말

말	U+B9D0, 말 HANGUL SYLLABLE MAL

Composition:

ㅁ + ㅏ + ㄹ

← 맏
[U+B9CF]

Hangul Syllables

맑 →
[U+B9D1]

리 ←	→ 매
마 막 맊 맋 만 맍 많 맏말맑 맒 맓 맔 맕 맖 맗 맘 맙 맚 맛 맜 망 맞 맟 맠 맡 맢 맣

Jeju

Etymology

From Middle Korean 말〯 (mǎl).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ma̠ɭ/

Noun

말 (mal)

Derived terms

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

References

“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.

Korean

Etymology 1

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.

Pronunciation

(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.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	mal
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	mal
McCune–Reischauer^?	mal
Yale Romanization^?	māl

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.

Noun

말 • (mal)

speech
내 말을 주의하여 들어 봐.
Nae mareul juuihayeo deureobwa.
Listen to me carefully.
(colloquial) language
Synonym: (formal) 어(語) (eo)

일본 말을 어디 서 배웠어?
Ilbon mareul eodiseo baewosseo?
Where did you learn Japanese?

Derived terms

낱말 (nanmal, “word”)
말씀 (malsseum, “(honorific) word”)
말이 아니다 (mari anida, “to be unreasonable”)
말하다 (malhada, “to say, speak, talk”)
한국말 (han'gungmal, “the Korean language”)

Etymology 2

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.

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	mal
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	mal
McCune–Reischauer^?	mal
Yale Romanization^?	mal

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.

Noun

말 • (mal) (counter 마리)

Derived terms

망아지 (mang'aji, “pony”)
수말 (sumal, “male horse”)
암말 (ammal, “female horse, mare”)

Prefix

말— • (mal-)

(now unproductive) great; big
말벌 ― malbeol ― great bee; wasp

말개미 ― malgaemi ― king ant

말잠자리 ― maljamjari ― type of dragonfly

Etymology 3

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

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “What relation to the Japanese term 升 (masu, “unit of measure for volume, approx. 1.8L”)? Many KO hanja readings ending in -l correspond to JA kanji readings ending variously in -shi, -chi, -tsu, and -su (but no examples exist Chuterix (talk) 14:17, 21 June 2023 (UTC)), opening the possibility of a KO mal ↔ JA masu phonetic match. See also Talk:말#KO_mal_(unit_of_measure)_and_JA_masu_(unit_of_measure).”

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	mal
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	mal
McCune–Reischauer^?	mal
Yale Romanization^?	mal

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.

Noun

말 • (mal)

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

Etymology 4

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

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	mal
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	mal
McCune–Reischauer^?	mal
Yale Romanization^?	mal

Noun

말 • (mal)

wooden pile; stake

Etymology 5

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

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	mal
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	mal
McCune–Reischauer^?	mal
Yale Romanization^?	mal

Noun

말 • (mal)

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

Derived terms

말무리 (malmuri)
벌레먹이말 (beollemeogimal)

Etymology 6

Sino-Korean word from 末 (“end”).

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	mal
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	mal
McCune–Reischauer^?	mal
Yale Romanization^?	mal

Noun

말 • (mal) (hanja 末)

end (of a period); late
Antonym: 초(初) (cho, “beginning”)

조선시대 말
joseonsidae mal
Late Joseon period
(baseball) bottom (of an inning)
Coordinate term: 초(初) (cho, “top (of an inning)”)

9 회 말
guhoe mal
The bottom of the ninth inning

Derived terms

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

Etymology 7

Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

Syllable

말 (mal)

More information

末:
(MC reading: 末 (MC mat))
茉:
(MC reading: 茉 (MC mat))
唜: end; tip
(eumhun reading: 끝 말 (kkeut mal)))
抹:
(MC reading: 抹 (MC mat))
沫:
(MC reading: 沫 (MC mat))
襪:
(MC reading: 襪 (MC mjot))
靺:
(MC reading: 靺 (MC mat))
帕:
(MC reading: 帕 (MC maet))
秣:
(MC reading: 秣 (MC mat))
妺:
(MC reading: 妺 (MC mat))
昩:
(MC reading: 昩 (MC mat))
瀎:
(MC reading: 瀎 (MC mat))
粖:
(MC reading: 粖 (MC mat))
袜:
(MC reading: 袜 (MC mat))
袹:
(MC reading: 袹 (MC -))
䬴:
(MC reading: 䬴 (MC mat))

References

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. [1]
국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

Middle Korean

Etymology 1

(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?”)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mǎl/

Noun

말〯 (mǎl)

word, speech, language

Descendants

Korean: 말 (mal)

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mál/

Noun

말〮 (mál)

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

Descendants

Korean: 말 (mal)