Difference between ㅓ (eo) and ㅗ (o)??

[CarlKenner]

What is the difference between ㅓ (eo) and ㅗ (o)??
It is driving me crazy.

And also, why is "ne" pronounced "re"?

By the way, I worked out how to type Korean now.

[John]

What is the difference between ㅓ (eo) and ㅗ (o)??

ㅓis "o" like oh.... ㅗ is like "u" puke, or chew.

내 is pronounced "neh". I am not sure what "re" you are referring to maybe 래?

[Jacqueline]

To me the difference between eo (ㅓ) and o (ㅗ) is that you say “eo” with the mouth unrounded and you say “o” with the mouth rounded. You’ll notice the difference once you try to pronounce those vowels like that, ’cause putting the mouth rounded and unrounded will change the sound of those vowels.

And what i know is that “ne” is pronouced “ne”.

[austinfd]

This is a good reason to quickly learn the 한글!

ㅗ “o” as in boat, note, stove...

ㅓ “eo” is really more like “aw” lost/thought/law... but it does sometimes sound like "uh" in dumb/some.

Hope this helps.

Check out this site for a great PDF on reading Korean:
http://letslearnkorean.com/index.php/korean/downloads/

[steved]

Jaqueline, you got it. Your mouth is more open with the ㅓ and round with ㅗ. One being eo as is "up" but not quite the same and ㅗ being a long "O".
The same is true for ㅏ (say "ah") said with mouth more open, and ㅜ (being the "oo" part of chew that John was referring to.) John also referred to "puke" but I think that the "u" part of that would more closely resemble ㅠ.
So all of the vertical vowels have the mouth more open: 아, 야, 어, 여
and the horizontal vowels have the mouth rounded: 오, 요, 우, 유
The two remaining vowels that aren't compound vowels can be said with the teeth together: 으, 이.
Hope that helps!

[CarlKenner]

ㅗ “o” as in boat, note, stove

That can't be right, because nobody ever ends a sentence with "Yo!" the way an English speaker would say "Yo!" (to rhyme with "go"). If I say it like that "oh" sound, will I be understood?

ㅓ “eo” is really more like “aw” lost/thought/law... but it does sometimes sound like "uh" in dumb/some.

There is no "aw" sound in "lost". Are you from the United States? People in the United States can't pronounce the letter "o" in "I lost the hot dog" correctly. The correct pronounciation has no "aw" sound and is just an open mouth "o" sound.

As for the "uh" sound in dumb and some and up, isn't that ㅏ only shorter? When does ㅓ sound like a shortㅏ?

[CarlKenner]

With "ne" I would swear that the Korean word for "yes" is "re".
I have never once heard it as "ne" in any of the lessons. I only know it is "ne" because I've seen it written down.

[austinfd]

ㅗ “o” as in boat, note, stove

That can't be right, because nobody ever ends a sentence with "Yo!" the way an English speaker would say "Yo!" (to rhyme with "go"). If I say it like that "oh" sound, will I be understood?

ㅓ “eo” is really more like “aw” lost/thought/law... but it does sometimes sound like "uh" in dumb/some.

There is no "aw" sound in "lost". Are you from the United States? People in the United States can't pronounce the letter "o" in "I lost the hot dog" correctly. The correct pronounciation has no "aw" sound and is just an open mouth "o" sound.

As for the "uh" sound in dumb and some and up, isn't that ㅏ only shorter? When does ㅓ sound like a shortㅏ?

Carl,

I sure am from the States. Please understand, that there are BIG differences between the romanized spelling and the English pronunciation.

Regarding "aw" in "lost" I beg to differ. In my speech lost and law DO have the same vowel sound. Whether or not you think that is "correct" or not is really irrelevant. ㅓ DOES have that sound. Granted, even pronunciations of words among English speakers can be different, so I'll admit that "lost" might not be the best example... but I think that vowel is the same...lost, law, paw, straw,

How do you say "lost"? does it rhyme with "post"? For me they are different.

Also, ㅗ is and always has been "oh" as in go, boat, tote, note.....post

This is of course different from ㅛ which is YO!

네 is pronounced with an N....but I know what you mean about it sounding different sometimes. When you talk about "re" Do you hear it as "ray"?

I recommend that you watch the first video on how to read/write 한글 It will help a lot.

Good luck. Don't feel bad, I remember stumbling over the sounds when I was learning them a year ago. It gets easier with practice.

[CarlKenner]

Lost doesn't rhyme with post. Lost rhymes with cost. Lost doesn't rhyme with coursed however.

The USA merges two totally different sounds, it is called the cot-caught merger. Those sounds are supposed to be totally different.

Being unable to pronounce the letter "o" in "cot" is a major impediment when it comes to explaining how to pronounce other languages.

Speaking of things that don't rhyme, where I come from "bad" doesn't rhyme with "lad".

[austinfd]

To me, lad and bad do certainly rhyme!!.... Coursed and post don't...and I'd go so far as to say that caught and cot DO have two distinct sounds.

All this goes to show that the romanized spelling iteself can be interpreted many different ways. You can't read it as you would English. If one is going to rely on the romanization, one has to learn some slightly different phonics.

So... stick to 한글 and listen to native Koreans make the sound. That is certainly the best way!

Where are you from Carl?

[CarlKenner]

Australia.

I just looked on Wikipedia, and US pronounciation is worse than I thought!!! Not only do they confuse "aw" and "o" they also confuse "o" and "ah"!!! It's a wonder Americans have any vowels at all.

In Australia "bad" and "sad" are twice as long as "lad" and "had". "Can" has two different pronounciations depending on whether it means to be able to, or a tin can. "Span" has two different pronounciations depending on whether it means "The bridges span the river" or "the spinning tops span around".

My problem is not that I use the transcription or the hangeul. I don't try to read the transcription as though it was English. But my brain needs to become familiar with sounds that I suspect don't exist in English. I think the problem is that Australian English doesn't have an unrounded version of the "o" in lost, cot, hot-dog, etc. In Australia it is rounded.

[steved]

I think you guys are getting your ㅏs and your ㅓs mixed up.

That short 'o' in lost should correspond more to ㅏ, not ㅓ. Perhaps that is a bad example word. If you look at Korean, that ㅏ sound in 한글 is what you are after; romanized as "hangul", not "hungul" or "heongul".

[John]

ㅓ is "oh" ㅏ is "ah"....seriously it's not that hard.

[austinfd]

It just goes to show that English isn't the same everywhere! And it's certainly likely that my vowel pronunciation has changed a bit living in Korea...I don't hang out with too many native English speakers....

[Keith]

Jacqueline hit it square on the nose 어 (eo) should probably be pronounced with an unrounded mouth and 오 (o) should be pronounced with a rounded mouth.

Also I'd recommend exposing yourself to as much Korean as possible. A new language always takes a little time for your ears to get used to.