소녀

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 少女, from 少 (“small”) + 女 (“woman”).

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	sonyeo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	sonyeo
McCune–Reischauer?	sonyŏ
Yale Romanization?	sōnye

Noun

소녀 • (sonyeo) (hanja 少女)

1. girl (young female person)

   Coordinate term: 소년 (sonyeon)

See also

• 청소년 (靑少年, cheongsonyeon, “adolescent; teenager”)