Jeonghangul Pronunciation: A Guide to Accurately Pronouncing Korean382

Jeonghangul, also known as Revised Romanization, is the official system for romanizing the Korean language. It is an updated version of the McCune-Reischauer system, which was first developed in the 1930s. Jeonghangul is designed to be more accurate and easier to learn than McCune-Reischauer, and it is now the preferred system for use in academic and official documents.

Vowels

There are 10 vowels in Jeonghangul: ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ, ㅣ. They are pronounced as follows:* ㅏ: ah
* ㅑ: yah
* ㅓ: eo
* ㅕ: yeo
* ㅗ: oh
* ㅛ: yoh
* ㅜ: oo
* ㅠ: yoo
* ㅡ: eu
* ㅣ: ee

Diphthongs are combinations of two vowels that are pronounced as a single syllable. There are 11 diphthongs in Jeonghangul: ㅐ, ㅒ, ㅔ, ㅖ, ㅘ, ㅙ, ㅚ, ㅝ, ㅞ, ㅟ, ㅢ. They are pronounced as follows:* ㅐ: ae
* ㅒ: yae
* ㅔ: e
* ㅖ: ye
* ㅘ: wa
* ㅙ: wae
* ㅚ: oe
* ㅝ: wo
* ㅞ: we
* ㅟ: wi
* ㅢ: ui

Consonants

There are 19 consonants in Jeonghangul: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ, ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ. They are pronounced as follows:* ㄱ: g
* ㄴ: n
* ㄷ: d
* ㄹ: r
* ㅁ: m
* ㅂ: b
* ㅅ: s
* ㅇ: ng (at the beginning of a syllable) or silent (at the end of a syllable)
* ㅈ: j
* ㅊ: ch
* ㅋ: k
* ㅌ: t
* ㅍ: p
* ㅎ: h
* ㄲ: kk
* ㄸ: tt
* ㅃ: pp
* ㅆ: ss
* ㅉ: jj

The following consonants are pronounced with aspiration:* ㄱ: kh
* ㄷ: th
* ㅂ: ph

The following consonants are pronounced with glottalization:* ㄱ: g'
* ㄷ: d'
* ㅂ: b'

Syllables

Korean syllables are made up of a vowel and a consonant. The consonant can be at the beginning, middle, or end of the syllable. For example, the syllable ㄱㅏ (ga) is made up of the vowel ㅏ (a) and the consonant ㄱ (g). The syllable ㅏㄱ (ag) is made up of the vowel ㅏ (a) and the consonant ㄱ (g) in the middle. The syllable ㄱㅏㅁ (gam) is made up of the vowel ㅏ (a), the consonant ㄱ (g), and the consonant ㅁ (m) at the end.

Stress

Stress in Korean is not as strong as it is in English. The most common stress pattern is for the first syllable of a word to be stressed. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, the word "안녕하세요" (annyeonghaseyo) is stressed on the second syllable.

2025-01-17

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