LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "끝" in Korean?
kkeut. A tensed ㄲ over the lip-flat ㅡ, closed by a ㅌ that final position reduces to a silent t.
kkeut
Just the one beat, and a demanding one. Three of the things packed into this single block -- the tension, the vowel and the neutralized batchim -- are features English simply does not have.
Listen: 끝
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
이 이야기는 끝이 슬퍼요.
I iyagineun kkeuchi seulpeoyo.
The end of the story is sad.
Listen: 이 이야기는 끝이 슬퍼요.
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이 이야기는 끝이 슬퍼요 attaches the subject particle, and the ㅌ resyllabifies forward, where it palatalizes in front of the ㅣ and comes out as ch: kkeu-chi. The silent t of the bare noun becomes an aspirated affricate.
Where English speakers slip
Softening the ㄲ into an English k is the first error, rounding the ㅡ into 'koot' is the second, and releasing the final t is the third -- and most learners commit all three at once. Take them one at a time: lock the throat, spread the lips, and stop the tongue without letting it go.