LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "섬" in Korean?
seom. One syllable: a light Korean ㅅ, the unrounded ㅓ, and a lip-shut ㅁ.
seom
One beat. The vowel is the only thing distinguishing this from a handful of similar syllables, so keeping it unrounded rather than letting it drift toward ㅗ is what carries the word.
Listen: 섬
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
이 섬은 작지만 아름다워요.
I seomeun jakjiman areumdawoyo.
This island is small but beautiful.
Listen: 이 섬은 작지만 아름다워요.
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이 섬은 작지만 아름다워요 attaches 은, so the ㅁ moves forward and the noun becomes seo-meun. Then 작지만 tenses its ㅈ after the unreleased ㄱ, giving jak-jji-man.
Where English speakers slip
Letting the vowel round gives 'som', the standing error with ㅓ, and here it is the only feature the word has to lose -- keep the lips slack. The other slip is releasing the final ㅁ into a small vowel, which adds a beat that is not there.