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| 너넉넊넋넌넍넎 넏널넑넒넓넔넕 넖넗넘넙넚넛넜 넝넞넟넠넡넢넣 | |
| 냬 ← | → 네 |
|---|---|
FromMiddle Korean너(nè,“you”). Presumably existed in Old Korean, but cannot be ascertained because Old Korean pronouns were written with Chinese logograms that obscure the pronunciation.
It has been suggested since the 1950s that the basic Korean pronouns나(na,“I; me”),너(neo,“you”), and누(nu,“who”) (> modern누구(nugu)) were all formed from the same etymon viaablaut, which appears to have once been an extremely productive process in Korean, at some very ancient stage.[1][2] Given the very limited data on prehistoric Korean, this hypothesis cannot be proven for sure either way.
Possibly cognate withOld Japanese汝(na,“you”,second-person singular informal pronoun); if so, generally assumed to be a Koreanic loan into Japanese, given the paucity of Ryukyuan cognates (Vovin 2010).
| Audio: | (file) |
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | neo |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | neo |
| McCune–Reischauer? | nŏ |
| Yale Romanization? | ne |
너• (neo)
A characteristic of colloquial Korean is that the use of personal pronouns such as너(neo) or걔(gyae,“he; she”) implies that the person being referred to by the pronoun is of equal or lower social rank compared to the speaker. When speaking to a social superior, speakers use either a title or a word referring to the relationship between the speaker and the addressee. Thus the pronoun너(neo) is permissible for one's younger brother, but one's older brother is referred to as형(兄)(hyeong) or오빠(oppa), both meaning "older brother". Similarly, a freshman addresses a senior as선배(先輩)(seonbae,“upperclassman; elder student”) but the senior may freely address the freshman as너(neo).
Furthermore, even when speaking to an equal or inferior,너(neo) is impermissible in polite or formal speech levels. In such contexts, use자네(jane), a title, or a personal name.자기(自己)(jagi) or당신(當身)(dangsin) is common in romantic contexts.
The use of너(neo) in socially impermissible contexts, such as when addressing a superior, should be understood as the speaker showing contempt for the addressee.
| 40 | ||
| [a],[b],[c] ← 3 | 4 | 5 → [a],[b] |
|---|---|---|
| Nativeisol.:넷(net) Nativeattr.:네(ne),(dated)넉(neok),(archaic)너(neo) Sino-Korean:사(sa) Hanja:四 Ordinal:넷째(netjjae) | ||
First attested in theSeokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 1447, asMiddle Korean너〯 (Yale:ně). Compare넷(net,“four”).
| Audio: | (file) |
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | neo |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | neo |
| McCune–Reischauer? | nŏ |
| Yale Romanization? | nē |
너• (neo)
This form is found primarily with certain traditional Korean units which are not now widely used.
너 (nè)