LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "손" in Korean?
son. One syllable: a light Korean ㅅ, a rounded ㅗ, and a tongue-tip n.
son
One beat. The rounding on the vowel is what keeps this distinct from the flatter syllables around it, so lip position rather than length is what carries the word.
Listen: 손
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
제 손이 차가워요.
Je soni chagawoyo.
My hands are cold.
Listen: 제 손이 차가워요.
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제 손이 차가워요 attaches the subject particle, so the ㄴ moves into it and the noun becomes so-ni. Then 차가워요 opens with an aspirated ㅊ, giving the sentence its only strong consonant.
Where English speakers slip
Flattening the ㅗ toward 'uh' is the main error and it drifts the word toward 선, so push the lips forward. The other slip is English vowel nasalization before the n, which colours the vowel in advance instead of keeping the two sounds separate.