LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "점심" in Korean?
jeom-shim. The second ㅅ palatalizes because of the ㅣ, so the two syllables end alike but begin quite differently.
jeomsim
Two blocks, matched in shape. Both end in ㅁ, which gives the word a symmetrical feel, and neither takes emphasis -- the interest lives entirely in the different opening consonants.
Listen: 점심
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Hear it in a sentence
점심에 뭐 먹었어요?
Jeomsime mwo meogeosseoyo?
What did you have for lunch?
Listen: 점심에 뭐 먹었어요?
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점심에 뭐 먹었어요? attaches 에 to 점심, so the final ㅁ moves forward and gives jeom-shi-me. Then 먹었어요 performs its own double migration, releasing the trapped ㄱ and producing a resyllabified double s.
Where English speakers slip
Saying 'jeom-sim' with a plain s misses the palatalization, and it is the same rule that governs 시간, 마시다 and 사실. The vowel in the first block is the other thing to watch, since rounding ㅓ into 'jom' is easy to do and lands you in a different set of words.