Practice the unrounded back vowels
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| This is the ㅏ (a) sound, this is the ㅓ(eo) sound, and this is the ㅡ (eu) sound. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to tell them apart, PLUS you'll be practicing them and on your way to perfect pronunciation! |
| I'm Joyce, and this is Korean Pronunciation Through Minimal Pairs. |
| First is ㅏ (a). This is theㅏ (a) sound in 사람 (saram) "person," 가다 (gada) "to go," and other words. |
| ㅓ (eo) is theㅓ (eo) sound in 머리 (meori) "head," 거기 (geogi) "there," and other words. |
| ㅡ (eu) is the ㅡ (eu) sound in 쓰다 (sseuda) "to write," "to use," 늦다 (neutda) "to be late," and other words. |
| These three vowels are called unrounded back vowels. "Unrounded" refers to the shape of your lips and "back" means the sounds are produced by retracting the body of the tongue from the neutral position. |
| To make the ㅏ sound: open your mouth wide, as if you are at the dentist, and relax your tongue, then try to say "ah." It's similar to a in the English word "father," but lower and also pronounced more at the front. |
| ㅏ |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅏ (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅏ |
| To make the ㅓ sound: this sound is similar to u in the English word "but." However, the English /ʌ/ is a central vowel, whereas Koreanㅓ is pronounced further back than English /ʌ/, and the mouth is less open. |
| ㅓ |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅓ (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅓ |
| To make the ㅡ sound: make your lips as flat as this character, then try pronouncing the /u/ sound, as in "boot." But remember to keep the shape of your mouth flat. The ㅡ sound isn't used in English, so English speakers learning Korean might not be familiar with it. |
| ㅡ |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅡ (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅡ |
| The difference between these vowels lies in the tongue height. |
| ㅏ is pronounced with the mouth open wide and the tongue low. |
| ㅓ is pronounced with the mouth slightly less open and the tongue pulled back. |
| ㅡ is pronounced with the mouth nearly closed, the tongue flat, and the lips unrounded. |
| This can be observed by how open your mouth is when you pronounce them. |
| Listen carefully and repeat after me. |
| ㅡ ㅓ ㅏ |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅡ ㅓ ㅏ (enunciated) |
| [3 sec pause] |
| ㅡ ㅓ ㅏ |
| Feel how your jaw drops from one to the next. |
| Listen and repeat or speak along with me. |
| Ready? |
| 감 (gam)/검 (geom) |
| "persimmon"/"sword" |
| (space for repetition) |
| 감 (gam)/검 (geom) |
| "persimmon"/"sword" |
| 카피 (ka-pi)/커피 (keo-pi) |
| "copy"/"coffee" |
| (space for repetition) |
| 카피 (ka-pi)/커피 (keo-pi) |
| "copy"/"coffee" |
| 쓸다 (sseul-da)/썰다 (sseol-da) |
| "to sweep"/"to cut" |
| (space for repetition) |
| 쓸다 (sseul-da)/썰다 (sseol-da) |
| "to sweep"/"to cut" |
| 금 (geum)/ 검 (geom) |
| "gold"/"sword" |
| (space for repetition) |
| 쓸다 (sseul-da)/썰다 (sseol-da) |
| "gold"/"sword" |
| Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after me, focussing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember the sound pronounced with the mouth open wide and the tongue low? |
| (3) |
| (2) |
| (1) |
| ㅏ |
| (1) |
| ㅏ |
| Do you remember the sound pronounced with the mouth nearly closed, the tongue flat? |
| (3) |
| (2) |
| (1) |
| ㅡ |
| (1) |
| ㅡ |
| And the sound pronounced with the mouth slightly less open and the tongue pulled back? |
| (3) |
| (2) |
| (1) |
| ㅓ |
| (1) |
| ㅓ |
| Let's practice. |
| Compare the sounds in these two words. |
| 가미 (ga-mi)/거미 (geo-mi) |
| "seasoning"/"spider" |
| (1) |
| 가미 (ga-mi)/거미 (geo-mi) |
| "seasoning"/"spider" |
| (1) |
| Let's try another. |
| 들 (deul)/덜 (deol) |
| "field"/"less" |
| (1) |
| 들 (deul)/덜 (deol) |
| "field"/"less" |
| (1) |
| Now listen to the following sentences. |
| 카피를 하면서 커피를 마셨어요. |
| (Ka-pi-reul ha-myeon-seo keo-pi-reul ma-syeoss-eo-yo.) |
| "I drank coffee while making a copy." |
| (3 sec pause) |
| 카피, 커피 |
| 바닥을 쓸고 야채를 썰었어요. |
| (Ba-dag-eul sseul-go ya-chae-reul sseol-eoss-eo-yo.) |
| "I swept the floor and then cut the vegetables." |
| (3 sec pause) |
| 쓸, 썰 |
| Read the following sentence out loud, focusing on the different sounds. |
| (pause) |
| 금과 검을 동시에 봤어요. |
| (Geum-gwa geom-eul dong-si-e bwass-eo-yo.) |
| "I saw gold and a sword at the same time." |
| (3 sec pause) |
| 금, 검 |
| By the way, if you watched til the end |
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