Korean edit

 

Etymology edit

First attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 가마괴〮 (Yale: kàmàkwóy).

Also attested in the Worin seokbo (月印釋譜 / 월인석보), 1459, as Middle Korean 가마귀〮 (Yale: kàmàkwúy).

The influential mid-twentieth-century linguist Heo Ung believed this was (Yale: kam-, “to be black”) + 아괴〮 (Yale: -àkwóy, rare noun-deriving suffix), and most Korean etymologists have followed his lead. Compare 뜨더귀 (tteudeogwi, something torn to pieces), from 뜯다 (tteutda, to pluck, to tear).

But also compare 가마오〮디 (Yale: kàmàwótì, “cormorant”, a pitch-black seabird) > modern 가마우지 (gamauji), where bisyllabic /kàmà/ would appear to be the morpheme for "black", cf. 오지 (oji, cormorant, dialectal).

Pronunciation edit

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?kkamagwi
Revised Romanization (translit.)?kkamagwi
McCune–Reischauer?kkamagwi
Yale Romanization?kkamakwi
  • South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 귀의 / 까귀에 / 까귀까지

    Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch on the second syllable, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.

Noun edit

까마귀 (kkamagwi)

  1. crow, raven

Derived terms edit

idioms
compounds

Related terms edit

See also edit