어린이

Korean

Etymology

Univerbation of 어린 (eorin, “who is young”, realis adnominal form) +‎ 이 (i, “person”), coined by Korean children's rights activist Bang Jeong-hwan, who felt that 애 (ae, “child”) did not sufficiently represent a child's personhood.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ʌ̹ɾini]
• Phonetic hangul: [어리니]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	eorini
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	eolin'i
McCune–Reischauer?	ŏrini
Yale Romanization?	elin.i

Noun

어린이 • (eorini)

1. (often polite) child

   Synonyms: 애 (ae, “kid, child”, usual colloquial form), 아동(兒童) (adong, “child”, formal, legalistic)

   Antonym: 어른 (eoreun, “adult”)

Usage notes

• Typically refers to children of kindergarten and elementary school age.

Derived terms

• 어린이날 (eorininal)
• 어린이집 (eorinijip)