소설

Korean

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	soseol
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	soseol
McCune–Reischauer?	sosŏl
Yale Romanization?	sōsel

Etymology 1

Sino-Korean word from 小說, from 小 (“trivial”) + 說 (“words”).

Noun

소설 • (soseol) (hanja 小說)

1. fictional literature; fictional story

   Coordinate terms: 시(詩) (si, “poetry”), 수필(隨筆) (supil, “literary essay”)

   Hypernym: 문학(文學) (munhak, “literature”)

   소설을 읽음으로써 사람들은 잠시 현실로부터 벗어날 수 있다.

   Soseor-eul ilgeum-eurosseo saram-deur-eun jamsi hyeonsil-lobuteo beoseonal su itda.

   By reading fiction, people can escape from reality for a while.

Hyponyms

• 단편소설(短編小說) (danpyeonsoseol, “short story”)
• 중편소설(中篇小說) (jungpyeonsoseol, “novella”)
• 장편소설(長編小說) (jangpyeonsoseol, “novel”)
• 대하소설(大河小說) (daehasoseol, “epic novel series”)

Use of these terms is slightly technical. Koreans will usually say 소설(小說) (soseol) where an English speaker would use the more specific term novel.

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 小雪.

Proper noun

소설 • (Soseol) (hanja 小雪)

1. one of the twenty-four solar terms