THOSE KOREAN NAMES

Americans are having difficulty saying what U.S. troops are fighting over. Does Seoul, for example, rhyme with fool, soul, or Creole? "Soul" is closest: the eo is pronounced like the eo in George. All consonants in Korean place names are pronounced as in English except for j and r.

a as in father; ae as the a in cat

e as the ei in weight

i as the ee in see

o as in home; on as the on in son; ong as the ung in sung

oe as the u in fur

u as in rude or, when followed by i, p or m, as in put

r as a kind of combined I and r, similar to the Japanese r

j as a sound between j and ch Examples:

Sochon rhymes with so John.

Taegu rhymes with ragout.

Taejon rhymes with had fun.

Pusan rhymes with shoes on.

North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, rhymes (more or less) with strung young.

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