Nasalization

Description

When a ㄴ, ㄹ, or ㅁ interacts with other consonants, sometimes it undergoes "nasalization." Nasalization basically means it forces another consonant (and/or itself in the case of the ㄹ) to become a nasal sound (ㄴ, ㅇ, or ㅁ).

This rule is called 비음화 in Korean.

Cases

Consonant in first syllable	Consonant in second syllable	Becomes	Examples
ㄱ/ㄲ/ㅋ	ㄴ/ㄹ	ㄱ/ㄲ/ㅋ → ㅇ ㄴ/ㄹ→ ㄴ	학년 → [항년] 국내 → [궁내] 꼬락내 (feet smell) → [꼬랑내] 득남 → [등남] 득녀 → [등녀] 막내 → [망내] 속눈썹 → [송눈썹] 욕망 → [용망] 작년 (last year)→ [장년] 저녁노을 → [저녕노을]
ㄱ/ㄲ/ㅋ	ㅁ	ㄱ/ㄲ/ㅋ → ㅇ	각막 → [강막] 곡물 → [공물] 국물 → [궁물] 국민 → [궁민] 국민 → [궁민] 박물관 → [방물관] 북미 → [붕미] 색맹 → [생맹] 식물 → [싱물] 악마 → [앙마] 악몽 (nightmare) → [앙몽] 한국말 (Korean language) → [한궁말] 목마르다 → [몽마르다] 부엌 문 → [부엉 문]
ㅇ	ㄹ	ㄹ → ㄴ	종로 → [종노] 종료 → [종뇨]
ㅎ	ㄴ	ㅎ → ㄴ
ᆮ/ᇀ/ᆺ/ᆻ/ᆽ/ᆾ	ㄴ/ㄹ	ᆮ/ᇀ/ᆺ/ᆻ/ᆽ/ᆾ → ㄴ ㄴ/ㄹ → ㄴ
ᆮ/ᇀ/ᆺ/ᆻ/ᆽ/ᆾ	ㅁ	ᆮ/ᇀ/ᆺ/ᆻ/ᆽ/ᆾ → ㄴ
ᆸ/ᇁ	ㄴ/ㄹ	ᆸ/ᇁ → ㅁ ㄴ/ㄹ → ㄴ
ㅁ	ㄹ	ㄹ → ㄴ
ᆸ/ᇁ	ㄴ/ㄹ	ᆸ/ᇁ → ㅁ ㄴ/ㄹ → ㅁ

See also

• ㄲ + ㄴ, ㅁ
• ㅋ + ㄴ, ㅁ