발음 규칙 – it ’ s not as easy as it seems … – Hangukdrama & Korean 
 8 In Korean learning journey ( : / Korean Lessons 
 sometimes I get a little annoyed when people claim that they can pronounce all Korean words easily once they learn Hangul . It ’ s a mistaken view that Korean has a transparent spelling system , unlike English . There are alot of rules and regulations when it comes to pronunciation . Some are learned easily as they apply to all words , but some are only applied to certain 한자 characters and there are exceptions here and there . 
 Almost 3 years into learning Korean , I still feel that I ’ m inadequate in many aspects and I ’ m gradually refining my pronunciation . Thought I ’ ll share the stuff that I ’ ve learned on this blog ^^ It helps me consolidate what I ’ ve learnt ( since I ’ m reading the original text in Korean ) and I hope it ’ s helpful to others too . 
 When 한자 starts with ‘ 녀 , 뇨 , 뉴 , 니 ’, it will be written and pronounced as ‘ 여 , 요 , 유 , 이 ’ 
 예 ) 여자 ( 女子 ） 
 In non - initial positions , it is written and pronounced as 녀 , 뇨 , 뉴 , 니 
 예 ) 남녀 
 However , in cases of a bound noun , 냐 and 녀 can be written and pronounced in this way 
 예 ) 년 – 삼 년 ( 三年 ） 
 In the case where another 한자 acts like a prefix to form a complex noun , the hanja behind which starts with the above sounds will be written as 여 , 요 , 유 , 이 even though it is pronounced as if the ㄴ is there . ( okay , i know it sounds confusing ) 
 예 ) 신여성 ( 新 女性 ) [ 신녀 성 ] 
 In the case where a native noun is added in front , it follows the same principle as the rule right above . 
 예 ) 한국 여자 대학 ( 女子 大學 ) [ 한 궁녀 자 대학 ] 
 This is just the tip of the iceberg . I ’ ll try to post up more next time ! ^^ 
 korean pronunciationkorean soundslearning korean 
 15 December , 2010 at 9 : 59 AM 
 Whoever said that should be smacked ! 
 After over 10 years I still can ’ t pronounce 여 , 요 , 어 , 오 properly much less what you ’ ve mentioned up there ! 
 15 December , 2010 at 11 : 00 PM 
 haha yup they can be tough to differentiate . 여 and 어 are pronounced with your mouth opened bigger ^^ 
 16 December , 2010 at 2 : 08 AM 
 First of all , thanks for this useful post . . It would be great if you could provide more rules in future . . 
 As far as the confusion in the pronunciation of some Korean vowels is concerned , it also depends on the native language of the speaker … . For example , in my mother tongue Hindi we have separate vowel sounds and letters for 여 , 요 , 어 and 오 . . So Indian learners find it a bit easier to pronounce these characters correctly … 
 18 December , 2010 at 8 : 53 PM 
 Hi ! I ’ m glad you are back with a new blog 😀 I ’ ll write more about it soon ~ 
 16 December , 2010 at 12 : 08 PM 
 Nice blog ! I like your writing way . I love Singapore . I hope i can study Information Technology here in next year . 
 17 December , 2010 at 4 : 53 PM 
 Hi , this is very useful . Thank you so much for sharing ! 🙂 
 18 December , 2010 at 12 : 25 PM 
 I ’ m bored and I ’ ve got class in half an hour . Boo . 
 Came across this live perf of JYJ on Billboard . 
 18 December , 2010 at 8 : 52 PM 
 hahaha ! i finished 2 exams today ! >,< 
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