What Is Jung in Korean Pronunciation?125

When learning Korean pronunciation, you might encounter the term Jung. Jung is a Korean diacritic that indicates a consonant's aspiration. Aspiration is a sound that is produced when a consonant is followed by a puff of air. In Korean, Jung is indicated by a small circle placed above the consonant.

Jung is used to distinguish between two types of consonants: plain consonants and aspirated consonants. Plain consonants are pronounced without aspiration, while aspirated consonants are pronounced with aspiration. The difference between the two can be heard in the pronunciation of the following words:*

기 (ki) - plain consonant*

키 (khi) - aspirated consonant

As you can see, the only difference between these two words is the aspiration of the consonant. The plain consonant 기 (ki) is pronounced without aspiration, while the aspirated consonant 키 (khi) is pronounced with aspiration.

Jung is used on the following consonants:*

ㄱ (g)*

ㄷ (d)*

ㅂ (b)*

ㅈ (j)*

ㅊ (ch)*

ㅋ (k)*

ㅌ (t)*

ㅍ (p)*

ㅎ (h)

When these consonants are followed by Jung, they are pronounced with aspiration. For example, the word 가 (ga) is pronounced without aspiration, while the word 카 (kha) is pronounced with aspiration.

Jung is an important part of Korean pronunciation. By understanding how it works, you can improve your pronunciation and make yourself more understandable to native Korean speakers.

Here are some additional tips for pronouncing Jung:*

Jung is pronounced as a light puff of air. It should not be pronounced as a strong aspirated consonant like in English.*

Jung is only used on the consonants listed above. If you see a consonant that is not followed by Jung, it should be pronounced without aspiration.*

Practice pronouncing words with and without Jung to get a feel for how it affects the sound of the word.

With a little practice, you will be able to pronounce Jung correctly and improve your Korean pronunciation overall.

2024-11-11

Previous：Essential Japanese Vocabulary for High School

Next：Korean Language: Understanding the Unique Pronunciation of ‘[Korean Pronunciation]‘