Korean Pronunciation

How to Pronounce Haenyeo

Haenyeo is written 해녀 in Korean and pronounced HAE-nyuh.

해녀

Haenyeo

HAE-nyuh

tradition

Syllable Breakdown

Korean is a syllabic language — each block is one syllable. Break Haenyeo into parts:

hae

nyeo

hae + nyeo = Haenyeo

Pronunciation Guide

해 (hae) rhymes with 'hay' in English — a bright 'ae' vowel sound. 녀 (nyeo) combines 'ny' (like in 'canyon') with the vowel 'eo' — similar to 'yuh'. Together: HAE-nyuh. The stress falls on the first syllable.

Common Mistake

Saying 'hay-NEE-oh' as three syllables. It is two syllables: HAE-nyuh.

What is Haenyeo?

Haenyeo (해녀) are the legendary female free divers of Jeju Island, Korea, who have harvested seafood from the ocean for over 1,500 years without scuba equipment. UNESCO recognized their culture as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.

Full Vocabulary Page

Want to learn how to use Haenyeo in a sentence? See example sentences, formal and casual variants, and cultural context.

How to say “Haenyeo (women divers)” in Korean →

Master Korean Pronunciation

Practice Haenyeo and 5,000+ other Korean words with native audio and AI conversation.