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Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "아직" in Korean?
a-jik. A soft voiced ㅈ between vowels, and a final ㄱ that closes the word without releasing.
ajik
Two blocks, the second clipped by its stop. That closure means the word cannot be stretched for emphasis the way English stretches 'stiiill', which is one reason Korean adverbs sound flatter than their translations.
Listen: 아직
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
아직 안 끝났어요.
Ajik an kkeunnasseoyo.
It's not finished yet.
Listen: 아직 안 끝났어요.
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아직 안 끝났어요 puts the negator 안 between the adverb and the verb, and 끝났어요 shows the nasalization that defines 끝나다: the ㅌ becomes an n in front of the following nasal, giving kkeun-na-sseo-yo.
Where English speakers slip
A released final k -- or worse, a vowel tacked on to give 'a-ji-ku' -- turns a two-beat word into three -- the tongue simply stops. Learners also aspirate the ㅈ, when between vowels it should be as soft as the j in English 'ajar'.