LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "오빠" in Korean?
o-ppa. The middle consonant is a tensed ㅃ, and it stays hard even between vowels, where a plain ㅂ would soften into a b.
oppa
Two blocks, the second a fraction longer because of the tension in its onset. The word doubles as a diagnostic, since a plain ㅂ in this position would voice, so any softness you hear means the tension is missing.
Listen: 오빠
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
제 오빠는 회사원이에요.
Je oppaneun hoesawonieyo.
My older brother is an office worker.
Listen: 제 오빠는 회사원이에요.
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제 오빠는 회사원이에요 attaches the topic particle to a vowel-final noun, so nothing resyllabifies there, and the interest moves to 회사원이에요, where the ㄴ of 원 shifts into the copula to give wo-ni-e-yo.
Where English speakers slip
Producing an ordinary b gives 오바, which is not the word, so clamp the lips and release without air. Note too that the term is gendered -- a woman uses it for an older male -- so getting the consonant right is also what makes the social meaning land, since the softened version simply will not be understood.