Pronunciation of ㄼ

Question

For the double final consonant ㄼ, I found two versions:

1. It is pronounced as ㄹ except 밟다 + 고,다,소,는,지,게 and 넓죽하다, 넓둥글다.
2. It is pronounced as ㅂ unless followed by a solid ㄱ consonant. It is pronounced as ㄹ too for the word 여덟. I am not sure which of the two is correct.

Anyone who can clarify the pronunciation of these two are much appreciated.

Answer 1

ㄼ is generally pronounced as [ㄹ] when:

• The syllable block containing ㄼ is in front of a syllable block that starts with a consonant.
• When located within the last syllable block of a word.

Example: You asked about the word 여덟. It is pronounced as [여덜], as the ㄼ is located within 덟, the last syllable block of the word.

When the syllable block containing ㄼ is in front of a syllable block that starts with ㅇ, the sound [ㄹ] takes over for the first syllable block, and the sound [ㅂ] replaces the consonant ㅇ in the next syllable block.

Example: 넓어(broad) is pronounced as [널버]. Since the consonant ㅇ starts the second syllable block, the sound [ㄹ] takes over for the first syllable block, turning 넓 into [널]. ㅂ turns 어 into [버].

The word 밟 behaves a little differently.

밟 is pronounced as [밥] when in front of a syllable block that starts with a consonant other than ㅇ.

Example: 밟다 is pronounced as [밥따].

When 밟 is in front of a syllable block that starts with ㅇ, the sound [ㄹ] takes over for the first syllable block, and the sound [ㅂ] replaces the consonant ㅇ in the next syllable block.

Example: 밟아 is pronounced as [발바].

When 밟 is in front of a syllable block that starts with ㅎ, 자음축약(子音縮約 - Consonant Abbreviation)¹ occurs. The ㅎ sound and the ㅂ sound combine to create the ㅍ sound.

Example: 밟히다 is pronounced as [발피다].

The word 넓 behaves differently also.

In usual cases, 넓 is pronounced as [널]. When the syllable block that follows 넓 starts with ㅇ, the sound [ㄹ] takes over for the first syllable block (which would be 넓), and the sound [ㅂ] replaces the consonant ㅇ in the next syllable block.

Example: 넓으니 is pronounced as [널브니].

However, if the word formed by incorporating 넓 is a 파생어(派生語 - Derivative Word) or 합성어(合成語 - Compound Word), 넓 is pronounced as [넙].

Example: You asked about the words 넓죽하다 and 넓둥글다.

• 넓죽하다 is a 파생어. It is pronounced as [넙쭉카다].
• 넓둥글다 is a 합성어. It is pronounced as [넙뚱글다].
• 넓적하다 is a 파생어. It is pronounced as [넙쩍카다]. Here, due to 자음축약, 하다 turns into 카다 because the sounds ㅎ and ㄱ combined create the sound ㅋ.
• 넓다듬이 is a 합성어. It is pronounced as [넙따듬미].

1: This is my own translation. Take it with a grain of salt.