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Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "더럽다" in Korean?
deo-reop-tta. Both vowels are the unrounded ㅓ, with a tap between them and a tensed ending.
deoreopda
Three blocks, evenly timed. Both vowels being identical makes the word a self-check for ㅓ, and the ㅂ-irregular conjugation 더러워요 removes the stop entirely, which changes the feel of the word completely.
Listen: 더럽다
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
제 손이 더러워요.
Je soni deoreowoyo.
My hands are dirty.
Listen: 제 손이 더러워요.
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제 손이 더러워요 uses the irregular form and lets 손이 resyllabify its ㄴ into the particle, giving so-ni. Nothing in the sentence keeps a stop closure at the surface, so the whole line flows without interruption.
Where English speakers slip
Rounding either ㅓ gives 'doe-rop' and spoils both vowels at once, so keep the lips flat through the first two syllables. Learners also let the tap become an English r, which stretches the middle syllable and, combined with the rounding, leaves the word barely recognizable.