Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "사무실" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 사무실 in Korean?

사무실 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sa.mu.ɕil/. It means “office.” sa-mu-shil. Two different ㅅ sounds -- plain at the front and palatalized at the end -- because only the last one has an ㅣ behind it.

sa-mu-shil. Two different ㅅ sounds -- plain at the front and palatalized at the end -- because only the last one has an ㅣ behind it.

사무실 /sa.mu.ɕil/

samusil

Three beats. Like 사실, the word contains ㅅ twice with different realizations, which makes it a useful place to hear that the palatalization depends entirely on the vowel that follows.

Listen: 사무실

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Sound it out

sa A light Korean ㅅ, with less friction than English, over a wide open ㅏ.

mu A lip-shut m onto a high rounded ㅜ, lips pushed forward.

sil The same ㅅ letter, now palatalized to 'sh' by the ㅣ, closed with a clear forward l.

Hear it in a sentence

저는 매일 사무실에 가요.

Jeoneun maeil samusire gayo.

I go to the office every day.

Listen: 저는 매일 사무실에 가요.

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저는 매일 사무실에 가요 attaches 에, so the final ㄹ taps forward and the noun becomes sa-mu-si-re. Notice that the palatalized sh survives the shift, because the ㅣ is still sitting behind it.

Where English speakers slip

Giving both ㅅ letters the same value is the standard error, and it usually means a plain s for both. The dark l is the second, since an English l at the end pulls the vowel backward. And keep the Korean s light, because English friction on the first syllable makes the word harsher than it is.