소얌

Middle Korean

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sojam/

Pronoun

소얌 (swoyam)

1. (hapax) The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
   1. that
      • 1575, 光州千字文 / 광주천자문 [Gwangju Cheonjamun]:

        伊(이) 소얌 이

        I swoyam i

        [The Chinese word] 伊 (yī) [means] swoyam [and is pronounced] i.

Usage notes

This word, or any word even remotely similar to it, is not attested in any other source. The normal MK gloss for the Chinese word 伊 (yī, “this, that”) is 뎌〮 (tyé, “that; far from both the speaker and the listener”).

Korean scholars have proposed that the word was some arcane dialectal form, as the Gwangju cheonjamun was published in the southwestern town of Gwangju rather than the capital of Seoul where most MK works were composed. Compare Old Japanese そ (so, “that; close to the listener”), modern Japanese それ (sore, “id.”).