전답
Korean
Etymology
Sino-Korean word from 田 (“field”) + 畓 (“rice paddy”).
The hanja for 畓 was domestically coined in Korea. Since there is no single Chinese character for "rice paddy", Koreans originally used 水田 (shuǐtián) in vertical writing. From the idea of conventional vertical writing, someone during the Silla kingdom began to write the two characters as a single vertically conjoined character, 畓, which then became the norm. There already existed a native Korean word, 논 (non), for "rice paddy", but the Sino-Korean pronunciation for this new hanja didn't exist, so likely a new pronunciation was taken from an extant similar-looking hanja, 沓 (tà) (pronounced as 답 (dap)). In December 2019, a wooden stick from the Silla period with 畓 written on it was excavated. This artefact is estimated to date back to around 500 CE, making it the oldest record of 畓 so far. The second oldest record of 畓 is found in a Silla-era monument dating back to 561 CE.
Pronunciation
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [t͡ɕʌ̹nda̠p̚]
- Phonetic hangul: [전답]
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | jeondap |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | jeondab |
| McCune–Reischauer? | chŏndap |
| Yale Romanization? | centap |