나라

Jeju

Etymology

From Old Korean 國惡 (*NALak). Cognate with Korean 나라 (nara).

Pronunciation

• (Morphophonemic) IPA^(key): ⫽nala⫽
• (Jeju City) IPA^(key): [na̠ɾa̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [나라]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	nara
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	nala
Yale Romanization?	nala

Noun

나라 (nara)

1. country, nation, kingdom

Korean

Etymology 1

In the hangul script, first attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 나랗〮 (Yale: nàláh), from Old Korean 國惡 (*NALak). Compare Yukjin dialect 나랑 (narang), which preserves the velar nature of the coda consonant.

Beyond Koreanic, the word is usually connected to Proto-Tungusic *nā (“land”), and hence Manchu ᠨᠠ (na, “land”) and Nanai на (na, “land”), with *lak~*lah being a suffix. Also cf. -tah in Middle Korean ᄯᅡᇂ (stah, “ground, land”) > Korean 땅 (ttang, “ibid.”) and -lk in Middle Korean ᄒᆞᆰ (holk, “earth, soil”) > Korean 흙 (heuk, “ibid.”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [na̠ɾa̠]

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Phonetic hangul: [나라]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	nara
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	nala
McCune–Reischauer?	nara
Yale Romanization?	nala

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 나라의 / 나라에 / 나라까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch only on the first syllable, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.

Noun

나라 • (nara)

1. country, nation

   Synonym: 국가(國家) (gukga)

   러시아는 세계에서 제일 큰 나라다.

   Reosia-neun segye-eseo jeil keun nara-da.

   Russia is the largest country in the world.

2. government

   이건 나라가 준 돈이야.

   Igeon nara-ga jun don-iya.

   This is money that the government gave me.

Derived terms

• 꿈나라 (kkumnara)
• 나라님 (naranim)
• 나라말 (naramal)
• 나랏돈 (naratdon)
• 달나라 (dallara)
• 별나라 (byeollara)
• 섬나라 (seomnara)
• 우리나라 (urinara)
• 하늘나라 (haneullara)

See also

• 國 (guk), the hanja for "country"

Suffix

—나라 • (-nara)

1. (history) Chinese dynasty

   건륭제는 청나라의 황제였다.

   Geollyungje-neun Cheong-nara-ui hwangje-yeotda.

   Qianlong emperor was an emperor of the Qing dynasty.

Usage notes

• Used only for historical Chinese polities with single-syllable names. Thus 송(宋)나라 (Song-nara, “Song dynasty”) but simply 북송(北宋) (Buksong, “Northern Song”). *북송나라 (*Buksong-nara) is ungrammatical.

Etymology 2

From Japanese 奈良 (Nara).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [na̠ɾa̠]

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Phonetic hangul: [나라]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	Nara
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	Nala
McCune–Reischauer?	Nara
Yale Romanization?	nala

Proper noun

나라 • (Nara)

1. Nara (a city in Japan)

Middle Korean

Noun

나라〮 (nàlá)

1. Isolated form spelling of 나랗〮 (nàláh, “country”)