까맣다

Korean

Etymology

Tense form of now uncommon 가맣다 (gamata), from Middle Korean 가마ᄒᆞ다 (Yale: kama-hota), equivalent to 가마 (Yale: kama, an inflected form of 감다 (kamta, “to be black”)) + ᄒᆞ다 (Yale: hota, light verb whence modern 하다 (hada)).

This ᄒᆞ다 (hota) construction, which is now ungrammatical in these contexts, was used widely in Middle Korean to derive emphatic color terms; see #Related terms below.

Pronunciation

Ablaut/harmonic pair

Yin-form	꺼멓다 (kkeomeota)
Yang-form	까맣다 (kkamata)

Consonant set

Plain	가맣다 (gamata)
Intensive	까맣다 (kkamata)

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	kkamata
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	kkamahda
McCune–Reischauer?	kkamat'a
Yale Romanization?	kkāmahta

Adjective

까맣다 • (kkamata) (irregular, infinitive 까매, sequential 까마니)

1. to be pitch black

Conjugation

    Selected forms of the adjective 까맣다 (kkamata): consonant-stem, ㅎ(h)-irregular

Sentence-final forms
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	까맣다 kkamata	까매 kkamae	까매요 kkamaeyo	까맣습니다 kkamaseumnida
	Past	까맸다 kkamaetda	까맸어 kkamaesseo	까맸어요 kkamaesseoyo	까맸습니다 kkamaetseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	까마냐 kkamanya	까매 kkamae	까매요 kkamaeyo	까맣습니까 kkamaseumnikka
	Past	까맸냐 kkamaennya	까맸어 kkamaesseo	까맸어요 kkamaesseoyo	까맸습니까 kkamaetseumnikka
Assertive		까맣겠다 kkamaketda	까맣겠어 kkamakesseo	까맣겠어요 kkamakesseoyo	까맣겠습니다 kkamaketseumnida
Connective forms
Cause/Reason		까매 kkamae	까매서 kkamaeseo	까마니 kkamani	까마니까 kkamanikka
Contrast		까맣지만 kkamachiman	까만데 kkamande	까맣더니 kkamateoni
Conjunction		까맣고 kkamako
Condition		까마면 kkamamyeon	까매야 kkamaeya
Noun and determiner forms
Verbal nouns		까맘 kkamam	까맣기 kkamaki
Past-tense verbal nouns		까맸음 kkamaesseum	까맸기 kkamaetgi
Determiners	Present		까만 kkaman
	Future		까말 kkamal

Sentence-final forms with honorific
		Plain (해라체)	Informal (해체)	Polite (해요체)	Formal (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	까마시다 kkamasida	까마셔 kkamasyeo	까마세요, 까마셔요 kkamaseyo, kkamasyeoyo	까마십니다 kkamasimnida
	Past	까마셨다 kkamasyeotda	까마셨어 kkamasyeosseo	까마셨어요 kkamasyeosseoyo	까마셨습니다 kkamasyeotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	까마시냐 kkamasinya	까마셔 kkamasyeo	까마세요, 까마셔요 kkamaseyo, kkamasyeoyo	까마십니까 kkamasimnikka
	Past	까마셨냐 kkamasyeonnya	까마셨어 kkamasyeosseo	까마셨어요 kkamasyeosseoyo	까마셨습니까 kkamasyeotseumnikka
Assertive		까마시겠다 kkamasigetda	까마시겠어 kkamasigesseo	까마시겠어요 kkamasigesseoyo	까마시겠습니다 kkamasigetseumnida
Connective forms with honorific
Cause/Reason		까마셔 kkamasyeo	까마셔서 kkamasyeoseo	까마시니 kkamasini	까마시니까 kkamasinikka
Contrast		까마시지만 kkamasijiman	까마신데 kkamasinde	까마시더니 kkamasideoni
Conjunction		까마시고 kkamasigo
Condition		까마시면 kkamasimyeon	까마셔야 kkamasyeoya
Noun and determiner forms with honorific
Verbal nouns		까마심 kkamasim	까마시기 kkamasigi
Past-tense verbal nouns		까마셨음 kkamasyeosseum	까마셨기 kkamasyeotgi
Determiners	Present		까마신 kkamasin
	Future		까마실 kkamasil

Related terms

• 노랗다 (norata)
• 누렇다 (nureota)
• 파랗다 (parata)
• 퍼렇다 (peoreota)
• 하얗다 (hayata)
• 허옇다 (heoyeota)