How is ㄹ pronounced in 말하다, 일하다 etc?

Question

According to Naver & wiktionary, 말하다 is pronounced like [말:다]

Must I say it like 1. [마라다] 2. or with a ㄹㄹ sound [말라다] 3. or with a ㄹㄹ sound [말ㄹ하다]

Answer 1

A word with ㄹ+ㅎ sequence is pronounced with ㄹ as a tap (as in 마라, not 말라) together ㅎ.

I hope someone with a better knowledge could chime in, but in my experience, ㄹ and ㅎ are basically "pronounced together", which is possible because they are articulated in two different places. You tap the tip of your tongue and at the same time make the ㅎ sound with your throat.

In fact, in a normal speech, ㅎ in such a position usually just disappears altogether, so 말하다 would sound the same as 마라다.

Answer 2

말하다 is pronounced with 말하다. This is a rule. But in real situation, 말하다 is pronounced like 마라다, frequently. A similar example is 일하다 (work).

In the case of ㄹ+ㅎ, there are some exceptions : 철학 (philosophy) is pronounced like 처락. But rule is that ㄹ is a prolonged sound, that is, it is like 처라학.