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U+C300, 쌀
HANGUL SYLLABLE SSAL
Composition: + +

[U+C2FF]
Hangul Syllables
[U+C301]




시 ←→ 쌔

Korean[edit]

Etymology[edit]

First attested in the Jīlín lèishì (鷄林類事 / 계림유사), 1103, as Late Old Korean 菩薩.

In the Hangul script, first attested in the Seokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 1447, as Middle Korean ᄡᆞᆯ〮 (Yale: psól). The Middle Korean p- is still preserved in many compounds where is the second element, such as 멥쌀 (mepssal) and 찹쌀 (chapssal).

Alexander Vovin argues in a 2015 work that this term could be a Japonic loan, connecting it with Japanese 早稲 (wase, early-ripening rice), with two assumptions:[1]

  • That the initial p- came from a phonological inability to render initial Japonic w-.
  • That the final consonant was originally present in early Japonic but had been eliminated in the insular languages.

Meanwhile, James Marshall Unger presents a case in a 2000 paper[2] that explains a possible derivation for Japanese terms like 早稲 (wase) that have alternating apophonic forms (standalone wase and compounding form wasa-), suggesting instead that these may be cognates with Koreanic terms.

Joo (2021) [3] argues that its earlier transcription as posal 菩薩 (bodhisattva) is in fact not a mere phonetic transcription but actually reflects its etymological origin from Middle Chinese, citing the case of a Japanese dialect using the same word 菩薩 (bosatsu) to refer to raw rice, and also a religious practice in Korea where a jar of grain is used to symbolize Buddha's body.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (file)
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?ssal
Revised Romanization (translit.)?ssal
McCune–Reischauer?ssal
Yale Romanization?ssal
  • South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: / 에 /

    Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch and also heightens the next suffixed syllable, unless it is 에.

Noun[edit]

(ssal)

  1. uncooked rice
  2. white hulled grains of barley, wheat, etc.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Vovin, Alexander (2015), “On The Etymology of Middle Korean psʌr 'rice'”, in Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları[1], issue 25.2, pages 229-238
  2. ^ Unger, J. Marshall (2000), “Reconciling Comparative and Internal Reconstruction: The Case of Old Japanese /ti ri ni/”, in Language[2], issue 76.3, page 655–681
  3. ^ Joo, Ian (2021), “The etymology of Korean ssal 'uncooked grain' and pap 'cooked grain'”, in Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale[3], issue 50.1, pages 94-110