Pronounciation Generalized

Now that we've gone over the basics, let's generalize pronounciation in Korean.

There are 4 spots in Korean:

There is always a letter in 1 and 2.

There is sometimes a letter in 4.

There is rarely a letter in 3.

Let's take a look at some examples:

닭

This is pronounced not exactly as expected: ㄷ (d) + ㅏ (a) + ㄹ (l) + ㄱ (g).

1 and 2 are normal: they make the "da" sound when combined.

However, when there is a letter in 3, 3 and 4 combine slightly differently. Instead of just adding the two sounds, they sort of mush together.

ㄹ + ㄱ doesn't make the "lg" sound, but rather a sharper "lk" sound (like talk).

There isn't a particular pattern here - just try taking the two sounds and mashing them together.

Here's another example:

판

You might wonder: if there's only one letter in the bottom, is that 3 or 4? From here on out, we'll call that letter 4, but in practice, there isn't really much of a difference.

1 + 2 + 3 = ㅍ + ㅏ + ㄴ = p + aa + n.

One more:

자

1 + 2 = ㅈ + ㅏ = j + aa.