고사성어

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 故事 (“old story”) + 成語 (“set phrase”).

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	gosaseong'eo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	gosaseong'eo
McCune–Reischauer?	kosasŏngŏ
Yale Romanization?	kōsasenge

Noun

고사성어 • (gosaseong'eo) (hanja 故事成語)

1. chengyu, a Classical Chinese set phrase usually four characters long and with a story behind it, used commonly as idioms in Korean and other East Asian languages

   Synonyms: 성어(成語) (seong'eo( 成語 )), 사자성어(四字成語) (sajaseong'eo( 四字成語 ))