구개음화

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 口蓋音化, from 口蓋音 (“palatal sound”) + 化 (“-ize”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈku(ː)ɡɛɯmβwa̠] ~ [ˈku(ː)ɡe̞ɯmβwa̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [구(ː)개음화/구(ː)게음화]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	gugaeeumhwa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	gugaeeumhwa
McCune–Reischauer?	kugaeŭmhwa
Yale Romanization?	kwūkay.umhwa

Noun

구개음화 • (gugaeeumhwa) (hanja 口蓋音化)

1. (phonology) palatalization

   한자 的의 한국어 독음은 구개음화로 인해 ‘뎍’에서 ‘적’으로 변했다.

   Hanja 的-ui han'gugeo dogeum-eun gugaeeumhwa-ro inhae ‘dyeok’-eseo ‘jeok’-euro byeonhaetda.

   The Korean reading for the hanja 的 changed from dyeok to jeok due to palatalization.

Derived terms

• ㄱ 구개음화 (giyeok gugaeeumhwa, “velar-to-alveolopalatal palatalization”)
• ㄷ 구개음화 (digeut gugaeeumhwa, “alveolar-to-alveolopalatal palatalization”)