Here Are The Top 16 Mispronounced K-pop Group and Idol Names by International Fans
If you are an international K-pop fan, you most likely mispronounce Korean names and words sometimes. Well, now is the time to learn their proper pronunciation!
The following K-pop groups and idols are the most commonly mispronounced names by international fans:
1. IZ*ONE
Many people would possibly pronounce as IZ*ONE straightly as IZONE or I ZONE. There are also times where people would misplace the asterisk symbol in their name, where it becomes I*ZONE, not IZ*ONE. This would tend to say "I" and the "Zone."
But, to completely understand what their name means, the "IZ" of their name is meant to be 12, the number of members there are in the group, that became "ONE." It is also a trademark that a group is made from a Produce Series by CJ ENM, that their group will have a "ONE" or 101, just like Wanna One, I.O.I., and X1. So, the exact pronunciation of IZ*ONE is like "eyes one."
2. AB6IX
The rookie group combined MXM, and former Wanna One members have been named as AB6IX, which has two meanings, "ABSOLUTE SIX" and "ABOVE BRANDNEW SIX" which reflects on the hopes of the five members and their fans opening up new horizons for BrandNew Music. Why six, but there were five members? The 6th member is their fans that are called "ABNEW." You may mistakenly mispronounce it by letter, but this actually can be pronounced as "A-B-6."
3. The Consonant WOO (우)
You or your friends have likely pronounced idol's names as Seventeen's Won-woo and Woo-zi, ASTRO's Eun-woo, INFINITE's Dong-woo, former Wanna One member Ong Seong-wu. But unfortunately, that is not how you pronounce their names. You cannot write "woo/wu" in Hangeul! If you look at Wonwoo's name in Hangeul, it is 원우 or "Weon-u."
This is usually romanized as "Won" since the pronunciation is quite similar anyway But for names that end in "우" or "u." for some reason, Koreans romanize it with a W in the beginning. So, it would be pronounced as a straight "U." There is a rule in Korean pronunciation that the consonant following a single standing vowel is attached to the latter, so in this case, the actual pronunciation of the names is "Wo-nu," "Eu-nu," "Seong-wu," "U-zi," and so on.
4. The Surname CHOI (최)
This is one of the most common surnames in Korea. Many idols have this surname: Girls' Generation's CHOI Sooyoung, Seventeen's CHOI Hansol (Vernon), SHINee's CHOI Minho, Super Junior's CHOI Siwon, IOI's CHOI Yoojung, TXT's CHOI Line, and a lot more. It is funny that Seventeen's Vernon would use "chwe not chew" as his Instagram username, but it is correct.
Given the letters, it is common to pronounce-or mispronounce-it as "Choy." Perhaps in some American Chinese or Filipino Chinese, yes, that is the correct way to read it, but in Korean, it isn't. The proper way to pronounce the surname is "Chwe." The reason why it is romanized as "oi" is that the vowels that make the "weh" (ㅚ) sound are "o" (ㅗ) and "i" (ㅣ).
5. NU'EST
People have also mispronounced the first idol group debuted under Pledis Entertainment NU'EST as "Newest" or "noo-est" as if it is correct. But it's not! If you can read Hangul, you're probably someone that's been calling them by the right name the whole time because NU'EST is pronounced as "New East."
6. Twice's TZUYU
Seeing TWICE's maknae's name as Tzuyu may be confusing that it would be pronounced as "Tzu-ee" or tried out "Zuyu" or went straight for "Soo-ee" or even "Zoey." But actually, her name is pronounced closer to "Joo-hee" if you could read the Hangul of her name. And according to Mandarin speakers, it's closer to "zi-yee."
7. EXID
If you've been pronouncing EXID like "exit" with a "d," we know that you are not alone! EXID in Hangul is pronounced "E-X-I-D" by its letters.
8. Loona's YVES
It is also common to see Yves as a name in other parts of the world, and it would automatically be "Y-ves" or "Yuh-ves." But it's actually pronounced just like the Yves in Yves Saint Laurent, meaning it is pronounced as "Eve!"
9. BtoB
BtoB is actually not "B-T-O-B" or "Bitowb" but rather, it is pronounced as "B-to-B." This is for the reason that the acronym actually means, "Born to Beat."
10. ONF
O-N-F? Nope, it is actually "On N Off!" (On and Off)
11. Xiumin
Well, this one is really tricky, as instead of emphasizing the 'X,' it is more right to say, "She-oo-meen."
12. NCT Chenle
"Chen-li," "Chen-low," "Chen-ley," these are just some of the most common mispronunciation of the idol's name. But listening closely on how Koreans mostly say it, it is close to "Chen-luh."
13. SONE
Fandom Name Check! If you are pronouncing it "SOWN" or "SONE" just like the English word, "Sunny," then you are wrong. Well, it is accepted if you are an international fan, but the official pronunciation of this fandom name is "SOWON," which means Hope. The "ONE" in "SONE," also means 'as one.'
14. Baekhyun, Jaehyun, Taemin, Chaeyoung - 'Emphasizing 'ae'
If you are a new fan, you probably had a hard time pronouncing the "ae" Romanization letters in these idols' name. Most of the time, fans would pronounce it as "Beyk-hyun (Baek)," "Jey-hyun, "Chey-young," "Tey-min."
However, in Korea, "ae" sounds more like "e" as in "eggplant," so to be safe, you can pronounce it as "behk-hyun," "Teh-min."
15. Jungkook
"Joong-cook" and "joong-kook" are the common pronunciation of new K-pop enthusiasts or even non-K-pop fan to Jungkook's name. Well, it is understandable due to its Romanization but if you are going to follow Korean pronunciation, it sounds more likely as, "Jeong-gook." In this case, the "k" turned into "g" sound.
16. Suga
You probably heard someone calling Suga as "soo-ga" but the Korean pronunciation of the idol's name is actually "Shoo-ga" or it's like how you pronounced "sugar," without "r."
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