Jeju
[
edit
]
Etymology
[
edit
]
Sino-Korean
word from
韓國
.
Pronunciation
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]
Proper noun
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]
韓國
(
han'guk
)
- Korea
- South Korea
Synonyms
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]
- (
Korea
)
:
朝鮮
(
joseon
)
(
rare
)
Korean
[
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]
Etymology
[
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]
Sino-Korean
word from
韓國
, originally short for
大韓帝國(大韓帝國)
(
Daehanjeguk
,
Korea's official name from 1897 to 1910
, literally
“
Empire of Great Han
”
)
, but now short for
大韓民國(大韓民國)
(
Daehanmin'guk
,
South Korea's official name
, literally
“
The Great Han People's Nation
”
)
.
한
(
韓
,
Han
) originally refers to the
三韓
(
三韓
,
Samhan
, “Three Han”), three ancient tribal confederations in the southern Korean Peninsula. The word was later conflated with the unrelated
Three Kingdoms of Korea
, which also became known as
三韓
(
三韓
,
Samhan
) and which united in the seventh century to form the united Korean nation. The reference in
한
(
韓
,
Han
) is to the Three Kingdoms, not the original tribes.
Pronunciation
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]
- (
SK Standard
/
Seoul
)
IPA
(
key
)
:
[?ha?(ː)n?uk?]
- Phonetic hangul:
[
한
(ː)
國
]
- Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
|
---|
Revised Romanization
?
| Han'guk
|
---|
Revised Romanization (translit.)
?
| Hangug
|
---|
McCune?Reischauer
?
| Han'guk
|
---|
Yale Romanization
?
| h?nkwuk
|
---|
Proper noun
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]
韓國
?
(
Han'guk
) (
hanja
韓國
)
- (
South Korea
)
Korea
(a country in
East Asia
, now divided into
North Korea
and
South Korea
)
- Synonym:
朝鮮(朝鮮)
(
Joseon
)
- (
South Korea
,
Yanbian
)
South Korea
(a country in
East Asia
)
- Synonym:
南韓(南韓)
(
Namhan
)
- Coordinate term:
北韓(北韓)
(
Bukhan
)
Usage notes
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]
- After Korea was divided in 1945, South Koreans have generally referred to Korea by the name
韓國
(
韓國
,
Han'guk
), a shortening of South Korea's official name,
大韓民國
(
大韓民國
,
Daehanmin'guk
), which is itself based on
大韓帝國
(
大韓帝國
,
Daehanjeguk
), briefly the official name between 1897 and 1910 when the Korean monarchy claimed imperial status.
- The older name for Korea, used between 1394 and 1945, was
朝鮮
(
朝鮮
,
Joseon
). North Korea continues to use this name, but it has been largely deprecated in South Korea.
- In contexts where North Korea is not involved,
韓國
(
韓國
,
Han'guk
, “Korea”) will usually refer to South Korea specifically. In contexts having to do with North Korea,
南韓
(
南韓
,
Namhan
, “South Korea”) is preferred. Note that the logic to this is that South Korea claims to be the sole legitimate government of the Korean people and hence to be the sole "Korea", so there is no need to specify that it
de facto
controls only the southern half when North Korea is not part of the discussion. The same goes for North Korea, which will refer to itself as
朝鮮
(
朝鮮
,
Joseon
, “Korea”) without specifying.
- Koreans in China
will refer to North Korea as
朝鮮
(
朝鮮
,
Joseon
) and South Korea as
韓國
(
韓國
,
Han'guk
, “Korea”), following Chinese norms.