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Korean pronunciation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| hagen Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6754 days ago 171 posts - 179 votes  6 sounds Speaks: German*, English, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 25 of 48 11 September 2007 at 2:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
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That's funny, the first Korean word I learned was 네, but I didn't know at that time. I thought it was 데... ;-)
I haven't had this as a perception problem for a while, but recently my wife remarked that sometimes my Korean Ns sounded like Ls. All this together obviously wants to tell us something about Korean Ns, namely that they're different from English Ns (or German ones for that matter). They seem to be articulated more towards the front teeth (alveolar). Categorial perception then explains the rest of your observations. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| masoris Diglot Groupie Korea, South Joined 6084 days ago 48 posts - 52 votes Speaks: Korean*, English Studies: Esperanto, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 26 of 48 13 September 2007 at 6:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
When I think the sound is 'm', every times I heard iτ 'mot', but when I think the sound is 'b', I heard it like somewhat confusing sounds between 'm' and 'b'. But I'm sure that this sound is exactly 'Mot', because there are no korean word 'bot'. When I heard confusing sound, I consider all possibilities, and I choose one which is best make sense. For example 'Ge' means 'crab' while 'Gae' means 'dog'. but those words have totally same sound as 'Ge' when speak fast. So if someone speak "I have a 'Ge' in my house', it means dog. While 'Ge' means crab in "I catch a 'Ge' in shore". I think that even native Korean speaker sometimes has hardness to distinguish pronunciation especially in Vowels. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| IronFist Senior Member United States Joined 6231 days ago 663 posts - 941 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 27 of 48 19 September 2007 at 5:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
We pronounce it as "Kim" because it's written with a "k". In English, a K only makes one sound. "Kuh." :) So I've been doing this new Korean Pimsleur program. It's definitely better than the old 10 lesson one they had years ago. This one actually sounds like the Korean you hear on TV. Anyway, I've come to realize that I never know what to expect with Korean pronunciation. Ns are Ds half the time, and CHs are Js half the time. I'll learn an expression, like "Han Shi-neun Chom" ("One O'clock is a little (inconvenient)"), and I'll be pretty sure that "Chom" is the word for "A little." And then when the guy speaker says it, it's definately "Jom." "Han Shi-neun Jom..." So now, I just laugh when it happens. Oh, and the numbers are KILLING me (the numbering system used for giving the hours in time, like 1:00, 2:00, etc.). I cannot understand the speakers. I know: 1 is han 2 is tu 3 is se (well I know it's "set," but it's se-shi for 3:00), 4 is ne, but for the last few days I thought it was de. 5 is da-seot, I think, but I can't tell if they're saying Da-Seo or Da-Seot with a glottal stop T at the end 6 is is the same as 5 except it's yeo instead of da at the beginning. 7 is either il-gop, il-got, or il-go, but I can't tell which one 8 is yeo-deul, and I can actually say this one without any problems 9 is either a-hop, a-ho, or a-hot, but I can't tell which one. 9:00 sounds like "a-hox-Shi" (Where x is either a p, a t, or an s) 10 is yeul, which is easy to say. I've never had problems like this with any other language, ever. I've made the decision that, unlike with Japanese, learning to speak Korean is going to be entirely separate from learning to read Korean. The pronunciation is not consistent enough for me to see a Korean word and know how to say it. There is too much slurring and I cannot come up with an algorithm for it in my head. I guess it's like what I mentioned in another thread about English. You can't really go by how words are written. "Entertain" is pronounced like "Ennertain." No one says the first T in there (except British speakers sometimes), and if you were in America and said "Entertain," it would be instantly apparent that you're not a native speaker. I think it will be completely separate memorization for each. For example, when I hear someone say "Ah-Nyi Gye-Se-Yo," I know they are saying goodbye, which is written AnNyeongHi GyeSeYo. When an English learner hears "ennertain," they have to know that they're hearing a word that is written as "entertain." When a Japanese learner hears anything, they immediately know how to write it and say it ;) Edited by IronFist on 19 September 2007 at 5:25pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| jstele Bilingual Senior Member United States Joined 6449 days ago 186 posts - 194 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean* | Message 28 of 48 30 October 2007 at 5:33am | IP Logged | |||||
The intonation will change the pronunciation. Otherwise, Korean would be a very monotonous language. Korean is actually highly phonetic. You just need to learn the exceptions. Yeah, you just have to learn them like in English where drought and sought do not rhyme. There aren't a lot and they're easy to learn. Without them, Korean would sound awkward. The slurring smoothes the phonetic transitions.
Well, more like Ahnyeonghyegehsehyo, even when spoken quickly. You should find another program where the speakers are more slow and then move on to faster tapes. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ShreddaCheese Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6458 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English, Korean* Studies: German | Message 29 of 48 01 November 2007 at 10:04am | IP Logged | |||||
I was just commenting on how in korean the last name 'Kim' is really spelled as 'Gim' in Korean. And also whenever I say 'Gim' to an English speaker they always hear the 'g' as a 'k'. The same with 'b' and 'p'. English spelling of the city 'Busan' is 'Pusan'. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| hagen Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6754 days ago 171 posts - 179 votes 6 sounds Speaks: German*, English, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 30 of 48 01 November 2007 at 11:27am | IP Logged | |||||
That's because Korean spelling of the city 'Busan' used to be 'Pusan'. For all the praise one can heap upon Hangul (Hangeul, Hankul, ...), it certainly didn't further the emergence of a standard romanisation (cf. pinyin). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| virgule Senior Member Antarctica Joined 6634 days ago 242 posts - 261 votes Studies: Korean | Message 31 of 48 01 November 2007 at 11:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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Choo, M. & O'Grady, W. (2003) The Sounds of Korean: A Pronunciation Guide, Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press.
This excellent book might help you a bit, but more generally, don't give up over a few confusions at the beginning. The sounds in English and Korean do not correspond quite that well, and before your ear gets used to the Korean forms, confusion will be part of the experience, I think. The book comes in two parts. The first part describes how the different Korean sounds are produced. This not only helps with pronouncing these sounds yourself, but also with understanding them. If you have only started with learning Korean, don't get bogged down with some of the details, but move on to the next sound. There are many details described, including more assimilations (합니다 {P} pronounced as 함니다 {M}) than I have ever come across... The second part consists of exercises. Now, pronunciation requires audio files, and the book comes with a CD full of it. That's a CD full of MP3, so lots of audio to go. These exercises will help you differentiate between sounds. As I mentioned, as someone who has just started, the first impression may be overwhelming, but I would recommend this book even for those who only know how to say hello. Use it in conjunction with your introductory programme, and then keep coming back as you progress... Oh, and I forgot to mention that sounds of words change depending on the preceding/following sounds... don't worry too much about this at the beginning, as some of these changes are common, and you will pick them up quickly. Other changes are less common and I wouldn't worry about them to start with. If you want to understand these changes, the book I suggested will help you. Edited by virgule on 01 November 2007 at 11:50am 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| masoris Diglot Groupie Korea, South Joined 6084 days ago 48 posts - 52 votes Speaks: Korean*, English Studies: Esperanto, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 32 of 48 01 November 2007 at 6:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I finally found the difference of pronunciation:
When you pronounce /d/ sound in English, you'll not lower soft palate. And when you pronounce /n/ in English, you'll lower soft palate to decrease air flow to mouth and increase air flow to nose. But Korean people don't lower soft palate to make any sound, they use only tongue to make /n/ sound. So Korean /n/ is less nasally than English, and it cloud be heard like /d/ to English native speakers. Edited by masoris on 01 November 2007 at 6:54pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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