Korean

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Etymology

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(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

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  • (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

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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

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  • The purist name 얼차려 (eolcharyeo) was superseded by South Korean law in 2020 by the term 군기훈련 (軍紀訓練, gun'gihullyeon), which is more semantically transparent despite the Sino-Korean etymology, and also perhaps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.