Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "의" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 의 in Korean?

의 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɰi/. It means “of (possessive particle).” Written 의, but as the possessive particle it is standardly said 'e', exactly like 에. The full 'ui' pronunciation belongs to other positions in the word.

Written 의, but as the possessive particle it is standardly said 'e', exactly like 에. The full 'ui' pronunciation belongs to other positions in the word.

의 /ɰi/

A single unstressed beat that attaches to the noun in front and never stands alone. What matters here is not rhythm but the three-way split in how ㅢ is read: 'ui' in a word-initial syllable, 'i' in a non-initial one, and 'e' when it is this possessive particle.

Listen: 의

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Sound it out

u The first half of ㅢ is a very brief ㅡ, tongue high and back with spread lips. In the particle use it is normally dropped altogether.

i The glide lands on a tight 'ee'. When the full diphthong is pronounced it sweeps from ㅡ to ㅣ in one motion, with no consonant in between.

Hear it in a sentence

이것은 민수의 책이에요.

Igeoseun Minsuui chaegieyo.

This is Minsu's book.

Listen: 이것은 민수의 책이에요.

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이것은 민수의 책이에요 romanizes the particle as 'ui', but almost every speaker says Min-su-e chae-gi-e-yo. Notice too that 책이에요 shifts the ㄱ of 책 forward into the vowel, so a consonant that would otherwise be silent turns into an audible g.

Where English speakers slip

Reading it as a careful two-part 'oo-ee' is the textbook version and sounds like one. In the possessive slot it is simply 'e'. The related error is hearing ㅢ as English 'wee' -- there is no lip rounding anywhere in this vowel, and rounding it produces 위 instead, which is a different word entirely.