Question on perception of sound
벌리다 & 벌이다, 졸리다 & 졸이다

The meaning of each and of its counterpart has vastly different meaning. On checking up on pronouncing guide i notice there is a very slight difference (almost inaudible to an extent). My question to the native speakers:

Do you actually hear and sense that difference from other speakers or do you tell from context in judging their presence?

Question

Question on perception of sound
벌리다 & 벌이다, 졸리다 & 졸이다

The meaning of each and of its counterpart has vastly different meaning. On checking up on pronouncing guide i notice there is a very slight difference (almost inaudible to an extent). My question to the native speakers:

Do you actually hear and sense that difference from other speakers or do you tell from context in judging their presence?

Answer

Yes, we do.
And I cannot even imagine native speakers having problems with that.

Answer

Almost inaudible? xD You must be joking, the pronunciation is clearly different.

A single ㄹ followed by a vowel is pronounced almost like a Spanish R, with just ONE tongue flap. 
So 벌이다 and 졸이다 are pronounced as beoRida and joRida

Double ㄹ is just double L. It's impossible to confuse it with a single ㄹ, it's not the same sound.
벌리다 beoLLida 졸리다 joLLida

But many Koreans have difficulty pronouncing single ㄹ correctly, making it sound more like an L
For pronunciation check, I'd suggest Naver Dictionary (krdic.naver.com)
Just type any word and click on the audio button for the correct pronunciation :)

Answers · 2

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