Home › Glossary › Letter G

Gayageum

Musical Instrument
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A Korean zither with 12 or more strings, known for its fluid, lyrical tone

Detailed Definition
The gayageum’s resonant plucked melodies appear in Korean poetry to evoke courtly elegance, historical sorrow, or feminine grace; its association with sanjo (improvised solo music) links it to themes of personal expression and cultural endurance in verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Korean poetry, the gayageum’s twelve strings pluck the sorrow and grace of courtly tradition; Poets describe its silk strings as “threads weaving history into sound”; The gayageum appears in pansori-inspired verse as the instrument of epic storytelling; Its bent notes become a metaphor for emotional nuance—joy tinged with pain; In diaspora poetry, the gayageum ties Seoul to global Korean identity; Contemporary poets use the gayageum to explore refinement—sound shaped by centuries of craft.
Additional Notes
The gayageum is a Korean 12-string zither with movable bridges, used in court and folk music; its plucked, resonant tones evoke elegance and sorrow—poets can reference it to explore Confucian aesthetics, diasporic memory, or the tension between structure and improvisation.
Also Known As
Kayagum
Skip to main content