구개음화구개음화 — 같이 Is Said 가치

A ㄷ or ㅌ 받침 followed by 이 does not link forward as itself. It shifts to ㅈ or ㅊ on the way: 굳이 is 구지, 같이 is 가치, 해돋이 is 해도지. With 히 the same thing happens through the ㅎ — 굳히다 is 구치다.

The reason is mechanical: 이 is made with the tongue high and forward, ㄷ is made behind the teeth, and saying them in sequence drags the ㄷ forward to where the vowel already is.

단어Words that do this
47
소리 변화Times it fires
70
표준 발음법Standard
제17항
예측 가능Predictable
Yes

규칙The rule

Three lines, and they are exceptionless.

WrittenSaidExample
ㄷ + 이 → 지 굳이 → 구지
ㅌ + 이 → 치 같이 → 가치
ㄷ + 히 → 치 굳히다 → 구치다

적용 예Worked through

Every arrow is a rule, and every final form is the dictionary's own transcription.

  1. 같이
  2. 구개음화 가치
같이 together TOPIK 1
  1. 덧붙이다
  2. 구개음화 덧부치다
  3. 음절의 끝소리 규칙 덛부치다
  4. 경음화 덛뿌치다
덧붙이다 to attach, to add TOPIK 4
  1. 꽃밭이
  2. 구개음화 꽃바치
  3. 음절의 끝소리 규칙 꼳바치
  4. 경음화 꼳빠치
꽃밭 flower garden Common

주의할 점What is usually got wrong

It only happens across a boundary between a stem and an ending or a suffix. Inside a single morpheme it does not happen at all: 잔디 is 잔디 and 느티나무 is 느티나무, and no amount of ㄷ-before-이 will change them.

That restriction is the whole rule, and it is why this is the rarest of the eleven here — it needs a ㄷ or ㅌ 받침 and a following 이 and a morpheme boundary between them.

예시 단어Every word in the dictionary that does this

Commonest first. Each links to the word's own row, with its meaning, examples and audio.

All 47 words on this site that do this

  1. 같이 가치 together TOPIK 1
  2. 끝이 끄치 end TOPIK 2
  3. 밑이 미치 bottom, underneath TOPIK 1
  4. 붙이다 부치다 to attach TOPIK 2
  5. 밭이 바치 dry field TOPIK 5
  6. 곁이 겨치 side, vicinity TOPIK 3
  7. 덧붙이다 덛뿌치다 to attach, to add 끝소리경음화TOPIK 4
  8. 굳이 구지 unnecessarily TOPIK 4
  9. 똑같이 똑까치 equally 경음화TOPIK 2
  10. 바깥이 바까치 outside TOPIK 2
  11. 겉이 거치 surface, the outside TOPIK 2
  12. 묻히다 무치다 to be buried TOPIK 4
  13. 갇히다 가치다 to be confined TOPIK 4
  14. 같이하다 가치하다 to do together TOPIK 1
  15. 한결같이 한결가치 consistently, steadfastly TOPIK 6
  16. 닫히다 다치다 to be closed, to be shut TOPIK 3
  17. 이같이 이가치 like this, like so TOPIK 6
  18. 햇볕이 해뼈치 sunshine, warmth from the sun 사잇소리TOPIK 3
  19. 굳히다 구치다 to harden, to solidify TOPIK 5
  20. 전기밥솥이 전ː기밥쏘치 electric rice cooker 경음화TOPIK 4
  21. 손끝이 손끄치 fingertip TOPIK 4
  22. 잔디밭이 잔디바치 lawn TOPIK 3
  23. 말끝이 말ː끄치 the last part of one's speech TOPIK 5
  24. 발끝이 발끄치 tiptoe TOPIK 4
  25. 꽃밭이 꼳빠치 flower garden 끝소리경음화Common
  26. 논밭이 논바치 rice paddies and fields TOPIK 5
  27. 밀어붙이다 미러부치다 to push ahead 연음TOPIK 6
  28. 코끝이 코끄치 tip of the nose TOPIK 6
  29. 파묻히다 파무치다 to be buried/engrossed in sth TOPIK 5
  30. 팥이 파치 the red bean or azuki bean, Vigna angularis TOPIK 5
  31. 밥솥이 밥쏘치 rice cooker 경음화TOPIK 3
  32. 풀밭이 풀바치 meadow, grass field Common
  33. 낱낱이 난ː나치 one by one, in detail 끝소리비음화TOPIK 6
  34. 머리맡이 머리마치 bedside TOPIK 6
  35. 솥이 소치 pot, cauldron TOPIK 6
  36. 볕이 벼치 sunshine Common
  37. 걷히다 거치다 to clear up, to lift Common
  38. 몰아붙이다 모라부치다 to corner, to press hard 연음TOPIK 5
  39. 가마솥이 가마소치 cauldron Common
  40. 샅샅이 삳싸치 thoroughly, in every nook and corner, everywhere 끝소리경음화TOPIK 6
  41. 머리끝이 머리끄치 top of one's head Common
  42. 곧이곧대로 고지곧때로 plainly, straightforwardly 경음화Common
  43. 보리밭이 보리바치 cornfield Common
  44. 쏜살같이 쏜살가치 swiftly, like an arrow TOPIK 5
  45. 콩팥이 콩파치 kidney Common
  46. 맏이 마지 firstborn TOPIK 5
  47. 해돋이 해도지 sunrise TOPIK 3

다른 규칙The other rules

All 11 pronunciation rules ›

자주 묻는 질문Common questions

Why is 같이 pronounced 가치?

The ㅌ 받침 of 같 is followed by the suffix 이, and a ㅌ before 이 across a boundary shifts to ㅊ. So 같이 is 가치 — which is also why it is romanised gachi rather than gat-i.

Why doesn't 잔디 become 잔지?

Because 잔디 is one morpheme. Palatalisation needs a boundary — a stem meeting an ending or a suffix — and there is none inside a single word. This is one of the few Korean sound rules that can see grammar.

Pronunciations, audio and example words from the 국립국어원 한국어기초사전, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.