See also: -사 and
U+C0AC, 사
HANGUL SYLLABLE SA
Composition: +

[U+C0AB]
Hangul Syllables
[U+C0AD]
U+3214, ㈔
PARENTHESIZED HANGUL SIOS A

[U+3213]
Enclosed CJK Letters and Months
[U+3215]
U+3274, ㉴
CIRCLED HANGUL SIOS A

[U+3273]
Enclosed CJK Letters and Months
[U+3275]




삐 ←→ 새

Korean

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Etymology 1

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Korean numbers (edit)
40
 ←  3 4 5  → 
    Native isol.: (net)
    Native attr.: (ne), (dated) (neok), (archaic) (neo)
    Sino-Korean: (sa)
    Hanja:
    Ordinal: 넷째 (netjjae)

Sino-Korean word from .

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰa̠(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?sa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?sa
McCune–Reischauer?sa
Yale Romanization?

Numeral

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(sa) (hanja )

  1. (Sino-Korean numeral) four
    Synonyms: (ne, four, determiner native numeral), (net, four, nominal native numeral)
Usage notes
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This numeral is sometimes considered unlucky because 사(四) (sa) is homophonous with 사(死) (sa), the hanja for "death". This is common throughout East Asia.

In modern Korean, numbers are usually written in Arabic numerals.

The Korean language has two sets of numerals: a native set of numerals inherited from Old Korean, and a Sino-Korean set which was borrowed from Middle Chinese in the first millennium C.E.

Native classifiers take native numerals.

Some Sino-Korean classifiers take native numerals, others take Sino-Korean numerals, while yet others take both.

Recently loaned classifiers generally take Sino-Korean numerals.

For many terms, a native numeral has a quantifying sense, whereas a Sino-Korean numeral has a sense of labeling.

  • 반(班) (se ban, three school classes, native numeral)
  • 반(班) (sam ban, Class Number Three, Sino-Korean numeral)

When used in isolation, native numerals refer to objects of that number and are used in counting and quantifying, whereas Sino-Korean numerals refer to the numbers in a more mathematical sense.

  • 하나 주세 (hana-man deo juse-yo, Could you give me just one more, please, native numeral)
  • 더하기 ? (il deohagi ir-eun?, What's one plus one?, Sino-Korean numeral)

While older stages of Korean had native numerals up to the thousands, native numerals currently exist only up to ninety-nine, and Sino-Korean is used for all higher numbers. There is also a tendency—particularly among younger speakers—to uniformly use Sino-Korean numerals for the higher tens as well, so that native numerals such as 일흔 (ilheun, “seventy”) or 아흔 (aheun, “ninety”) are becoming less common.

Etymology 2

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Sino-Korean word from .

Pronunciation

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Romanizations
Revised Romanization?sa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?sa
McCune–Reischauer?sa
Yale Romanization?sa

Noun

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(sa) (hanja )

  1. (formal) company
    Synonym: 회사(會社) (hoesa)
    나왔다.Geu-neun sa-reul nawatda.He left the company.

Suffix

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—사 (-sa) (hanja )

  1. Short for 회사(會社) (hoesa, company).
    신문(新聞) (sinmun, newspaper) + ‎사(社) (sa) → ‎신문사(新聞社) (sinmunsa, newspaper agency)

Derived terms

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Etymology 3

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Sino-Korean word from .

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰa̠(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?sa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?sa
McCune–Reischauer?sa
Yale Romanization?

Noun

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(sa) (hanja )

  1. (literary) death
    Antonym: 생(生) (saeng, life)
    문제saeng-gwa sa-ui munjeThe question of life and death

Counter

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(sa) (hanja )

  1. (baseball) out

Derived terms

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Etymology 4

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Sino-Korean word from .

Pronunciation

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Romanizations
Revised Romanization?sa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?sa
McCune–Reischauer?sa
Yale Romanization?sa

Noun

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(sa) (hanja )

  1. private or personal affair
    Antonym: 공(公) (gong)
    구분하다gong-gwa sa-reul gubun-hadato distinguish what belongs to one's private and public/business life
Derived terms
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Etymology 5

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Sino-Korean word from .

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰa̠(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?sa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?sa
McCune–Reischauer?sa
Yale Romanization?

Noun

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(sa) (hanja )

  1. (formal) history
    Synonym: 역사(歷史) (yeoksa)

Suffix

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—사 (-sa) (hanja )

  1. history
    한국(韓國) (Han'guk, Korea) + ‎사(史) (sa) → ‎한국사(韓國史) (han'guksa, Korean history)

Derived terms

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Etymology 6

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Romanizations
Revised Romanization?sa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?sa
McCune–Reischauer?sa
Yale Romanization?sa

Noun

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(sa)

  1. sol (musical note)

Etymology 7

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Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

Syllable

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(sa)