For this week, I hoped to dive further into some writing basics. I had a tough time with spelling words correctly, and especially spelling double combinations correctly in my writing.
This is why Jenna and I discussed the topic about 받침 or “double combinations” that go under a letter to produce a certain sound. First, we started off listing some 받침s we might possibly know. Personally, I knew of ㄱㅅ, ㄴㅈ, ㅂㅅ, ㄹㅂ, ㄹㄱ, and ㄹㅌ. She told us that we only pronounce the first consonant for the first syllable. Then, the second consonant of the 받침 carries onto the next syllable, if there is a next syllable. Another rule was that if there is already a consonant in the next syllable, the 받침 makes that syllable stronger.
For example, 앉아 would usually be pronounced (if said literally) ‘ahnj-ah.’ However, since there is a ‘ㅈ’ as the second consonant, that sound wound transfer over to the ‘아’ and it would ultimately be pronounced as ‘ahn-ja.’ Another example was ‘앉다.’ It would usually be pronounced as ‘ahn-da.’ However, since there is second consonant 받침, the second consonant would transfer over to the second syllable and be pronounced as ‘ahn-ttha.’
Similar to Spanish, there are some letters in the Korean alphabet that is not pronounced. For example, in Spanish, you would not pronounce ‘hola’ with the ‘h’ sound in the beginning. It would just sound like ‘ola.’ Likewise, double combinations with the letter ‘ㅎ’ are not pronounced in the word. It doesn't really sound like anything, but more like a breath. For example, ‘싫어’ would be the same pronunciation as ‘시러’ or ‘shi-luh.’ The ‘ㅎ’ does nothing, and is practically silent.
Additionally, like English, Korean also has many homonyms. So, it is important to simply know the differences between writing ‘싫어’ and ‘시러.’ Although these two words sound the same, they are spelled differently and mean very different things. ‘싫어’ means I don’t want it while ‘시러’ could be cold.
A concept that was difficult for me to grasp were some of the consonants that make different sounds when paired with another particular letter. For example, ‘해돋이’ which if I read it as a non-native speaker, I would read it directly as ‘hae-dot-yi.’ However, somehow, the ‘돋’ paired with the next syllable, ‘이’ makes the second syllable into a ‘ji’ sound. So, in the end, ‘해돋이’ would be pronounced as ‘hae-do-ji,’ not ‘yi.’
Since this week’s lesson was more technical, I will try to study and practice using these words by texting Jenna. Jenna told us that she would text me next week a question that will require me to use at least one of the double combinations written above, and see if I can use and spell it correctly.
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