The Nasalization Environment
비음화 is a common standard pronunciation pattern. When a final consonant from the ㄱ series, ㄷ series, or ㅂ series is followed locally by ㄴ or ㅁ, the final sound becomes more like a nasal sound. The written letters stay unchanged.
Three mapping lines
ㄱ계열 + ㄴ or ㅁ → ㅇ
ㄷ계열 + ㄴ or ㅁ → ㄴ
ㅂ계열 + ㄴ or ㅁ → ㅁ
These mappings predict a local sound. They do not rewrite the Korean spelling.
Spelling Versus Sound
Keep the normal spelling and compare it with the sound you expect to hear. Square brackets are pronunciation support for this lesson only.
Verified spelling and sound
Spelling · Sound · Why
국물 · [궁물] · Final ㄱ-series sound before ㅁ is commonly heard as ㅇ.
먹는 · [멍는] · Final ㄱ-series sound before ㄴ is commonly heard as ㅇ.
받는 · [반는] · Final ㄷ-series sound before ㄴ is commonly heard as ㄴ.
앞문 · [암문] · Final ㅍ has a ㅂ-series final sound here; before ㅁ it is commonly heard as ㅁ.
합니다 · [함니다] · Final ㅂ before ㄴ is commonly heard as ㅁ.
십만 · [심만] · Final ㅂ before ㅁ is commonly heard as ㅁ.
Use the bracketed forms to predict hearing, but keep every written form unchanged.
Inside Words and Across Boundaries
The same pattern can occur within a written word and can also appear at a morpheme boundary. The local neighboring sounds matter.
Complete sentence applications
Normal spelling · Target sound · Meaning
민호는 국물을 먹어요. · 국물 → [궁물] · Minho eats soup.
유진은 매일 먹는 약이 있어요. · 먹는 → [멍는] · Yujin has medicine that she takes every day.
민호는 받는 사람을 확인해요. · 받는 → [반는] · Minho checks the person who will receive it.
유진은 앞문을 열어요. · 앞문 → [암문] · Yujin opens the front door.