LESSON 3

Sound Changes

When you link words together without pausing between, certain sound changes take place. If the first word ends in a consonant and the second begins with a vowel, the final consonant of the first word is pronounced as the initial consonant of the second word:

			NOTE PRONUNCIATION CHANGE
seom-i	섬이	island (as subject)	= seo mi
seom-e	섬에	to the island	= seo me

If the final consonant is p, t, ch, or k it changes in sound to b, d, j, or g:

			NOTE PRONUNCIATION CHANGE
chaek-i	책이	book (as subject)	chae gi
hanguk-e	한국에	to Korea	Hangu ge
bap-i	밥이	cooked rice (as subject)	ba bi
naj-e	낮에	in the daytime	na je

If the final consonant is l, it changes in sound to r:

			NOTE PRONUNCIATION CHANGE
il-i	일이	work (as subject)	= i ri
mul-eul	물을	water (as object)	= mu reul

If the second word begins with m or n and the first word ends in p, t, or k, these change to m, n, and ng respectively:

			NOTE PRONUNCIATION CHANGE
jib mada	집마다	every house	jim mada
mot meok kko	못먹고	can’t eat	mon meok kko
chaek mada	책마다	every book	chaeng mada

The combinations tp, ts, and tk usually sound like pp, ss, and kk:

			NOTE PRONUNCIATION CHANGE
mot bwayo	못봐요	can’t see	mo ppwayo
mot sayo	못사요	can’t buy	mo ssayo
mot gayo	못가요	can’t go	mo kkayo

At the end of a word before a pause or another consonant, the only consonants which occur are p, t, k, m, n, ng, and l. But there are a few words which have basic forms (the forms you hear when linked with a following word beginning with a vowel) in other consonant combinations. These are changed as follows (see also Lesson 16):

BEFORE VOWEL		BEFORE PAUSE OR CONSONANT
P		P
jib-e 집에	to the house	jip 집 house, jipdo 집도 house too
Sh		P
gapshi	price (subj.)	gaps (not kap) 값 price;
값이		gapdo 값도 (the s is silent here) price too

Here the s is moved to the next syllable and becomes sh because the Korean s ㅅ is pronounced as sh before an i. The word is actually pronounced gapshi.

S		T
oseul	clothes (object)	ot 옷 clothes;
옷을		otdo 옷도 clothes too
BEFORE VOWEL		BEFORE PAUSE OR CONSONANT
N		N
jeong woneun	garden (topic)	jeongwon 정원 garden;
정원은		jeongwon do 정원도 garden too
CH		T
kkocheun	flower (topic)	kkot 꽃 flower;
꽃은		kkotdo 꽃도 flower too
J		T
naje	in the daytime	nat 낮 daytime;
낮에		natdo 낮도 daytime too
KK		K
bakke	outside	bakk 밖 outside;
밖에		bakkdo 밖도 outside too
LG		K
dalgi	chicken (subj.)	dak 닭 chicken;
닭이		dakdo 닭도 chicken too

There are certain other sound changes which are less regular. You may also notice sound variants. Sometimes the same thing will be pronounced in two different ways even by the same speaker. The most common of these is the dropping of h between voiced sounds:

man(h)i	lots	많이
bang(h)ak	school vacation	방학
a(h)op	nine	아홉
pyeong(h)waropkke	peacefully	평화롭게
eun(h)aeng	bank	은행

You may also notice that w sometimes drops, especially after b, p, pp, m, u, o:

WRITTEN AS:			PRONOUNCED AS:
jeomwon	clerk	점원	jeomeon
Guwol	September	구월	Gueol
Samwol	March	삼월	Sameol
Owol	May	오월	Oeol

One irregular sound change which is quite common is the replacement of an initial b, d, j, s, or g by their tense counterparts pp, tt, jj, ss, or kk. In this book, the “reinforcement” of the initial sound is sometimes shown with parentheses: (p)p, (t)t, (j)j, (s)s, or (k)k. For example:

WRITTEN AS:			PRONOUNCED AS:
eojetbam	last night	어젯밤	eojetppam
yeoldul	twelve	열둘	yeolttul

NOTE: You will notice that a few Korean consonants change sounds depending on their position in a syllable. The letter ㅂ is pronounced as b at the beginning of a syllable (밤, bam) but p at the end (업, eop). The letter ㄷ is pronounced as d at the beginning and t at the end (닫, dat). The letter ㄱ is pronounced as g at the beginning and k at the end (각, gak). Finally, the letter ㄹ is pronounced more like r at the beginning and more like l at the end (를, reul). The letters ㅍ (p), ㅋ (k), and ㅌ (t) are always pronounced the same way.