LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "항상" in Korean?
hang-sang. Two syllables that rhyme exactly, both ending in a nasal ㅇ with nothing released after it.
hangsang
Two matched blocks, and the symmetry is the point: same vowel, same ending, so any difference you hear between them is coming from you rather than from the word.
Listen: 항상
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
그 사람은 항상 늦어요.
Geu sarameun hangsang neujeoyo.
That person is always late.
Listen: 그 사람은 항상 늦어요.
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그 사람은 항상 늦어요 sets the adverb before the verb, and 늦어요 restores its hidden ㅈ -- the batchim resyllabifies forward and voices, giving neu-jeo-yo where the dictionary form 늦다 has only a silent t.
Where English speakers slip
Releasing a g after either ㅇ is the reflex English brings from 'hang' and 'sang', and it inserts two consonants into a word that has none. Both nasals simply stop. The ㅅ is the other point, since Korean's is lighter than an English s and the second syllable should sound softer than it looks.