🌟 Day 18: Korean Pronunciation Rule – Nasalization (비음화)

Hello, everyone!
You’re doing great keeping up with Korean every day!
Today, we’re going to learn a very cool and important pronunciation rule called Nasalization (비음화).

It might sound tricky, but don’t worry—I’ll break it down for you with clear examples and tips!

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🧠 What is Nasalization?

Nasalization happens when a consonant sound changes into a nasal sound (like “m,” “n,” or “ng”) due to the influence of nearby nasal sounds.

In Korean, this often happens when a final consonant (받침) is followed by a nasal consonant (ㄴ or ㅁ) in the next syllable.

In short:

The final consonant “wants to blend in” with the nasal sound that follows it.

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🔄 When Does Nasalization Happen?

It usually happens in these cases:
• A 받침 like ㅂ, ㄷ, ㄱ is followed by ㄴ or ㅁ
• The 받침 sound changes into a nasal sound to make pronunciation smoother

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📚 Examples

Written Pronounced As Meaning
합니다 (hap + nida) [함니다] [ham-ni-da] to do (formal)
입문 (ip + mun) [임문] [im-mun] introduction
국물 (guk + mul) [궁물] [gung-mul] soup/broth
꽃나무 (kkot + namu) [꼰나무] [konn-namu] flowering tree



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🗣️ Let’s Practice Saying Them!

Try saying each word slowly first, then naturally:
• 합니다 → [함니다]
• 입문 → [임문]
• 국물 → [궁물]
• 꽃나무 → [꼰나무]

It feels smoother to pronounce, right?

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✨ Why Nasalization Matters
• Makes your pronunciation more natural
• Helps you understand native speakers better
• It’s a key rule for sounding fluent!

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You’ve made it to Day 18—amazing!
Every little step is making your Korean better and more natural.
See you tomorrow for another helpful tip! Keep going—you got this!