Korean Pronunciation: The Ultimate Guide
To be fluent in any language, there are many parts to be mastered. So do the Korean language. Writing and grammar is easy for some people due to their uncomplicated way of writing, but most of the learners have difficulties in pronunciation of the word correctly. Due to the similarity of the sound made by some alphabets, it is exceedingly difficult for the Korean language learners to hit the right pitch and pronunciation of the Korean language. It is a goal for the language learner to be able to speak like a native speaker.
But you do not need to worry, below are some of the most useful rules to pronounce the Korean language perfectly:
The Ultimate Guide to Korean Pronunciation
Know the sound of the Korean alphabet. The Korean alphabet is divided into two main sections and subdivided into one part each. The two main sections are consonant clusters (14) vowel clusters or monophthongs (10) and their two subsections are double consonant clusters or diphthongs (5) and Complex vowel clusters (11). To be able to correctly pronounce the double consonants and the complex vowel clusters you need to be able to read the vowel and consonant correctly. The sounds of the 14 consonants (or the extended list of 19) of the Korean language change depending on whether they appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a syllable.
The Korean vowels are separated into two categories: monophthongs and diphthongs. While monophthongs are produced with a single articular movement, diphthongs feature an articulatory change and typically consist of two elements: a glide (or a semivowel) and a monophthong. Adding to this point the Korean consonant cannot stand alone or they do not have a sound individually, for example, “ㄱ” which is called gi-yeok has the spelling of “기역” which is a combination of two consonant and two vowels. So, in learning Korean pronunciation, it is learned as ga,na,da (가,나,다) combination of a vowel and a consonant and it is always consonants first and vowels second, if in case there is no vowel to be combined with a consonant then ‘ㅇ’ is placed in front of the vowel to indicate a blank space. Rather, first are consonants and then come vowels. So be careful while reading the words that have ‘ㅇ’ in beginning, ‘ㅇ’ in between and ‘ㅇ’ at the end.
The consonants are classified into three types, they are plain consonant (ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ) are pronounced without any strong aspiration (burst of air), aspirated consonants (ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ) are pronounced like their plain counterparts but with strong aspiration, and tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ) are called 쌍 (ssang) ‘twin’ letters in Korean as it is made with the combination of two same consonants. These are pronounced with a harder and stiffer voice compared to their plain counterparts.
In the Korean language, the position of the consonant plays a crucial role in the pronunciation of the word, the position of the, eg, ㅅ,ㅈ,ㅌ,ㅊ will pronounce as a “t” if the syllable ends with them. So, you need to keep in mind as this is a simple basic and very important rule to follow for you to speak and pronounce properly.
The most important part of Korean pronunciation is to know the difference between whether it is a question or an answer. In the formal polite form of the Korean language, the ending part of a sentence is ended by the syllable “요”.In the ending syllable of a formal polite form while asking a question the ending “요” must be higher in pitch to indicate it is the question. And while answering the ending “요” must be on a flat pitch.
Finally,
These rules are the unavoidable rule to follow good Korean speaking skill. It is of utmost importance to learn the basic sound of each letter for you to master the language. And practice more to gate that. You can take help from many online classes from the institutes that excel I solving your problems and to help you in your ultimate goal, here is a link for you, https://classes.multibhashi.com/courses/live-korean-classes-online?referrer=footer
Enjoy learning!