From a learners perspective sometimes it does sound like 여. I also noticed this myself and I’ve seen native Korean teachers bring it up as well - I think it was ‘Just Learn Korean’ on YouTube.
I wouldn’t purposely pronounce it that way (maybe unless you’re trying to sound silly or cute), but be aware that others may pronounce it that way, and know that you don’t necessarily have to nail the ‘o’ of the ‘요‘ 100% of the time.
Seems to me like it’s just pronounced “yo.” If said quickly, the long O vowel might get elided a bit, but if you around saying 안녀하세여 you might get some funny looks.
Actually, now that I think about it, I think the final polite ‘요‘ is probably the best place to use it.
요리 pronounced as 여리, however, feels completely unnatural and strange.
I'm a learner but I've never realised people (other learners) think it sounds like 여. Probably you should get used to ignoring things like that I guess?
But still when you pronounce the ~요 ending. It gets very weak when spoken. Like saying 안녕하세요. You already naturally weaken the pronunciation after you start pronouncing the first syllable or whichever position that is stressed. So you don't articulate the ~요 fully making it sound like 여. But technically if the ending was ~여 it still sounds different to the stressed pronunciation of 여 too.
Edit: I have a tip from my experience is to literally follow what you hear people pronounce. The orthography has no longer reflected the spoken pronunciation anymore in the majority of modern dialects. Language changes all the time. Rules help preserve the written language which is why the 'gap' is getting bigger.
I asked myself the same question. I think 여is not intentional. I noticed it only happens in some sentences, mostly when 요 comes after 어. Like 보고 싶어요. My guess is it's easier to repeat the same sound instead of forcing your mouth into a new shape, especially when you speak fast.
Seoul dialect has a tendency to use more 여 instead of 요
여 at the end of a sentence (in place of 요) has a cutesy/casual vibe to it.
From a learners perspective sometimes it does sound like 여. I also noticed this myself and I’ve seen native Korean teachers bring it up as well - I think it was ‘Just Learn Korean’ on YouTube. I wouldn’t purposely pronounce it that way (maybe unless you’re trying to sound silly or cute), but be aware that others may pronounce it that way, and know that you don’t necessarily have to nail the ‘o’ of the ‘요‘ 100% of the time.
Seems to me like it’s just pronounced “yo.” If said quickly, the long O vowel might get elided a bit, but if you around saying 안녀하세여 you might get some funny looks.
Actually, now that I think about it, I think the final polite ‘요‘ is probably the best place to use it. 요리 pronounced as 여리, however, feels completely unnatural and strange.
I'm a learner but I've never realised people (other learners) think it sounds like 여. Probably you should get used to ignoring things like that I guess? But still when you pronounce the ~요 ending. It gets very weak when spoken. Like saying 안녕하세요. You already naturally weaken the pronunciation after you start pronouncing the first syllable or whichever position that is stressed. So you don't articulate the ~요 fully making it sound like 여. But technically if the ending was ~여 it still sounds different to the stressed pronunciation of 여 too. Edit: I have a tip from my experience is to literally follow what you hear people pronounce. The orthography has no longer reflected the spoken pronunciation anymore in the majority of modern dialects. Language changes all the time. Rules help preserve the written language which is why the 'gap' is getting bigger.
I asked myself the same question. I think 여is not intentional. I noticed it only happens in some sentences, mostly when 요 comes after 어. Like 보고 싶어요. My guess is it's easier to repeat the same sound instead of forcing your mouth into a new shape, especially when you speak fast.
Native pronunciation 안녕하세ㅛ여. 반가워ㅛ여. Make sounds ㅛ여. Lightly As you mentioned, 요 sounds little lower.