you want to refer back my previous post ^^

The END~