-언

Jeju

Pronunciation

  • (Morphophonemic) IPA(key): ⫽ən⫽
  • (Jeju City) IPA(key): [ən]
  • Phonetic hangul: []
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?-eon
Revised Romanization (translit.)?eon
Yale Romanization?en

Suffix

(eon)

  1. that (marking an indirect quotation)

Usage notes

In the indirect quotation sense, (-eon) is attached to a plain form of the quoted verb and is followed by a clause ending in a verb related to speech or ᄒᆞ다 (hawda, to do).

Synonyms

  • -덴 (-den)
  • -냰 (-nyaen)
  • -센 (-sen)
  • -젠 (-jen)

Korean

Etymology

Plausibly a shortening of -엇- (-eot-) + -니 (-ni). Compare -간 (-gan), -안 (-an) which is also used.

Noun

-언 • (-eon)

  1. (Pyongan, parts of Hwanghae) a plain-style interrogative suffix

Usage notes

Still commonly used according to defectors from Pyongan dialect speaking areas. This includes Pyongyang, where Munhwa'eo appears to have influenced the local speech more significantly than other regions.