The
Korean language
Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...
has two regularly used sets of
numerals: a native
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
system and
Sino-Korean system. The native Korean number system is used for general counting, like counting up to 99. It is also used to count people, hours, objects, ages, and more. Sino-Korean numbers on the other hand are used for purposes such as dates, money, minutes, addresses, phone numbers, and numbers above 100.
Construction
For both native and Sino- Korean numerals, the teens (11 through 19) are represented by a combination of tens and the ones places. For instance, 15 would be ''sib-o'' (), but not usually ''il-sib-o'' in the Sino-Korean system, and ''yeol-daseot'' () in native Korean. Twenty through ninety are likewise represented in this place-holding manner in the Sino-Korean system, while Native Korean has its own unique set of words, as can be seen in the chart below. The grouping of large numbers in Korean follows the Chinese tradition of
myriads (10000) rather than thousands (1000). The Sino-Korean system is nearly entirely based on the
Chinese numerals
Chinese numerals are words and characters used to denote numbers in Chinese.
Today, speakers of Chinese use three written numeral systems: the system of Arabic numerals used worldwide, and two indigenous systems. The more familiar indigenous s ...
.
The distinction between the two numeral systems is very important. Everything that can be counted will use one of the two systems, but seldom both. Sino-Korean words are sometimes used to mark
ordinal usage: ''yeol beon'' () means "ten times" while ''sip beon'' () means "number ten."
When denoting the age of a person, one will usually use ''sal'' () for the native Korean numerals, and ''se'' () for Sino-Korean. For example, ''seumul-daseot sal'' () and ''i-sib-o se'' () both mean 'twenty-five-year-old'. See also
East Asian age reckoning
Countries in the East Asian cultural sphere (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and their diasporas) have traditionally used specific methods of reckoning a person's numerical age based not on their birthday but the calendar year, and what age one is ...
.
The Sino-Korean numerals are used to denote the minute of time. For example, ''sam-sib-o bun'' () means "__:35" or "thirty-five minutes."
The native Korean numerals are used for the hours in the 12-hour system and for the hours 0:00 to 12:00 in the 24-hour system. The hours 13:00 to 24:00 in the 24-hour system are denoted using both the native Korean numerals and the Sino-Korean numerals. For example, ''se si'' () means '03:00' or '3:00 a.m./p.m.' and ''sip-chil si'' () or ''yeol-ilgop si'' () means '17:00'.
Some of the native numbers take a different form in front of
measure word
In linguistics, measure words are words (or morphemes) that are used in combination with a numeral to indicate an amount of something represented by some noun.
Description
Measure words denote a unit or measurement and are used with mass nouns ( ...
s:
The descriptive forms for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20 are formed by "dropping the last letter" from the original native cardinal, so to speak. Examples:
* ''han beon'' ("once")
* ''du gae'' ("two things")
* ''se si'' ("three o'clock"), in contrast, in North Korea the Sino-Korean numeral "sam" would normally be used; making it "sam si"
* ''ne myeong'' ("four people")
* ''seumu mari'' ("twenty animals")
Something similar also occurs in some Sino-Korean cardinals:
* ''onyuwol'' ("May and June")
* ''yuwol'' ("June")
* ''siwol'' ("October")
The cardinals for three and four have alternative forms in front of some measure words:
* ''seok dal'' ("three months")
* ''neok jan'' ("four cups")
Korean has several words formed with two or three consecutive numbers. Some of them have irregular or alternative forms.
*
한둘 ''handul'' ("one or two") /
한두 ''handu'' ("one or two" in front of measure words)
*
두셋 ''duset'' ("two or three") /
두세 ''duse'' ("two or three" in front of measure words)
*
서넛 ''seoneot'' ("three or four") /
서너 ''seoneo'' ("three or four" in front of measure words)
*
두서넛 ''duseoneot'' ("two or three or four") /
두서너 ''duseoneo'' ("two or three or four" in front of measure words)
*
너덧 ''neodeot'',
네댓 ''nedaet'',
네다섯 ''nedaseot'',
너더댓 ''neodeodaet'' ("four or five")
*
대여섯 ''daeyeoseot'',
대엿 ''daeyeot'' ("five or six")
*
예닐곱 ''yenilgop'' ("six or seven")
*
일고여덟 ''ilgoyeodeol'',
일여덟 ''ilyeodeol'' ("seven or eight")
*
여덟아홉 ''yeodeolahop'',
엳아홉 ''yeotahop'' ("eight or nine")
As for counting days in native Korean, another set of unique words are used:
*
하루 ''haru'' ("one day")
*
이틀 ''iteul'' ("two days")
*
사흘 ''saheul'' ("three days")
*
사나흘 ''sanaheul'',
사날 ''sanal'' ("three or four days")
*
나흘 ''naheul'' ("four days")
*
네댓새 ''nedaessae'',
너댓새 ''neodaessae'',
너더댓새 ''neodeodaessae'',
나달 ''nadal'' ("four or five days")
*
닷새 ''dassae'' ("five days")
*
대엿새 ''daeyeossae'' ("five or six days")
*
엿새 ''yeossae'' ("six days")
*
예니레 ''yenire'' ("six or seven days")
*
이레 ''ire'' ("seven days")
*
일여드레 ''ilyeodeure'' ("seven or eight days")
*
여드레 ''yeodeure'' ("eight days")
*
아흐레 ''aheure'' ("nine days")
*
열흘 ''yeolheul'' ("ten days")
The native Korean ''saheul'' (사흘; three days) is often misunderstood as the Sino-Korean ''sail'' (사일; 四日; four days) due to similar sounds. The two words are different in origin and have different meanings.
Cardinal numerals
Pronunciation
The initial consonants of measure words and numbers following the native cardinals ("eight", only when the is not pronounced) and ("ten") become tensed consonants when possible. Thus for example:
* ''yeol-dul'' (twelve) is pronounced like ''yeol-ttul''
* ''yeodeol-gwon'' (eight (books)) is pronounced like ''yeodeol-kkwon''
Several numerals have long vowels, namely (two), (three) and (four), but these become short when combined with other numerals / nouns (such as in twelve, thirteen, fourteen and so on).
The usual liaison and consonant-tensing rules apply, so for example, ''yesun-yeoseot'' (sixty-six) is pronounced like (''yesun-nyeoseot'') and ''chil-sip'' (seventy) is pronounced like ''chil-ssip''.
Constant suffixes used in Sino-Korean ordinal numerals
''Beon'' (), ''ho'' (), ''cha'' (), and ''hoe'' () are always used with Sino-Korean or Arabic ordinal numerals. For example, ''Yihoseon'' () is Line Number Two in a metropolitan subway system. ''Samsipchilbeongukdo'' () is highway number 37. They cannot be used interchangeably.
is 'Apt #906' in a mailing address. 906 without ''ho'' () is not used in spoken Korean to imply apartment number or office suite number. The special prefix ''je'' () is usually used in combination with suffixes to designate a specific event in sequential things such as the Olympics.
Substitution for disambiguation
In commerce or the financial sector, some
hanja
Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.
(, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...
for each Sino-Korean numbers are replaced by alternative ones to prevent ambiguity or retouching.
For verbally communicating number sequences such as phone numbers, ID numbers, etc., especially over the phone, native Korean numbers for 1 and 2 are sometimes substituted for the Sino-Korean numbers. For example, ''o-o-o hana-dul-hana-dul'' () instead of ''o-o-o il-i-il-i'' () for '555-1212', or ''sa-o-i-hana'' () instead of ''sa-o-i-il'' () for '4521', because of the potential confusion between the two similar-sounding Sino-Korean numbers.
For the same reason, military transmissions are known to use mixed
native Korean and
Sino-Korean numerals:
Notes
* Note 1: Korean
assimilation rules apply as if the underlying form were , sip.ryuk, , giving ''sim-nyuk'' instead of the expected ''sib-yuk''.
* Note 2: These names are considered archaic, and are not used.
* Note 3: The numbers higher than 10
20 (''hae'') are not usually used.
* Note 4: The names for these numbers are from Buddhist texts; they are not usually used. Dictionaries sometimes disagree on which numbers the names represent.
References
* J.J. Song ''The Korean language: Structure, Use and Context'' (2005 Routledge) pp. 81ff.
See also
*
Korean language
Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...
*
Korean count word
The Korean language uses special measure or counting words for specific objects and events. These suffixes are called ''subullyusa'' () in Korean. They are similar to the ones employed in the Chinese and the Japanese languages.
In English it is ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korean Numerals
Korean language
Numerals