Kennim's Korean

Do not blame a Korean who says ‘의’[ʉi] as ‘이’[ii] or ‘에’[e]. Each vowel in Korean has its characteristic sound value. However, ‘의’ pronunces not only as [ʉi], which is its inherent sound, but also sometimes as [ii] or [e] depending on the location. Let's understand first the rules about the 의 sound. The character "의" is pronounced as [ʉi] when it is the first syllable. When it is the second syllable or later, it can also be pronounced as [ii]. The possessive particle "의" is pronounced as [ʉi] or [e]. For example, "의자" is pronounced as [ʉi ja], "의사" is pronounced as [ʉi sa], and "의무" is pronounced as [ʉi mu]. Whereas, "주의" can be pronounced as [ju ʉi] or [ju ii], and "주의의" can be pronounced as [ju ʉi ʉi], [ju ʉi e] or [ju ii e]. So then, how is "민주주의의 의의" pronounced? You can say one of the followings as Korean standard accent. [민주주의의 의:의], [민주주의의 의:이], [민주주의에 의:의], [민주주의에 의:이], [민주주이의 의:의], [민주주이의 의:이], ...

In the days before online dictionaries, memorizing the order of Korean vowels was an essential step in Korean learning. The traditional order is as follows: 아, 애, 야, 예, 어, 에, 여, 예, 오, 와, 왜, 외, 요, 우, 워, 웨, 위, 유, 으, 의, 이. While memorizing the order is no longer strictly necessary, familiarizing oneself with the authentic sounds of Korean vowels remains highly beneficial for learners. Let’s repeat each one aloud orderly with accuracy, without phonetic alphabets. Play 아, 애, 야, 예,  어, 에, 여, 예,  오, 와, 왜, 외, 요,  우, 워, 웨, 위, 유, 으, 의, 이.

We have learned Korean simple vowels(10): ㅏ[a], ㅑ[ya], ㅓ[ɞ], ㅕ[yɞ], ㅗ[o], ㅛ[yo], ㅜ[u], ㅠ[yu], ㅡ[ʉ], ㅣ[i]. Unless you are a phonetics major, it is better to think that there are six single vowels (monophthongs) in Korean: 아[a], 어[ɞ], 오[o], 우[u], 으[ʉ], 이[i]. Among these, 아, 어, 오, and 우 can form semi vowels by adding the [y] sound to create 야[ya], 여[yʌ], 요[yo], and 유[yu], respectively. 아 → 야 / 어 → 여 / 오 → 요 / 우 → 유 Now, we are going to learn double vowels(11): 애[æ], 얘[yæ], 에[e], 예[ye], 와[wa], 워[wʌ], 왜[wæ], 웨[we], 외[wɛ], 위[wi], 의[ʉi]. We can combine the single vowels including semi vowels as follows to create additional diphthongs, double vowels: 아+이 → 애[æ] / 애+이 → 얘[yæ] / 어+이 → 에[e] / 에+이 → 예[ye] / 오+아 → 와[wa] / 우+어 → 워 [wʌ] / 오+애 → 왜[wæ] / 우+에 → 웨[we] / 오+이 → 외(wɛ) / 우+이 → 위 (wi) / 으+이 → 의[ɨi] 애[æ] and 에[e] can be distinguished as single vowels, but if we break down them as 아+이 and 어+이, they can be regarded as double vowels. Let’s listen carefully to the following words or phrases and di...

The vowel '으' is written as [eu[ in the Latin alphabet, but it is a simple vowel (monophthong) pronounced like the IPA sound [ʉ] . To pronounce ‘으,’ place the tip of the tongue in the middle-high position of the mouth, and the lips are naturally open without touching each other. It is different from the sounds ‘어’ [ ɞ ] and ‘우’[ u ]. Let's practice the 'ㅡ'sound in the words: Play 으뜸, 으르렁, 으스스, 으슥하다, 그것은, 그와 같이, 그곳에, 금은, 지금, 은빛, 스물, 스멀스멀, 슬금슬금, 아슬아슬, 슬하, 근질근질, 트다, 트지다, 터뜨리다, 트림, 트럼펫, 늦었어요. 들뜨지 마세요. 먹으러 가요. 읽으면 돼요, 잡으면 안돼요, 흐느끼다.  은어 – 언어 – 운어 / 은어 – 언어 – 운어 / 은어 – 언어 – 운어

 That is not your fault if you get ‘우’ as ‘오’ or vice versa from Koreans. 오' [o] and '우' [u] both have the tip of the tongue positioned at back- upper part of the mouth, but '우' is positioned slightly higher than '오'. It can be difficult for foreigners to distinguish between the pronunciations of ‘오’ and ‘우’ when they are used with the beginning sound that is plosive, bilabial, or nasal consonants. Let's listen carefully and distinguish between the 오 and 우 sounds. Play 부모 – 보모 / 무기 – 모기 / 부고 – 보고 / 부산 – 보성 - 보쌈 / 푸줏간, 풀이, 푸념, 풍경, 풍선 /포기, 포대 / 줄줄 – 졸졸 / 풍덩풍덩 - 퐁당퐁당 / 그런가 봐요. – 그런가 봐유*. 아니에요. -  아니에유*.  You may often hear Koreans pronouncing '오' as '우' or '우' as '오'. It is not your fault. In Korean words, there are cases where '오' changes and is interchangeably used with '우'. For example, '호두' (walnut) and '자두' (plum) were originally '호도' (胡桃: barbaric peach) and '자도' (紫桃: pu...

Do you still have trouble pronouncing ‘ㅓ’?  The Korean vowel ‘ㅓ’ is expressed as '어' to indicate its sound. ‘어’ is a unique vowel that is not commonly found in other languages. Learners often confuse it with '오' [o]. Both '오' and '어' are pronounced with the tongue at the back of the mouth, but '어' is pronounced with the tongue lower, like the sound, [ɞ] in IPA. To pronounce '어’ accurately, let me say simply, keep your lips in the '아' position, and then say '오'. Play 아, 오, 어 , 어 , 어 어 머니, 어 린이, 어 항, 어 깨, 어 묵, 어 른, 어 둠, 어 서, 어쩌 면, 있 어 요.