8 Basic Rules You Should Know About Korean Hangul Pronunciation

There are some pronunciation rules, or rather phonetic patterns, when pronouncing Korean syllables together in a word or sentence. English has its own patterns as well, but we're just so used to the language that the flow is automatic to us and we don’t even stop to think about it. 

Once you are familiar with the Hangul consonants, vowels, and syllable blocks, you should start to apply some general pronunciation rules when reading two or more syllables together. Several of those rules are described in this article. 

As you approach each section, please try not to focus on the rule itself. Think of them as patterns rather than rules. Read each set of examples out loud repeatedly and try to see that the change in pronunciation makes sense. 

If you practice saying the words out loud, you will notice that the described phonetic changes sound much more natural than trying to vocalize each syllable separately.

1. Unreleased sounds of final consonants

Without another syllable following it, the consonants at the end of a syllable have the following unreleased sounds. You should notice that the highlighted rows at the bottom have the same pronunciation within each of their respective groups.

2. Lenition Rule: when the final consonant is followed by a vowel in the next syllable

When the final consonant in one syllable is followed by another syllable that starts with a vowel, the final consonant drops off of the first syllable and is pronounced in front of the starting vowel of the next syllable.

Here are some examples:

3. Consonant Assimilation(1):when the final consonant is followed by a nasal consonant in the next syllable

The nasal consonants in Hangul are ㄴ(n) andㅁ(m).  The silent consonant ㅇ also becomes nasal when used as a final consonant. The following changes occur when a final consonant is followed by a syllable that begins with a nasal consonant.

ㅂ, ㅍ  →       [ㅁ]                 

ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ→       [ㄴ]

ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ → [ㅇ]

Let’s look at some examples:

*When the nasal consonant ㄴ(n) is before or after ㄱ(g), the preceding final consonant ends up sounding nasal (ng). In the last example, “한ㄱ~” is pronounced [항ㄱ~].  In English, n and g together also sound nasal, as in “doing,” “bang,” or “young.”  Makes sense, right?

4. Consonant Assimilation(2): when final consonants ㄴ or ㄹ are followed by ㄹ or ㄴ in the next syllable

When the consonants ㄴ(n) and ㄹ(l/r) follow one another, the ㄴ is replaced by ㄹ. In other words, anytime the ending sound of one syllable and the beginning sound of the next syllable are ㄹ and ㄴ or vice versa, they end up with a double ㄹ sound.

Here are some examples:

5. Fortis: when highlighted consonants in Rule #1 are followed by ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ, or ㅈ

When a syllable ends with one of the final consonants highlighted in Rule #1 and the next syllable begins with a ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅈ, ㄱ, or ㅅ, the consonant in the latter syllable becomes tense.  

Now let’s take a look at some examples of the tensification rule in practice:

*You should have noticed that in the last two rows, Rule #3 (nasal consonants) was also applied when “~ㅂ니다" is pronounced [~ㅁ니다].

6. Consonant Assimilation(2): when the consonant ㅎ precedes or is followed by ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, or ㅈ

Refer to the above table outlining tense and aspirated consonants and you will see that ㅎ is the aspirated counterpart of ㅇ.  When you see the consonant ㅎ before or after ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, or ㅈ, those consonants take on the sounds of their aspirated counterpart ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, or ㅊ. 

An easier way to think of this rule is that the ㅎ turns the other consonants into their aspirated forms.

Let’s look at some examples:

*Notice that Rule #5 (tensification) is also applied to the last example by pronouncing “~ㅂ시다" as [~ㅂ씨다].

7. Aspiration(2): when the consonant ㅎ precedes or is followed by ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅇ, or ㄹ

In contrast to Rule #6, the consonant ㅎ weakens and becomes silent:

Here are some examples. Notice other previously explained rules that are also applied in the examples.

8. Palatalization: when a final consonant ㄷ or ㅌ precedes the vowels ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ, or ㅣ

When a syllable ending in ㄷ(d) or ㅌ(t) is followed by a syllable that begins with a “y” sounding vowel ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ [ya, yeo, yo, yu] or the vowel ㅣ[ee], the ㄷ and ㅌ are pronounced ㅈ(j) and ㅊ(ch) respectively.

This will make more sense to you once you see the below examples:

Conclusion:

As I stated in the introduction, these rules are not laid out for memorization. They are merely explanations of naturally occurring changes that happen phonetically. 

While you continue to learn the Korean language, you will encounter occasions when the pronunciation of certain words doesn’t seem logical to you. You can refer back to these rules when that happens.

It would be helpful for you to go over each set of examples given above and repeat them several times. Then try to apply the rules when you’re reading and speaking Hangul. In time, the phonetic changes will become second nature to you!

REVIEW AND REPEAT DAILY, AND YOU WILL SEE PROGRESS…  파이팅!!