Kennim's Korean

The difference in the location of the tip of the tongue between 애 and 에 is crucial in understanding the characteristics of these vowel sounds. When comparing Korean vowels to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the tip of the tongue for 애 is located at the front-low in the mouth, and the shape of the lips is closer to 아[a] than 이[i]. On the other hand, the tip of the tongue for 에 is positioned at the front-middle of the mouth, and the shape of the lips is closer to 이[i] than 아[a]. This means that 애 is similar to [æ] while, 에 is similar to [e].  At first, it may be difficult to distinguish between the two pronunciations, but let's practice pronouncing them by considering the position of the tip of the tongue conceptually. Please listen carefully to the 애 and 에 sound. Play 애: 애기, 에: 에서, 개: 개나리, 게: 게살, 내: 내일, 네: 네 개, 매: 매미, 메: 메기, 배: 배치기, 베: 베다, 새: 새마을, 세: 세 개, 래: 모래, 레: 모레, 내가, 내가, 내가 네가, 네가, 네가

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], ...

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...