difference btwn 애and 에?

[newbie]

hi, i dont get the difference between 애and 에. they sound the same when i listen to the hangul chart but sometimes theyre different, could you explain? thanks

[Jacqueline]

Hi newbie!

Don't worry about those 2 vowels.

According to my korean book, the distinction between ㅐ and ㅔ has been lost among the younger generation below 50 of age in casual korean speech.

As a result of loss of distinction between ㅐ and ㅔ , the three vowels ㅙ, ㅞ and ㅚ are not normally distinguished in Standard korean speech today. They all end up with [we] also.

The distinction between ㅒ and ㅖ has also been lost among the younger generation and ㅖ may be pronounced as ㅔ after consonants except ㄹ.

[Keith]

thanks for the questions

We were actually trying to record audio clips for the Premium learning center when we came across that.

에예애얘... it all sounds the same. The voice actors are native Korean speakers and they were confused as to how to do it all.

So, don't sweat it too much

[austinfd]

thanks for the questions

We were actually trying to record audio clips for the Premium learning center when we came across that.

에예애얘... it all sounds the same. The voice actors are native Korean speakers and they were confused as to how to do it all.

So, don't sweat it too much

It does make spelling a nightmare!

[heartborne]

Hi there, I don't wanna steal the thread but... it's kinda related.

When you romanize "Student" shouldn't it be "haksaeng" instead of "hakseng" ? At least that's what I read from the last syllable "생".

Thank you,

[austinfd]

Hi there, I don't wanna steal the thread but... it's kinda related.

When you romanize "Student" shouldn't it be "haksaeng" instead of "hakseng" ? At least that's what I read from the last syllable "생".

Thank you,

You'll soon learn that a lot of romanizations are really inconsistent. There are countless examples, 학생 is just one. I have student who's name is 노필나 his romanized nametag reads "No Pil-Na" Which follows the conventions. However his name is really pronounced "노-필-라"

The romanized spelling had me all confused until I decided to forget entirely about using the romanization. It just gets you in to trouble, and if you try to read it as a native English speaker it surely doesn't sound very Korean...

My advice.. focus on learning the 한글!

[heartborne]

Thank you for the quick reply & advice.

As I'm just starting, I tend to "romanize" things, not because I like it but because I have to, otherwise I don't understand the characters

I guess... I'll eventually learn 한글 and not even think about romanization.

Thank you, again :]

[austinfd]

Do you live in Korea by any chance?

I sometimes forget that living in Seoul provided me with countless opportunities to read anything and everything in 한글 from the very beginning! I would just try to read signs to myself walking down the street, on the subway..wherever! It isn't hard to learn the 한글, but it did take a while to develop a fluid reading style....and I still have only a handful of sight words.

I guess if you aren't in Korea, than you could try to increase your 한글 exposure by going to Korean websites and just trying to read a few words here and there. Even if you don't know the meaning, practicing the reading and sounds is just as important!

You're on the right track!
걱정하지마세요! Don't worry!

[heartborne]

No, I live in Portugal, that's it...I'm Portuguese

My girlfriend was thinking about going to Korea, to teach english(I suppose, exactly the same as you do ?) she's a native speaker.

So, I don't have contact with korean at all (People, lifestyle, writing...). And yes, that's what I do, I go to random korean sites/videos and just read.
As you said it's not easy to develop a fluid reading style so, I just stutter, trying to remember what's the corresponding sound for each character and syllable without even understanding what I'm reading.

I'm having a lotta fun learning so, I will get there eventually

[CarlKenner]

The 애 is supposed to be the letter "a" in the cat sat on the mat, right? And 에 is supposed to be the letter "e" right?

Any chance you could get a 60 year old in to pronounce them for us correctly?

[austinfd]

Hi Carl...

I think that 애 is pretty rare to hear on it's own, without being influenced by other sounds. However, I pronounce it as /e/ in "bet" and "set" To my knowledge, there isn't an /a/ as in "cat, sat & mat"

I pronounce 에 as /ay/ like in "way" or "stay"

[CarlKenner]

Cat, sat and mat are /æ/ in IPA. Which is what Omniglot says ㅐ is. Which makes sense since it is transcribed "ae".

I don't think it is the kate, sate and mate sounds, which would be /eɪ/.

[austinfd]

it's been a long time since I whipped out my IPA....so I trust you on that. what does it say for 에?

[CarlKenner]

Omniglot says ㅔis "ɛ", that is the "e" sound in "let men set".

But Omniglot also says ㅓ is the "u" sound in "but". Which doesn't sound right to me.

The "lonely planet" Korean Phrasebook also says the same thing as Omniglot for those sounds.

[steved]

I would agree with the ㅓ sounding like the u in but. It is about as close as you can get with romaization. Same for ㅐ and ㅔ. It is hard to come up with the exact sound in romanization and then that might not be accurate for different regions, Australia vs. the U.S. for example. The reverse is also true. Try to write a 'z' sound in 한글. It comes out more like a 'j'. Or how about that elusive 'f'? At some point listening and actual speaking (practical application) needs to happen or you might never get it right. Certainly you will miss the sublties of the language.