Studying Korean/beginner

🌟 Day 23: Korean Pronunciation Rule – When ㄴ meets ㅁ, it becomes ㅁ!

thanks2korea 2025. 4. 7. 08:33

 

Hi everyone!
Great job keeping up with your Korean learning every day!
Today, let’s look at a really interesting and useful pronunciation rule that will help you sound more like a native speaker.


🔍 What’s the Rule?

When a syllable ends in ㄴ (n) and the next syllable starts with ㅁ (m),
ㄴ changes to ㅁ, and the sound becomes a double [mm] sound.

This process is called nasal assimilation (비음화 / bieumhwa) in Korean.


📘 Examples

Korean Pronunciation Meaning

신문 (sin + mun) 심문 [shim-moon] newspaper
국물 (guk + mul) 궁물 [gung-mool] soup/broth
젊는 (jeolm + neun) 점는 [jeom-neun] being young (grammar structure)
반말 (ban + mal) 밤말 [bam-mal] informal speech

🧠 Why It Matters

  • Helps you understand native speakers more easily
  • Makes your pronunciation sound more natural
  • Avoids confusion when reading or writing

🗣 Practice Time!

Say these out loud with the [mm] sound:

  • 신문 → [심문]
  • 국물 → [궁물]
  • 반말 → [밤말]
  • 젊는 → [점는]

You did great today!
These pronunciation rules may seem small, but they make a big difference in sounding fluent.
Keep going—you’re doing amazing!
See you tomorrow for more Korean fun!