That was an interesting read. So Korean has 23 fundamental sounds in it, if I’m extrapolating correctly? Compared to the (iirc) 28 fundamental sounds of English
The “y” sound from adding a second dash on a vowel.
The “w” sound from putting two vowels next to each other.
But amusingly, the way I was taught, ㅐ and ㅔ are pronounced the same. I dunno if that’s a difference between Seoul and Busan accents, or my teacher just oversimplifying for our sake because they are at least similar (one’s close-mid, the other open-mid, but both are front unrounded vowels, according to the phonemes Wikipedia says they make, and Wikipedia even suggests "bed as examples of both for Australian English pronunciation). So if you do take it that way, it does become 23. But I’m guessing when you said 23 you were forgetting ㅇ makes an “ng” when it’s a syllable coda? Or maybe forgetting the “w”?
I mis-mathed o. When I mentally corrected the number of sounds, I accidentally subtracted one rather than noting 0 additional sounds from o. Still, it’s interesting that it’s so many fewer sounds. It also sent me down a bit of a phonology rabbit hole, where I learned that Korean was likely used as the basis for the written script in “Tunic.”
That was an interesting read. So Korean has 23 fundamental sounds in it, if I’m extrapolating correctly? Compared to the (iirc) 28 fundamental sounds of English
I would say 24 based on that guide.
14 consonants with their own characters.
8 vowels.
The “y” sound from adding a second dash on a vowel.
The “w” sound from putting two vowels next to each other.
But amusingly, the way I was taught, ㅐ and ㅔ are pronounced the same. I dunno if that’s a difference between Seoul and Busan accents, or my teacher just oversimplifying for our sake because they are at least similar (one’s close-mid, the other open-mid, but both are front unrounded vowels, according to the phonemes Wikipedia says they make, and Wikipedia even suggests "bed as examples of both for Australian English pronunciation). So if you do take it that way, it does become 23. But I’m guessing when you said 23 you were forgetting ㅇ makes an “ng” when it’s a syllable coda? Or maybe forgetting the “w”?
I mis-mathed o. When I mentally corrected the number of sounds, I accidentally subtracted one rather than noting 0 additional sounds from o. Still, it’s interesting that it’s so many fewer sounds. It also sent me down a bit of a phonology rabbit hole, where I learned that Korean was likely used as the basis for the written script in “Tunic.”