-음직

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Korean -엄〮직〮 (Yale: -émcík). Beyond this, the first vowel of the Middle Korean suffix behaves identically to and is certainly etymologically derived from the infinitive -어〮 (Yale: ) whence modern -어 (-eo), but the rest of the etymology (/m/, /t͡sik/) is unclear.

Pronunciation

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?eumjik
Revised Romanization (translit.)?eumjig
McCune–Reischauer?ŭmjik
Yale Romanization?umcik

Suffix

-음직 • (-eumjik)

  1. -worthy (attached between a verb stem and the adjective-deriving suffixes -스럽다 (-seureopda) or -하다 (-hada))
    먹- (meok-, to eat) + ‎-음직 (-eumjik) + ‎-하다 (-hada, adjective-deriving light verb) → ‎먹음직하다 (meogeumjikhada, to look palatable, to look good to eat)
    믿- (mit-, to trust) + ‎-음직 (-eumjik) + ‎-스럽다 (-seureopda, adjective-deriving suffix) → ‎믿음직스럽다 (mideumjikseureopda, to be trustworthy)
    들- (deul-, to listen) + ‎-음직 (-eumjik) + ‎-하다 (-hada, adjective-deriving light verb) → ‎들음직하다 (deureumjikhada, to be worth listening to)
    꺼리- (kkeori-, to avoid) + ‎-음직 (-eumjik) + ‎-하다 (-hada, adjective-deriving light verb) → ‎꺼림칙하다 (kkeorimchikhada, to be uncanny)