Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "형" in Korean?

hyeong. One syllable: an h, a y-glide, the unrounded ㅓ and a nasal ㅇ, all compressed into a single beat.

형 /hjʌŋ/

hyeong

One beat, and a busy one. Four articulatory events are packed into a single syllable, which is why learners so often stretch it into two -- the whole thing should take no longer than the 형 in 형이.

Listen: 형

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Sound it out

hyeo The ㅎ sits in front of a y-glide, so it palatalizes into a front-of-the-mouth hiss rather than a throaty h. Then the glide runs into the flat ㅓ.

ng Final ㅇ as pure nasal resonance, with nothing released after it.

Hear it in a sentence

제 형은 서울에 살아요.

Je hyeongeun Seoure sarayo.

My older brother lives in Seoul.

Listen: 제 형은 서울에 살아요.

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제 형은 서울에 살아요 attaches 은, and the ㅇ carries across into the particle, so the noun runs hyeong-eun with the nasal held rather than released. Then 서울에 taps its ㄹ forward and 살아요 does exactly the same.

Where English speakers slip

Saying 'hee-yong' splits one beat into two and rounds the vowel on the way, so keep it compressed and keep the lips flat. Releasing a g at the end is the other habit, and it is especially audible in a word this short -- the ㅇ is resonance, and the word ends when the resonance stops.