Korean edit

Etymology edit

(eol, (literary) spirit) +‎ 차려 (charyeo, casual imperative of 차리다 (charida, to put in order)): "put your morale in order". The wording is motivated by the nationalistic linguistic purism of the army. Normally, the Sino-Korean word 정신 (精神, jeongsin) would be used instead of (eol).

Pronunciation edit

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

Noun edit

얼차려 (eolcharyeo)

  1. (military) punishment of a lower-ranking soldier, ostensibly to punish flagging morale but sometimes abusive (e.g. making them run laps)
    Synonym: 군기훈련(軍紀訓練) (gun'gihullyeon)

Usage notes edit

  • The purist name 얼차려 (eolcharyeo) was superseded by South Korean law in 2020 by the term 군기훈련 (軍紀訓練, gun'gihullyeon), which is more semantically transparent despite the Sino-Korean etymology, and also perhaps because 얼차려 (eolcharyeo) had increasingly negative connotations of abuse of lower-ranking soldiers. However, 얼차려 (eolcharyeo) is still more common in practice.