-었는

Korean edit

Etymology edit

From Middle Korean 엇〮ᄂᆞᆫ〮 (Yale: -é-snón), equivalent to the present adnominal form of the stative continuous mood, e.g. 먹엇〮ᄂᆞᆫ〮 (Yale: mèké-snón, “eaten; which is in an eaten state”). Now grammatically equivalent to 었 (-eot-, past-tense marker) +‎ 는 (-neun, adnominal suffix).

Pronunciation edit

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ʌ̹nnɯn]
Phonetic hangul: [언는]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	eonneun
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	eossneun
McCune–Reischauer^?	ŏnnŭn
Yale Romanization^?	essnun

Suffix edit

Ablaut/harmonic pair
Yin-form	었는 (-eonneun)
Yang-form	았는 (-anneun)

었는 • (-eonneun)

(nonstandard) Synonym of 은 (-eun, past adnominal suffix for verbal stems; realis adnominal suffix for adjectival stems).
아팠는 줄 몰랐어. ― Apanneun jul mollasseo. ― I didn't know you were hurt.

짚었는 물 (Gyeongsang dialect) ― jip-eonneun mul ― water which is/was deep; deep water

Usage notes edit

This suffix is considered nonstandard.
In colloquial Seoul Korean and in Jeolla Korean, this suffix usually appears before certain expressions conveying doubt or speculation, such as 줄 몰랐다 (jul mollatda, “I didn't know...”), 것 같다 (geot gatda, “I feel like...”), and 듯 (deut, “as if”).
- In such expressions, 었는 (-eonneun) has a nuance of emphasizing that one currently has a solid justification for such doubt or speculation.
- For adjectives, 었는 (-eonneun) can have a nuance of emphasizing both that the state occurred in the past and that it has a continuing impact on the present. Compare simple 은 (-eun), which can be either past or present and is hence ambiguous (and out of context usually tends to refer to the present), and 었 던 (-eot-deon), which can have a nuance that the state no longer pertains to the present.
In Gyeongsang Korean, this suffix is essentially in free variation with 은 (-eun). There is apparently no semantic difference between the two.

-었는

Contents

Korean edit

Etymology edit

Pronunciation edit

Suffix edit

Usage notes edit

Further reading edit