고양이

Korean

Etymology

괴 (goe, “cat”, now largely obsolete) +‎ -앙이 (-ang'i, diminutive suffix). First recorded in 1690, and became popular in the late 19th century. Ultimately from Old Korean *kwò(y)ní, attested in the twelfth-century wordlist Jilin leishi; see 괴 (goe) for more.

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ko̞ja̠ŋi]
Phonetic hangul: [고양이]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	goyang'i
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	goyang'i
McCune–Reischauer^?	koyangi
Yale Romanization^?	ko.yangi

Noun

고양이 • (goyang'i) (counter 마리)

cat
조용한 고양이가 쥐 를 잡는다.
Joyonghan goyang'iga jwi-reul jamneunda.
The quiet cat catches the mouse. (proverb)

꽁꽁 얼어 붙 은 한강 위 로 고양이가 걸어 다닙니다.
Kkongkkong eoreobut-eun han'gang wi-ro goyang'iga georeodanimnida.
A cat walks over solidly frozen Han River.

Synonyms

(dialectal) 고냉이 (gonaeng'i)
괭이 (gwaeng'i)
(dialectal) 꼬내이 (kkonaei)
나비 (nabi)

Derived terms

고양이고래 (goyang'igorae, “melon-headed whale”)
도둑고양이 (dodukgoyang'i, “stray cat”)
도적(盜賊)고양이 (dojeokgoyang'i)
사향(麝香)고양이 (sahyanggoyang'i, “civet”)
수고양이 (sugoyang'i, “male cat”)
아시아황금고양이 (asiahwanggeumgoyang'i, “Asian golden cat”)
암고양이 (amgoyang'i, “female cat”)
중국산악고양이 (jungguksanakgoyang'i, “Chinese mountain cat”)
집고양이 (jipgoyang'i, “domestic cat”)

Related terms

길냥이 (gillyang'i, “stray cat”) (neologism)

고양이