안녕하세요! 토미입니다.
Today’s video is the Perfect Pronunciation Guide!
As I have said, “perfect,” I will teach you all the basic 9 pronunciation rules today.
These are Voiced consonants, Soft consonants, Liquidization, Aspirated consonant phenomenon, Elimination of ㅎ, Nasalization, Fortis phenomenon, Addition of n, and Palatalization.
Are you spelling magic? These words sound too difficult for me.
I know. Yes, I can hear you. Don’t worry. I will explain each of these one by one.
And I am sure you will understand everything at the end of this video.
And your pronunciation will improve dramatically.
OK. So, let’s get through this!
그럼 시작할게요!
Voiced Consonants
First, let’s see voiced consonants.
You can remember this rule as 바다가자! It means, “Let’s go to the ocean.”
When you break down this phrase, you can see these ㅂ [p],ㄷ [t],ㄱ [k], ㅈ [ch].
These consonants change their sounds softer when they come in the middle of words.
So, P becomes B, T becomes D, K becomes G, CH becomes J
For example, 부부 means “husband and wife.”
You pronounce the first 부 as [pu] and the second 부 as [bu].
So, it becomes 부부[pubu]. Did you notice the last word changed from a P sound to a B sound?
Similarly, 고기 is “meat.”
You pronounce the first 고 as [ko] and the second 기 as [gi].
So, it becomes 고기 [kogi].
Even though it is the same ㄱ consonant, you change the pronunciation when ㄱ comes in the middle.
Let’s go to the next one!
Soft Consonants
Rule No.2 is soft consonants, which means Batchim ＋ ㅇ.
When batchim is followed by ㅇ, the batchim will be combined with the vowel.
For example, when you read 음악 “music” continuously, the pronunciation becomes [으막].
Another example is 연애 “romance.” It is pronounced as [여내].
Now, let’s look at double batchim.
When 이응 comes after double batchim, you read both double batchim.
For example, 읽어요 “to read” becomes [일거요], and 앉아 “to sit” becomes [안자].
Liquidization
Rule number 3 is Liquidization.
It doesn’t sound very easy, but if you pay attention to the word liquid, you will understand it better.
Think about liquid. Liquid has a smooth texture.
Similar to that, ㄹ sound acts like a smooth pronunciation in Korean.
And this rule is easy, peasy, lemon squeezy, once you get this.
If ㄴ comes before or after ㄹ, its pronunciation will be changed into ㄹ.
It almost looks like number 2. 2+2, ㄹ+ㄹ.
You can remember that as well.
【図解】
ㄴ+ㄹ=ㄹ+ㄹ
ㄹ+ㄴ=ㄹ+ㄹ
For example, 실내 is “indoor.”
As you can see ㄹ + ㄴ are together, so you pronounce it as [실래].
Another example is 연락 “communication.”
ㄴ and ㄹ are together like a good couple, so you pronounce it smoothly like [열락].
Aspirated consonant phenomenon
Rule No.4 is an Aspirated consonant phenomenon.
When the consonants ㅂ, ㄷ, ㄱ, ㅈ, like 바다가자, come before or after the batch ㅎ, their pronunciation will become stronger sounds like ㅍ, ㅌ, ㅋ, ㅊ.
For example, 축하해 “Congratulations” becomes [추카해].
Did you notice ㄱ met ㅎ and changed into ㅋ?
Another example is 입학 “Enrolment.”
You read it as [이팍].
ㅂ met with ㅎ, and it changed to ㅍ, a stronger sound.
The last example is 싫다 “hate.” You read it as [실타] because ㅎ met ㄷ sound, so ㄷ changed into ㅌ.
Elimination of ㅎ
No. 5 is the elimination of ㅎ.
As said, you must say goodbye to ㅎ batchim when ㅇ comes after.
In other words, you don’t pronounce ㅎ.
For example, 좋아요 is “good.”
But look, ㅎ batchim and ㅇ are together, so you have to eliminate ㅎ.
Goodbye ㅎ. So its pronunciation is [조아], not [조하].
Another good example is 싫어요 “hate.”
Can you see ㅎ batchim and ㅇ?
In this case, you must say goodbye to ㅎ, goodbye ㅎ, and pronounce [시러요].
For additional note, if ㄹ, ㄴ, ㅁ come before ㅎ sound, ㅎ sound will be weak like a tiny little cat.
For example, 전화 is the phone.
ㄴsound came before ㅎ, so the correct pronunciation becomes [저놔].
Another example is 결혼 “marriage.”
ㄹ bachim and ㅎare together, so you don’t pronounce ㅎ sound like 결혼, it becomes [겨론].
Nasalization
Rule number six is nasalization.
First of all, ㅁ, ㄴ, ㅇ are called nasalized sounds.
Can you put your hand in front of your nose when you pronounce 암, 안, 앙?
You can feel the soft air coming from your nose. 암, 안, 앙. Did you feel that?
That’s why these are called nasalized sounds.
When ㅂ, ㄷ, ㄱ batchim meet ㅁ, ㄴ consonants, their pronunciation will change to ㅁ, ㄴ, ㅇ, which are nasalized sounds.
Looking at some example words, you will understand them much more easily.
First of all, when ㅂ batchim meets ㅁ or ㄴ consonants, its pronunciation will change into ㅁ.
【図解】
ㅂ batchim + ㅁ/ㄴ→ ㅁ batchim + ㅁ/ㄴ
For example, 십만 is “hundred thousand.”
In this word, ㅂ batchim meets with ㅁ consonants, so the right pronunciation is [심만], not [십만].
Second, when ㄷ batchim meets with ㅁ/ㄴ consonants, its pronunciation will be changed into ㄴ batchim.
【図解】
ㄷ batchim +ㅁ/ㄴ→ㄴ batchim+ ㅁ/ㄴ
For example, 믿는 is “to believe.”
믿 has ㄷ bachim, and 는 has ㄴ consonants, so its pronunciation changed into ㄴ. The right sound is [민는], not [믿는].
Third, whenㄱ batchim meets with ㅁ/ㄴ consonants, its pronunciation will be changed intoㅇ batchim.
【図解】
ㄱ batchim +ㅁ/ㄴ→ㅇ batchim+ ㅁ/ㄴ
For example, let’s see a word, 한국말, Korean.
Korean people don’t say [한국말].
The correct pronunciation is [한궁말(han-gung-mal)].
Because ㄱ batchim met with ㅁ, so ㄱ batchim changed into ㅇ batchim.
Did I make your head clear? Let’s move on.
Fortis phenomenon
Rule No.7 is the Fortis phenomenon.
When the consonants ㄱ,ㄷ,ㅂ,ㅅ,ㅈ come after ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ batchim,
their pronunciation will change to double consonants like ㄲ(쌍기역),ㄸ(쌍띠귿),ㅃ(쌍삐읍),ㅆ(쌍씨옷),ㅉ(쌍지읒).
For example, 입다 is “to wear.” Here, ㅂ batchim met with ㄷ consonant, right?
In this case, the correct pronunciation is [입따], not [입다], ok?
Likewise, 잡지 is the “magazine.” ㅂ batchim met ㅈ consonant.
So, the correct pronunciation is [잡찌], not 잡지.
The last example is 학교 “school.”
ㄱ batchim meets with ㄱ consonants. So the correct pronunciation is [학꾜], not [학교].
Addition of “n”
Rule number 8 is the addition of ㄴ.
It means you have to add ㄴ when the following conditions are met.
First, two words are combined and become one word, like 부산역 “Busan station.”
Second, if the previous letter ends with a batchim, and the following letter is 야, 여, 요, 유, 이, 얘, 예, you add ㄴ sound, and it becomes 냐, 녀, 뇨, 뉴, 니, 냬, 녜.
I understand your confusion.
As I have said before, 부산역 “Busan Station” is the combination of 부산 “Busan” +역 “Station,” right?
And if you look closer, you can see ㄴ batchim and 여 sound, right?
In this case, you should not pronounce [부사녁] but [부산녁].
There are many station names, such as 일산역, which applies this rule.
So you can pay attention to these station names when you see them.
Another example is 웬일 “what matters.”
This word combines two words: 웬 “what” and matter “일.”
This ㄴ batchim meets with 이 sound, so the proper pronunciation becomes [웬닐].
Palatalization
Last but not least is rule number 9, Palazalizaion.
You don’t hear the word “palatalize” daily, do you?
So, you understand this as ㅈ, ㅊ.
There are the following rules.
First, when ㄷ batchim meets with 이, its pronunciation becomes 지.
【図解】
ㄷ batchim +이 →지
For example, 굳이 means persistently.
If you pay attention to this, you can see the combination of ㄷ batchim and 이.
So the right pronunciation becomes [구지], not [구디].
Another rule is ㅌ batchim +이 /ㄷ batchim + 히 =치.
The typical example for this is 같이, together.
You can see ㅌ batchim in 같 and 이.
So, the correct pronunciation becomes [가치].
Another good example is 붙이다 “to attach.”
ㅌ batchim in 붙 and 이 are together, so the correct pronunciation becomes [부치다], not [부티다].
Since the original form is pronounced as 부치다, even when you apply the grammar with this word, you pronounce it as 붙여서[부쳐서], 붙이고[부치고].
Summary
We have studied all the pronunciation rules today.
If you think these rules are complicated, I recommend that you repeat watching this video several times until you get this 100 %.
Then I am sure your pronunciation will improve dramatically.
그럼 오늘도 행복 가득, 웃음 가득한 하루 되세요！ 한국어 화이팅, 화이팅, 화이팅！！
