Listening Exercise with Transcript #7: Tunak Tunak Tun!

Korean fundamentally lacks a few sounds. The fact that there is no distinction between the English "R" and "L" is a well-known fact. In addition to this, Korean does not have the rolling "R" of Italian or Spanish, it does not have the guttural "R" or nasal sounds of French, or the guttural "CH" of German. These words are fairly hard to approximate with the Korean language system.

Despite this, Koreans realized that Korean is often excellent at approximating how the other languages sound, if you're willing to think outside the box a little bit. For example, here is how to approximate some of the more common English words (with an American accent) using Korean. The following pronunciation guide went viral on the Korean internet a couple of years back. Read it out loud and see how it improves the usual Koreanization of English words!

I've studied three European languages (French, German, and Italian), and I can vouch for the usefulness of Korean in approximating their sounds as well; in particular, their approximation of the vowels are superior to what I can do with the English language. For example, the French guttural "R" can be approximated with Korean "ㅎ" in some cases. The German ü (as in München) can be approximated by "뮌헨" which is much closer than what I can do with English, etc.

Although I know no Punjabi, it seems that Korean does a decent job of approximating their sound too. Here's a clip that went viral a good 20 years ago, that of "Tunak Tunak Tun."

And see how the Koreans approximated the lyrics using Hangul. See if you can follow along:

레에나아아아아아아아아아
흐아아아
아아아아아아아아아아아아
아아아
아아아아아아
어어어어어어어어어 어어어

뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다

돌날라봤자 뚱배발이빴올리 뚜빞을빨하자 빨을렐예뺘아~
돌날라봤자 뚱배발이빴올리 뚜빞을빨하자 빨을렐예뺘아~
돌날라봤자 뚱배발이빴올리 뚜빞을빨하자 빨을렐예뺘아~
돌날라봤자 뚱배발이빴올리 뚜빞을빨하자 빨을렐예뺘아~
돌날라아아아~

뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)

훈이야얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개
구리야
술을열어볼래 해굿바람에비다야라

뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)

(instrumental)

돌날라간때 멜에날에한씀했누 댈래발이가슴일때 베리메리파스~
돌날라간때 멜에날에한씀했누 댈래발이가슴일때 베리메리파스~
돌날라간때 멜에날에한씀했누 댈래발이가슴일때 베리메리파스~
돌날라간때 멜에날에한씀했누 댈래발이가슴일때 베리메리파스~
돌날라아아아~

뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)

훈이야얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개
구리야
술을열어볼래 해굿바람에비다야라

뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)

돌날랐구 짠놈맞춰껐얼때 말일가나홀랗게 락히삭히고
돌날랐구 짠놈맞춰껐얼때 말일가나홀랗게 락히삭히고
돌날랐구 짠놈맞춰껐얼때 말일가나홀랗게 락히삭히고
돌날랐구 짠놈맞춰껐얼때 말일가나홀랗게 락히삭히고
돌날라아아아~

뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)

훈이야얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개구리야
얄알안기라반기나이 베리나이야 청개
구리야
술을열어볼래 해굿바람에비다야라

뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)
뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫(읗) 뚫훍뚫훍뚫 따다다
(옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ옭ㅎ)

So, it's pretty hilarious for several reasons. First of all, most of these letters never get used in the Korean language (such as 읗 or 훍). And because they never get used, they just look really weird and funny to a native Korean speaker. Also, you are probably aware that the Koreans abbreviate laughter "haha" by "ㅎㅎ" so the excessive usage of the alphabet "ㅎ" gives a weird kind of hilarity to the Hangul lyrics (imagine a song lyric that went lololololol or something!) Even the words that get used repetitively are often used in funny contexts:

• "뚫" is only used in the word "뚫다." You use this word to describe drilling a hole, but also to describe how you unclog a toilet.
• "뚱" really only gets used in "뚱뚱하다 (chubby)" or "뚱하다 (sulking, or unresponsive)" both of which are mild insults.

Secondly, although most of the lyrics is gibberish, there are a few words that are clearly recognizable (but of course, they have no context, so it's weird and funny!)

• "돌날라봤자" means "even if you carry stones." What?
• "짠놈" means "a very cheap dude," or "very salty dude." Again, what?
• "청개구리" is a species of frogs, but in Korean, it also means "someone who does everything that they're asked to do backwards." Huh?!

And lastly, if you read the lyrics obeying all the pronunciation rules (and make up a few when there isn't a rule because the letters don't actually exist!) the approximation is uncanny.

So, I found these lyrics to be absolutely hilarious (and cried a little from laughing too hard while listening to it the first time.) I hope you appreciate it, too!