Rough Rider
Green Belt
Ever since I've been studying Taekwondo (about 6 years) I've had a growing number of Korean words I needed to learn. About a year ago, I decided to go a little deeper and try to learn some Hangul. Through this effort, I found that many of the pronunciations I had been taught were incorrect and made an effort to pronounce the words correctly.
The biggest gaff was the name of the art itself: Taekwondo. Like everybody else in my school, and most Americans, I pronounced it "Tie-Kwawn-Dough". I now know that the first syllable is "Tay" and the second is "Kwun". At least I had "Do" right. So, now I say "Tay-Kwun-Dough". I'm not a jerk about it, and I don't correct others when they say it they other way (even my Grand Master says it the other way.)
Anyway, sometimes people ask my why I say "Tay" instead of "Tie". (They usually don't notice the "Kwun" as it's more subtle.) I tell them that it's actually the correct way to pronounce the word in Korean. I'll use the Hangul version as a visual aid and explain that the part that looks like an E makes a "T" sound and the part that looks like a tall, skinny H makes an "ay" sound.
Now, my question. If there was a word in Korean that sounded like "Tie", what would it look like in Hangul? I can't find any vowels that make the long I sound. It would really drive my point home if I could draw it and say, "If it was pronounced 'tie', it would look like this."
The biggest gaff was the name of the art itself: Taekwondo. Like everybody else in my school, and most Americans, I pronounced it "Tie-Kwawn-Dough". I now know that the first syllable is "Tay" and the second is "Kwun". At least I had "Do" right. So, now I say "Tay-Kwun-Dough". I'm not a jerk about it, and I don't correct others when they say it they other way (even my Grand Master says it the other way.)
Anyway, sometimes people ask my why I say "Tay" instead of "Tie". (They usually don't notice the "Kwun" as it's more subtle.) I tell them that it's actually the correct way to pronounce the word in Korean. I'll use the Hangul version as a visual aid and explain that the part that looks like an E makes a "T" sound and the part that looks like a tall, skinny H makes an "ay" sound.
Now, my question. If there was a word in Korean that sounded like "Tie", what would it look like in Hangul? I can't find any vowels that make the long I sound. It would really drive my point home if I could draw it and say, "If it was pronounced 'tie', it would look like this."