할머니

Korean

Alternative forms

• honorific: 할머님 (halmeonim)
• informal: 할매 (halmae)

Etymology

From earlier 한어머니 (haneomeoni), from 한 (han-, “great, big”) (from Middle Korean 하다 (hata, “to be big”)) + 어머니 (eomeoni, “mother”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ha̠ɭmʌ̹ni]
• Phonetic hangul: [할머니]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	halmeoni
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	halmeoni
McCune–Reischauer?	halmŏni
Yale Romanization?	hal.meni

Noun

할머니 • (halmeoni)

1. grandmother; (by extension) elderly female

   Coordinate term: 할아버지 (harabeoji)

Usage notes

As a form of address, 할머니 (halmeoni) is often a polite replacement for a second person singular pronoun (너 or 당신).

See also

• 조모 (jomo), 할매 (halmae), 할미 (halmi)
• 아줌마 (ajumma) - middle-aged woman; older female
• 할망구 (halmanggu)