녀다
Middle Korean
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /njəta/
Verb
녀다〮 (nyètá) (infinitive 녀〮아〮, sequential 녀니〮)
- to go; to move physically towards another place
- 1447, 釋譜詳節 / 석보상절 [Seokbo sangjeol], page 6:23a:
- ᄒᆞᄅᆞ 몃〮 里ᄅᆞᆯ〮 녀〮시〮ᄂᆞ니〮ᅌᅵᆺ고〮 對答호〮ᄃᆡ〮 ᄒᆞᄅᆞ 二十里ᄅᆞᆯ〮 녀〮시〮ᄂᆞ니〮 […]
- hòlò myés LǏ-lól nyésínòníngìskwó TWÓY.TÁP-hótóy hòlò ZÍ.SSÍP.LǏ-lól nyésínòní […]
- "How many leagues does [the World-Honoured one] travel a day?" [Śāriputra] answered, "[He] travels twenty leagues a day."
- 1461, 楞嚴經諺解 / 능엄경언해 [Neung'eomgyeong eonhae], page 7:61a:
- 길〮 녀〮다가〮 바〮ᄅᆞᆯ〮 그릇 드듸〮유미〮 […]
- kíl nyétàká pál-ól kùlùs tùtúyywùm-í […]
- While walking [on the] street, [he] missed his footing […]
Usage notes
Middle Korean had two (possibly three) verbs equivalent to Modern 가다 (gada, “to go”) or English "to go": 가다〮 (kàtá), and 녀다〮 (nyètá) / 니다〮 (nìtá). The latter appears only in compound verbs and before the suffix 거 (-ke-). Some scholars believe that 녀다〮 (nyètá) and 니다〮 (nìtá) were separate verbs.
It is believed that 가다〮 (kàtá) had a stronger emphasis on the purpose of the movement, while 녀다〮 (nyètá) / 니다〮 (nìtá) had a stronger emphasis on the physical movement itself. For example, only 가다〮 (kàtá) is attested with a human indirect object (i.e. expressing "to go to a person [for something]"); the indirect objects taken by 녀다〮 (nyètá) / 니다〮 (nìtá) are all real or metaphorical spaces. However, both could be used to translate the same Chinese verb, showing that the semantic distinction was not so strict.
Descendants
- Korean: 예다 (yeda)
References
- 김천학 [gimcheonhak] (2004) “中世國語 '가다, 니다, 녀다'에 관한 考察”, in Eomun yeon'gu, volume 32, number 4, pages 141—162
- 南星祐 (2020) “杜詩諺解의 同義語 硏究”, in Han'gugeosa yeon'gu, volume 6, pages 7—141