말

From Middle Korean 말〯 (mǎl).

• (Morphophonemic) IPA^(key): ⫽mal⫽
• (Jeju City) IPA^(key): [ma̠ɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [말]

말 (mal)

1. word
2. speech
3. language

• 제주말 (jejumal)
• 한국말 (han'gungmal)
• 조선말 (joseonmal) (rare)

• “말” in Andrew Cheng; K. David Harrison, Jeju-eo Talking Dictionary, Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, 2014.
• “말” in Jeju's culture and language, Digital museum.

First attested as Late Old Korean 末 in the Jīlín lèishì (鷄林類事 / 계림유사)^[1], 1103. First attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 말〯 (Yale: mǎl). The rising pitch implies an earlier bisyllabic origin.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ma̠(ː)ɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [말(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 말의 / 말에 / 말까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes low pitch, and heightens the pitch of two subsequent suffixed syllables.

말 • (mal)

1. speech

   내 말을 주의하여 들어봐.

   Nae mareul juuihayeo deureobwa.

   Listen to me carefully.

2. (colloquial) language

   Synonym: (formal) 어(語) (eo)

   일본 말을 어디서 배웠어?

   ilbon mareul eodiseo baewosseo?

   Where did you learn Japanese?

First attested in the Jīlín lèishì (鷄林類事 / 계림유사), 1103, as Late Old Korean 末.

In the hangul script, first attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean ᄆᆞᆯ (Yale: mòl).

Similar words are found across Eurasia. Compare Manchu ᠮᠣᡵᡳᠨ (morin, “horse”), Mongolian морь (morʹ, “horse”), Nivkh мурӈ (murŋ, “horse”), Old Chinese 馬 (*mraːʔ, “horse”), Japanese 馬(うま) (uma, “horse”), and Proto-Indo-European *márkos (“horse”); see the last link for more.

For the prefix, compare Chinese 馬 / 马 (mǎ, “horse; big, great”), from which it is perhaps calqued.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ma̠ɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [말]

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 말의 / 말에 / 말까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word takes low pitch only before consonant-initial multisyllabic suffixes.

말 • (mal) (counter 마리)

1. horse
2. playing piece (in games)
3. sawhorse

말— • (mal-)

1. (now unproductive) great; big

   말벌 ― malbeol ― great bee; wasp

   말개미 ― malgaemi ― king ant

   말잠자리 ― maljamjari ― type of dragonfly

First attested in the Seokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 1447, as Middle Korean 말〮 (Yale: mál).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ma̠ɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [말]

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 말의 / 말에 / 말까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch and also heightens the next suffixed syllable.

말 • (mal)

1. (units of measure) a unit of volume equivalent to about 18 L or 10 되 (doe)

From Middle Korean 맗 (malh). Short form of 말뚝 (malttuk).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ma̠ɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [말]

말 • (mal)

1. wooden pile; stake

First attested in the Hunmong jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527, as Middle Korean ᄆᆞᆯ〮 (Yale: mól).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ma̠ɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [말]

말 • (mal)

1. an alga or other waterborne cryptogam
2. seaweed, specifically Potamogeton oxyphyllus.

• 해조(海藻) (haejo)

Sino-Korean word from 末 (“end”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ma̠ɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [말]

말 • (mal) (hanja 末)

1. end (of a period); late

   Antonym: 초(初) (cho, “beginning”)

   조선시대 말

   joseonsidae mal

   Late Joseon period

2. (baseball) bottom (of an inning)

   Coordinate term: 초(初) (cho, “top (of an inning)”)

   9회 말

   guhoe mal

   The bottom of the ninth inning

• See the hanja entry at 末 for Sino-Korean compounds of (末, mal).

Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

말 • (mal)

• Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea (대한민국 대법원, Daehanmin'guk Daebeobwon) (2018). Table of hanja for personal names (인명용 한자표 / 人名用漢字表, Inmyeong-yong hanja-pyo), page 15. [2]
• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “First attestation? Any Old Korean forms known?”)

• IPA^(key): /mǎl/

말〯 (mǎl)

1. word, speech, language

• Korean: 말 (mal)

Possibly cognate with Japanese 升 (masu), a similar unit of measure.

• IPA^(key): /mál/

말〮 (mál)

1. measure (containing about 18 liters or 10 doe (되 (doe))
2. a unit of measure (about 18 liters)

• Korean: 말 (mal)