LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "쥐" in Korean?
jwi. One syllable: a plain ㅈ running into a w-glide and a tight 'ee', with the lips rounding and then spreading.
jwi
One short block, and a busy one for its length. Three articulations happen inside a single block, which is why learners stretch it into two syllables more often than with almost any other word in the course.
Listen: 쥐
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
쥐가 책상 밑에 숨었어요.
Jwiga chaeksang mite sumeosseoyo.
The mouse hid under the desk.
Listen: 쥐가 책상 밑에 숨었어요.
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쥐가 책상 밑에 숨었어요 attaches the subject particle, and 밑에 palatalizes: the ㅌ batchim resyllabifies forward and comes out as an aspirated t, giving mi-te. Then 숨었어요 resyllabifies twice more.
Where English speakers slip
'joo-ee' with two syllables is the standard distortion, and 'jwee' with the lips spread from the start is the other. Round first, then spread, and keep it to one beat. Aspirating the ㅈ is the third error and it gives 취, a different syllable entirely.