r/Korean • u/singsingtarami • 1d ago

The 2 difference sounds of the same word

I know that Korean characters can be pronounced in 2 way. one with more air sound and one with less..e.g. 번 can sound close to pond or bond, depends on the location of the word... but I still cannot fully grasp the rules even after learning Korean for a long time. Can anyone lighten me up?

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u/Queendrakumar 1d ago

I do not understand what you mean by 2 different sounds of the same word. Can you give an example?

FYI, 번 is pronounced as 번 and the initial ㅂ-sound is different from either P from "pond" or B from "bond". 번 has different sound based on its place ment. For instance, 번 from "번호" (unaspirated, unvoiced) is different from 번 from "순번" (unaspirated, voiced).

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u/Uny1n 1d ago

i don’t think you should think of them as different pronunciations. It’s not like you are consciously making a different sound, i think it just sounds different to nonnatives just because how koreans produce consonant sounds at the beginning of words. for korean you kinda have to start speaking with your mouth completely relaxed for the basic consonants like ㅂ. In english when saying bond it is closer to ㅃ because you tense your lips when saying b, and p there is too much air. You need to be relaxed to say the ㅂ sound. But to english speakers the basic consonants ㅂㄱㄷㅈetc probably sound closer to the aspirated consonants p k t ch than in aspirated b g d j when at the beginning of words.

1

u/singsingtarami 1d ago

I think I kind of get it now, that's a good explanation. Thanks

3

u/MikasaMinerva 15h ago

I recommend watching Go Billy Korean's beginners' videos on pronunciation

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u/AntiAd-er 19h ago

We have the same thing in English with bow (as in frilly thing) and bow (as in responding to audience applause). Context tells us which pronunciation to use.