습니다

KoreanEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Early Modern Korean 습ᄂᆡ다 (-seumnaeda), contraction of earlier 습ᄂᆞ이다 (-seumnaida), an honorific declarative verbal suffix representing a merger of the Middle Korean verbal suffixes ᄉᆞᆸ (-sop, object honorific) + ᄂᆞ (-no, present tense marker) + ᅌᅵ (-ngi, addressee honorific for statements) + 다 (-ta, declarative mood marker).

The allomorph ㅂ니다 (-mnida) after sonorants represents the fact that the Middle Korean object honorific ᄉᆞᆸ (-sop) had the allomorph ᅀᆞᆸ (-zop) after sonorants, which became simply ㅂ (-p) after Middle Korean /z/ was (almost) unconditionally deleted in the sixteenth century.

PronunciationEdit

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [s͈ɯmnida̠]
Phonetic hangeul: [씀니다]

Revised Romanization^?	seumnida
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	seubnida
McCune–Reischauer^?	ssŭmnida
Yale Romanization^?	qsupnita

SuffixEdit

—습니다 • (-seumnida)

Declarative suffix for sentence-final verbs in the 하십시오체 (hasipsioche, “formal polite”) speech level.
고맙습니다.
Gomapseumnida.
Thank you.

Usage notesEdit

—ᆸ니다 (mnida) is used after verbs and adjectives with no finals or ㄹ (l), which falls out. For example,

가— (ga-, “to go”) + —ᆸ니다 (mnida) = 갑니다 (gamnida)

알— (al-, “to know”) + —ᆸ니다 (mnida) = 압니다 (amnida)

습니다 (seumnida) is used otherwise; that is, after verbs and adjectives with finals that are not ㄹ (l). For example,

먹— (meok-, “to eat”) + —습니다 (seumnida) = 먹습니다 (meokseumnida)

Related termsEdit

—습니까 (seumnikka)
—ᆸ시다 (psida)

DescendantsEdit

→ Chinese:
- Mandarin: 思密達／思密达 (sīmìdá)
→ Japanese: ニダ (nida)

ReferencesEdit

정언학 (Jeong Eon-hak) (2006) , “통합형 어미 '-습니다'류의 통시적 형성과 형태 분석”, in Gugeo gyoyuk, volume 121, pages 317—356