Postby Chris1 » April 25th, 2009 1:11 am
I mean, it's really not a "rule" thing per se. They're simply natural changes that you kind of get the hang of by listening and trying to speak yourself. If you ever encounter something that's quite difficult to pronounce, it's likely not pronounced that way. For example: 연락.. Saying 연 and 락 separately is alright, but trying to say them both together as they are written is very difficult so it's pronounced 열락. and like 먹는 would be difficult to say together as 먹 는 (moKneun 멐는) so it's more like 멍는 - just a natural change. Actually, I didn't even think about the way I pronounce 절대 as 절때 until you mentioned it...
There are also word-specific things that aren't really extensively cataloged to my knowledge like the pronunciation difference between 눈 (snow) and 눈 (eye) and 말 (horse) and 말 (words). Although these are very small, they are known to exist. Another example would be the word 권 (券) as in 여권 and 권 (權) in 영주권. The 권 here is pronounced 꿘.
My point is that there are no real "rules" to these types of things.. it just comes with the learning. The North Koreans do things quite differently and take a slightly different approach like 고마와요 instead of 고마워요. Although, 고마와 is considered 'vowel harmony', SK vernacular dictates 고마워. To make things even more easier to pronounce, the South even changed the 려 as in 旅 to 여. You'll see both:
려 - 군사 려 旅
여 - 군사 여 旅
(This is the 여 as in 여행, 여권, etc.)
