Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "하얀색" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 하얀색 in Korean?

하얀색 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ha.jan.sɛk̚/. It means “white (color).” ha-yan-saek, three light beats. The middle syllable is a y-glide onto an open 'ah', spoken all in one piece.

ha-yan-saek, three light beats. The middle syllable is a y-glide onto an open 'ah', spoken all in one piece.

하얀색 /ha.jan.sɛk̚/

hayansaek

Level delivery throughout and no stressed syllable. Notice that nothing changes across the seams: 하얀 ends in ㄴ, a nasal, so the ㅅ of 색 stays plain instead of tensing -- and the contrast with 초록색 is worth hearing back to back.

Listen: 하얀색

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Sound it out

ha A soft, unforced ㅎ onto a wide 'ah', noticeably lighter than the h at the start of English 'hat'.

yan ㅑ is y plus the open ㅏ, delivered as a single beat, then closed off with a tongue-tip n.

saek Plain ㅅ after the nasal, then the flat ㅐ and a final k that closes without releasing.

Hear it in a sentence

하얀색 모자를 쓰고 있어요.

Hayansaek mojareul sseugo isseoyo.

I'm wearing a white hat.

Listen: 하얀색 모자를 쓰고 있어요.

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하얀색 모자를 쓰고 있어요 triggers nasalization across the word boundary. The ㄱ of 색 sits in front of the ㅁ of 모자, and a stop cannot survive before a nasal, so it turns into ng: ha-yan-saeng mo-ja in connected speech. The 쓰고 that follows opens with a tensed ㅆ over the ㅡ vowel.

Where English speakers slip

The temptation is 'ha-YAN-saek' with an English stress bump on the middle, and to split ㅑ into two syllables, 'hee-ahn'. It is one beat. The vowel in 얀 is the open ㅏ, so the syllable is 'yahn' -- neither 'yehn' nor 'yun' -- with the mouth wide and the lips unrounded.