Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "이름" in Korean?

i-reum. A tap between the two vowels, and the second one is the lip-flat ㅡ closed by a lip-shut m.

이름 /i.ɾɯm/

ireum

Uniform weight across the pair. The second syllable asks for a spread-lipped vowel followed immediately by a lip closure, which is an awkward sequence and where most of the difficulty in this word lies.

Listen: 이름

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Sound it out

i A tight, pure ㅣ opening the word on the voice with no consonant in front.

reum ㄹ between vowels as a single flick, then ㅡ with the lips spread, closed by ㅁ. The lips shut for the nasal without ever rounding for the vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

이름이 뭐예요?

Ireumi mwoyeyo?

What is your name?

Listen: 이름이 뭐예요?

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이름이 뭐예요? attaches the subject particle, so the ㅁ moves forward and the noun becomes i-reu-mi. Then 뭐예요 compresses a w-glide into a single beat, so the question is five smooth syllables with no closures except that m.

Where English speakers slip

Allowing the ㅡ to round into 'room' is the usual outcome, partly because the following ㅁ makes the lips want to close early -- keep them spread until the vowel is finished. The tap is the other issue, since an English r stretches the middle of a word that should move quickly.