Korean

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Etymology

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Sino-Korean word from 선남(善男) (seonnam, pious man) + 선녀(善女) (seonnyeo, pious woman). Compare Chinese 善男信女 (shànnán xìnnǚ).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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선남선녀 (seonnamseonnyeo) (hanja 善男善女) (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese)

  1. attractive man and attractive woman
    선남선녀 연애
    seonnamseonnyeo-ui yeonae
    relationship between a hot guy and girl
  2. (Buddhism, original sense) Buddhist believers at large