Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "안전하다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 안전하다 in Korean?

안전하다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /an.dʑʌn.ɦa.da/. It means “to be safe.” an-jeon-ha-da. Two ㄴ sounds, a plain voiced ㅈ, and a ㅎ that softens after the nasal.

an-jeon-ha-da. Two ㄴ sounds, a plain voiced ㅈ, and a ㅎ that softens after the nasal.

안전하다 /an.dʑʌn.ɦa.da/

anjeonhada

Four level blocks. Both of the first two syllables end in ㄴ, which gives the word a nasal-heavy texture, and keeping those two n sounds crisp rather than letting them nasalize the vowels is the practical concern.

Listen: 안전하다

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Sound it out

an Open ㅏ closed by a tongue-tip n, with a clean vowel start and no glottal catch.

jeon Plain ㅈ voiced after the nasal, the unrounded ㅓ, and another forward n.

ha ㅎ trapped between a nasal and a vowel, so it weakens noticeably at conversational speed.

da Voiced, quick, and unaccented.

Hear it in a sentence

이 동네는 안전해요.

I dongneneun anjeonhaeyo.

This neighborhood is safe.

Listen: 이 동네는 안전해요.

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이 동네는 안전해요 puts 동네 in front, where the ㅇ of 동 links into the ㄴ of 네 and the whole first word is one continuous nasal run. The verb then adds two more nasals, making this an unusually resonant sentence.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers nasalize the vowel and weaken the ㄴ, which is what English does in 'can' -- Korean keeps the vowel clean and makes a definite tongue contact for the n. The other slip is aspirating the ㅈ into 'an-cheon-ha-da', when after a nasal it should be soft and fully voiced.