Korean is very much like Japanese. For example, grammar. Korean and Japanese have similar word order patterns. In addition, Korean has particles, so it is easy for Japanese to study Korean. However, there are differences between Korean and Japanese. The number of vowels and pronunciation are different. Korean does not have a pronunciation equivalent to Japanese "tsu". If Koreans are not conscious of it, "hitotsu" will be pronounced "hitochu". In addition, "Wi-Fi" is pronounced as "Wai Pai" because there is no pronunciation of "F" in English. This time, I would like to see the pronunciation of Japanese and Korean. The subject of this essay is why is there no pronunciation of "tsu" in Korean? I would like to describe that as the final goal.
First, I will describe about Korean. Korean is called Hangeul, which is the name of the character system that was born on the Korean in the 15th century. Hangeul was created in 1443 by King Sejong and his scholars. Before the creation of Hangeul, Korean people used Chinese characters for writing their language. However, since it was very difficult to learn how to read and write it, Hangeul was created.
Next, I would like to answer the question why Korean does not have the pronunciation of "tsu". Early ancient Korean consonants include k, t, p, n, m, ng, r, s, and j. In addition to this, h and ts are added to the late ancient Korean. Consonants in the Middle Korean are greatly increased. During the transition from Middle Korean to modern Korean, there was a change in the vowel system. However there was no change in the consonant system. "Palatalization," which began in the 15th century, expanded in the 16th century and was completed at the end of the Middle Korean era. Therefore, disappeared the consonant "ts". In other words, "tsu" is not pronounced because there is no consonant called ts in the first place.
I had a questions about this here. Since there is a consonant called t, I think you should write "tu" and read "tsu". If you write the “ta line” of the Japanese kana syllabary in the Roman alphabet, you can write it as “ta, ti, tu, te, to”. However, the ta line can also write "ta, chi, tsu, te, to". There are two types of spelling for "chi" and "tsu". The notation of "ti ・ tu" is the writing system of Japanese characters in the Roman alphabet, called “kunrei-shiki”. It is a writing style for Japanese people and emphasizes rules such as "ta line = t" rather than pronunciation. On the other hand the notation of "chi・tsu" is an alphabetical notation for foreigners and is called the Hepburn style. Focuses on pronunciation and makes it easier to read. In Japan, it was united into a 'kunrei-shiki’ in 1973. In other words, the Japanese “tu = tsu” is special. It is not that Korean doesn’t have the pronunciation of "tsu", but that Japan has the pronunciation of "tsu".
This time, the subject of this essay is why is there no pronunciation of "tsu" in Korean? I expected Korean have a special pronunciation, but I knew Japanese was special.