# Pronounce Dobak



## ArmorOfGod (Dec 15, 2008)

I was reading a general martial arts book today and under the Korean arts section, it wrote about dobaks and how it is pronounced as tobak (tow-bahk) and included a pronunciation key showing that.
Is that true, false, or a matter of interpretation?

AoG


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## dancingalone (Dec 15, 2008)

I've heard it pronounced with a "d" sound or a "t" sound.  Same thing with Do-San or To-San, the hyung.  I imagine it's a dialectal variance, but I don't speak Korean myself.  Sounds like a good question for those with a native teacher to ask!


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## MBuzzy (Dec 15, 2008)

I suppose you could call it a matter of interpretation, since some Koreans pronounce things slightly different and most Americans pronounce things VASTLY different.  From both each other and Koreans.

&#46020;&#48373;; &#36947;&#26381;; Do bok; do bohk; 

The first syllable should sound like tough ("t" as in tow; "ough" as in dough).  The second syllable should sound like bohk (b as in "bay", same o sound, and a hardish k sound, as in "walk").  

The problem with pronouncing a word like this is that there are several letters in it that English speakers have a hard time pronouncing.  For example, dieut (&#12599 is somewhere between a d and a t, but it gets closer to one or the other depending on its place in the word.  The same with bieup (&#12610, it is somewhere between a b and a p, but changes based on its place in the word.  Vowels are also touchy in Korean, since there are such minor differences between them....and whereas we have only 5 vowels, Koreans have 7, when combined with Dipthongs and "double vowels," there are 21 different possible sounds.  The beauty is that the rules are hard and fast with a COUNTABLE number of exceptions of pronunciations when letters are combined (23) as opposed to the unlimited exceptions in English!

Hope this helps!  I tend to get long winded when it comes to Hangul.

To answer your question simply - False.  It is closer to tow-bohk.


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## Gordon Nore (Dec 15, 2008)

Is this right?

http://www.itatkd.com/sound-doeboke.wav


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## MBuzzy (Dec 15, 2008)

Sounds right to me.  At least, that's how I've always said it and heard Koreans saying it.


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## StuartA (Dec 16, 2008)

MBuzzy said:


> I suppose you could call it a matter of interpretation, since some Koreans pronounce things slightly different and most Americans pronounce things VASTLY different. From both each other and Koreans.
> 
> &#46020;&#48373;; &#36947;&#26381;; Do bok; do bohk;
> 
> ...


Its all a matter of Phonetics.. Gen Choi wrote "Dobok".. but "Tobok" is fine also! see above!

stuart


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## IcemanSK (Dec 16, 2008)

I've always understood the correct pronouciation is Doe Bahk. The D & T sound blended. (As MBuzzy said.)


"Doe Back" is my favorite misprounciation.:uhyeah:


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## MBuzzy (Dec 16, 2008)

StuartA said:


> Its all a matter of Phonetics.. Gen Choi wrote "Dobok".. but "Tobok" is fine also! see above!
> 
> stuart



Very true - Romaja (hangul written in roman characters) is VERY touchy.  There are two major methods, one called McCune-Reischauer and Revised Romanization.  The Korean Government adopted the Revised method as their primary way of romanization in 2000.  Unlike M-R, it uses no special symbols, so it is a little easier to write out.  Not many people start words with the t, usually the d, because it causes confusion between dieut, tieut, and ssangdigeut.  

But in a long winded kind of way, Stuart, you're right on...I've seen it both ways...and for that matter, I've heard it pronounced thousands of ways.


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## StuartA (Dec 16, 2008)

MBuzzy said:


> Very true - Romaja (hangul written in roman characters) is VERY touchy. There are two major methods, one called McCune-Reischauer and Revised Romanization. The Korean Government adopted the Revised method as their primary way of romanization in 2000. Unlike M-R, it uses no special symbols, so it is a little easier to write out. Not many people start words with the t, usually the d, because it causes confusion between dieut, tieut, and ssangdigeut.
> 
> But in a long winded kind of way, Stuart, you're right on...I've seen it both ways...and for that matter, I've heard it pronounced thousands of ways.


Cheers.. all credit to you however, as you explain it better than I ever could!

Regards,

Stuart


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## Tez3 (Dec 16, 2008)

It's pronounced 'suit' lol!

I had trouble ages ago when at my previous club, Japanese with a Yorkshire accent sounds different from Japanese with a London accent etc so when we went on courses we quite often couldn't understand the commands from the visiting instructors. Listening to them on U Tube when the Japanese spoke it was completely different again.
Of course the students use the instructors way of pronunciation and things got corrupted even more.  So much so I doubt the native speakers could understand their own language!


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## Drac (Dec 16, 2008)

I say uniform...


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## Tez3 (Dec 17, 2008)

Drac said:


> I say uniform...


 
We do most of our work in English, just as well as after all that effort I put into Japanese I changed to a Korean style!


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## igillman (Dec 17, 2008)

Drac said:


> I say uniform...



In our house we call them pyjamas or "jammies".


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## MasterWright (Dec 17, 2008)

We say it like this. Doe-Buck 

At least that's the way the President of WTF Taekwondo Canada (Oh Jang Yoon) says it when he sells me one. MDSS Canada Montreal Dobuk Sport Supplies. He is 9th Dan and obviously Korean.


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## MBuzzy (Dec 17, 2008)

MasterWright said:


> We say it like this. Doe-Buck
> 
> At least that's the way the President of WTF Taekwondo Canada (Oh Jang Yoon) says it when he sells me one. MDSS Canada Montreal Dobuk Sport Supplies. He is 9th Dan and obviously Korean.



Even within Korea, there are many different accents, just like in the US.  Someone from Texas will pronounce a word slightly differently from someone from Massachusetts.  It has a lot to do with where in Korea they are from.  

Koreans also tend to speak very quickly and our ears don't always pick things up exactly right.  It took me the longest time to learn to understand some Koreans just because of how fast they spoke and how they clipped words and crammed them together, etc....not to mention the different accents.

I try to use the Seoul accent as much as I can, although since I don't have a native speaker from Seoul to check with anymore, I have been using texts and Korean pronunciation guides for some things.  Luckily, Korean is such a basic phonetic language, so the sounds are easy and universal.

I've noticed that a lot of the differences in pronunciation come from the different Masters who pronounce things slightly differently and it therefore filters down to the students - all of whom say "I've got it right, I heard it from a Korean."  I do the same thing....although one of my instructors has a slightly North Korean accent....so some of my pronunciation is a bit off as well....at least according to the "proper" method.


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## Lynne (Dec 17, 2008)

IcemanSK said:


> I've always understood the correct pronouciation is Doe Bahk. The D & T sound blended. (As MBuzzy said.)
> 
> 
> "Doe Back" is my favorite misprounciation.:uhyeah:


 You from Virginia, too?!!!


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## IcemanSK (Dec 17, 2008)

Lynne said:


> You from Virginia, too?!!!


 

Nope, Chicago. I've always wondered if someone was robbed & they wanted their dough back.


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## MasterWright (Dec 18, 2008)

MBuzzy said:


> Even within Korea, there are many different accents, just like in the US. Someone from Texas will pronounce a word slightly differently from someone from Massachusetts. It has a lot to do with where in Korea they are from.
> 
> Koreans also tend to speak very quickly and our ears don't always pick things up exactly right. It took me the longest time to learn to understand some Koreans just because of how fast they spoke and how they clipped words and crammed them together, etc....not to mention the different accents.
> 
> ...


 You're right, I have noticed a diference the way counting is pronounced. 
Thanks


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## MBuzzy (Dec 18, 2008)

MasterWright said:


> You're right, I have noticed a diference the way counting is pronounced.
> Thanks



I find counting interesting because of the vast difference between "Military Counting" and regular counting.  Actually, kind of like in our military....


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## CDKJudoka (Dec 19, 2008)

First time I was training in the dojang I am at currently, I asked the person in the front if my V-Neck dobak came in, and she looked at me like I have 5 heads. She went in to Sa Bum Nim's office and he laughed when she asked him what a Toe Back was. She still to this day refuses to say it.


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## TKDHermit (Dec 20, 2008)

dobok not dobak >_>


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