With Hangeul and Korean speaking, what you see is what you get…most of the time. Some words, depending on which letters or syllables are following which, may have their pronunciations altered in order to aid easier fluency in speaking. Also, keep in mind that even though the pronunciations change, their spellings remain the same. There are nine rules.

 

[#1] RESYLLABIFICATION

When a syllable-final consonant is followed by a vowel in the following syllable, the consonant is carried over to the following syllable to function as its initial consonant pronunciation. The following syllable may be part of a suffix or another word.

 

한글은 ➡️ 한그

han•geul•eun is pronounced like han•geu•reun 

 

When a syllable block ends in a double consonant letter, the second consonant is carried over to the following vowel-initial syllable in pronunciation.

 

읽어요 ➡️ 일

ilg•eo•yo is pronounced like il•geo•yo 

 

Here are a few more examples of words and how they are actually pronounced.

 

맞아요 ➡️ 마
책을 ➡️ 채
앉으세요 ➡️ 안세요
질문이 ➡️ 질무
옷을 ➡️ 오

 

* When ㄹ changes from a final consonant position to an initial consonant position, the changes from ‘l’ to ‘r’ . ㄹ has an ‘r’ sound when placed between two vowels.

[#2] SYLLABLE-FINAL CLOSURE

When a syllable-final consonant is not followed by a vowel (it is followed by a consonant or it’s the end of a word), the unreleased sound changes the consonants’ pronunciation as follows:

 

Consonant Pronunciation
ㅂ, ㅍ
ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ
ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ

 

The only consonant sounds that occur at the end of a word or before another consonant are the seven simple consonants: ㅂ, ㄷ, ㄱ, ㅁ, ㄴ, ㅇ, ㄹ.

 

There is an exception to this rule, though. When consonants are followed by a syllable that is only a vowel (*most of the time and with ㅇ in the initial position), then the final consonant carries over. For example, 맞았어요 is pronounced like 마자써요. Otherwise, the syllable final consonant may change sound. Like 맛없어요 is pronounced like 마덥서요.

 

Here are a few more examples of words and how they are actually pronounced.

 

잎 ➡️
옷 ➡️
낚시 ➡️
밤낮 ➡️ 밤
꽃 ➡️

[#3] NASAL ASSIMILATION

When followed by either or the following consonants change pronunciation.

 

Consonant Pronunciation
ㅂ, ㅍ
ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ
ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ

 

 

Here are a few more examples of words and how they are actually pronounced.

 

입니다 ➡️ 니다
몇년 ➡️
받는다 ➡️ 는다
일학년 ➡️ 일
없나다 ➡️ 나다

[#4] ㄴ TO ㄹ ASSIMILATION

 

When and come together, the ㄴ sound is replaced with the sound.

 

칠년 ➡️ 칠
진리 ➡️ 질
달님 ➡️ 달

 

When  is followed by or , another is inserted between them.

 

물약 ➡️ 물
길이름 ➡️ 길
서울역 ➡️ 서울

Here’s an example of and ㄴ assimilation.  This is Jamsillaru station, which is on Line 2 (the green line) in Seoul. By only looking at the Hangul, you would assume that the pronunciation should be like Jamsilnaru. But because immediately follows , is automatically converted to a sound in pronunciation.

 

[#5] TENSIFICATION

 

When a plain plosive consonant (ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅈ, ㄱ) or  is preceded by a plosive or fricative consonant, it becomes the corresponding tense consonant (ㅃ, ㄸ, ㅉ, ㄲ, ㅆ).

 

몇번 ➡️ 멷
없다 ➡️ 업
학교 ➡️ 학
식당 ➡️ 식
꽃집 ➡️ 꼳

[#6] ASPIRATION AND ㅎ WEAKENING

 

When is followed or preceded by a plain plosive consonant (ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅈ, ㄱ), it merges with the consonant to produce the corresponding aspirated consonant (ㅍ, ㅌ, ㅊ, ㅋ).

Consonant Aspirated Consonant

 

Here are some examples of the aspirated consonants that are used as the is weakened.

 

입학 ➡️ 이
많다 ➡️ 만
좋지않다 ➡️ 조
시작합시다 ➡️ 시자시다
**닫히다 ➡️ 히다 ➡️ 다다**
꽃하고 ➡️ 하고 ➡️ 꼬

 

**Note: ㅌ +ㅣ➡️ ㅊ because of palatalization (see Rule #8)

 

Between two voiced sounds (vowels, nasal sounds, or consonants), tends to become silent in casual speech, as in 좋아요 (pronounced like 조아요) 말한다 and (pronounced like 마란다).

 

전화 ➡️ 저
잘했어요 ➡️ 자어요
괜찮아요 ➡️ 괜차
천천히 말해 보세요 ➡️ 천처보세요

[#7] DOUBLE CONSONANT REDUCTION

 

There are some adjective and verb stems have two consonants in the final syllable position. Some examples include: 값다, 없다, 읽다, 않다, 덟다, and 앉다. As indicated in Rule [#1], the second of the two consonants in the final syllable position  is carried over to the following syllable in pronunciation if this syllable does not have an initial consonant, as in [값이 [갑씨]. However, one of the two consonants becomes silent at the end of a word or before a consonant as in 값 [갑] and 값도 [갑또].

Unlike English, where up to three consonants may occur in sequence in a syllable (like street, masks),even a cluster of two consonants is not allowed in a single Korean syllable. It is difficult to predict which of two syllable final consonants will become silent. Normally, the silent consonant is the second one, but there are exceptions.

 

Here are a few double consonant words and their pronunciations.

 

여덟 ➡️ 여
없다 ➡️
읽습니다 ➡️ 일니다 or 익니다 
앉겠어요 ➡️ 안써요
질문이 없습니다 ➡️ 질무니 씀니다

[#8] PALATALIZATION

When a word ending in and ㅌ is followed by a suffix beginning with the vowel i 이 or the semivowel y 야 / 여 (whether ㅎ intervenes or not), then:

 

ㄷ ➡️ ㅈ     ㅌ ➡️ ㅊ

 

This change is technically called “palatalization” because the original gum-ridge consonants are articulated in the area of the hard palate.

 

Here are some examples.

 

붙여요 ➡️ 부
다같이가요 ➡️ 다가가요
밑이 ➡️ 미
닫혀요 ➡️ 다

[#9] PLACE ASSIMILATION

In casual speech, is optionally pronounced ㅂ before ㅂ or ㅃ and  before ㄱ or ㄲ. Also, is optionally pronounced before ㅂ, ㅃ, or andbeforeㄱ or ㄲ.

 


before ㅂ, ㅃ

before ㄱ, ㄲ

ㄴ 

before ㅂ, ㅃ, ㅁ

before ㄱ, ㄲ

 

Here are some examples:

옷감 ➡️ 옫깜 ➡️
신물 ➡️
젖병 ➡️ 젇뼝 ➡️
눈꺼풀 ➡️ 꺼풀
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