Korean numerals

For native Korean and Chinese numerals from 11 to 19, the same rules apply: numbers are formed by adding the number 10 and the units. For example:

15 = 10 + 5 = 십 (sip) + 오 (о) = 십오 (sib) for Chinese numerals

15 = 10 + 5 = 열 (spruce) + 다섯 (tassot) = 열 다섯 (yoldotz) for Korean numbers

Numbers from 20 to 99 follow the same rules where units are added to dozens, only numbers to denote dozens are formed differently: Chinese numerals are formed by multiplying the number of tens by 10, while native Korean numerals have a different word for each ten. For example:

66 = 6 × 10 + 6 = 육 (yuk; northern 륙) × 십 (sip) + 육 (yuk) → 육십 육 (yuksymnyuk; northern 륙 십륙) for Chinese numerals

66 = 60 + 6 = 예순 (Yesuns) + 여섯 (Yesot) = 예순 여섯 (Yesunsot) for Korean numerals

If the discharge (tens, hundreds, thousands ...) has a multiplier of one (10, 11 ...; 100, 101 ...; 1000, 1001 ...), it drops. “15” - 십오 “sibo” (10 + 5), but not 일 십오 “ilsoibo” (1 × 10 + 5). As in Chinese, in Korean, large numbers are divided into digits of 4 digits per group:

one hundred thousand = 100,000 = 10 × 10,000 = 십만 (simman), not 100 × 1000 (백천, packcheon).

It is important to distinguish between Chinese and Korean numerals, since the boundaries of applicability of these numerals almost do not intersect. For example, Chinese numerals can be used as ordinal numbers .

십번 ( sip pon , Hancha 十 番, “tenth number”);

열번 ( spruce bon , can’t be recorded as a hanchok , “ten times”).

When indicating age, the word sal (살) is used with native Korean numerals, and ce (() is used with borrowed ones.

25 years: 20 + 5 + “sal” = 스물 다섯 살 ( simuldasot sal );

25 years old: 2 × 10 + 5 + “se” = 이십오 세 ( and se ).

Chinese numerals are also used in counting minutes.

35 minutes = 3 × 10 + 5 + “poon” (minute) = 삼십 오 분 ( samsibo bun ).

Original Korean numerals are used to count hours in a twelve-hour system, and also to count hours from 0:00 to 12:00 in a 24-hour system. The hours from 13:00 to 24:00 can be called the numbers of both systems.

세 시 ( ce si , three in the morning or in the afternoon);

십칠 시 ( siphil si ) or 열일곱 시 ( yorilgop si ) - 17:00.

When counting from hundreds, Chinese numerals are used, sometimes mixed with Korean:

101 can be read as 백 하나 ( pekhan ) and as 백일 ( pegyl ).

Some Korean numerals change before counting words :

When counting, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20 are in a special form, formed by discarding the last letter.

• 한 번 han pon (once);
• 두 개 tu ke (two things);
• 세 시 se si (three hours), in North Korea in this case the Chinese numeral is used 삼 “self”: 삼시 “self si”;
• 네 명 not me (four);
• 스무 마리 symu mari (twenty animals).

A similar process occurs with Chinese numerals:

• 오뉴월 onyuvol (May and June)
• 유월 yuvol (june)
• 시월 sivol (october)

Before some words, the original Korean numerals “3” and “4” have a special form.

• 석 달 juice tal (three months)
• 넉 잔 nok chan (four glasses)

Notes:

• Note 1: Korean phonetics apply here.
• Note 2: these numerals are considered obsolete and not used.
• Note 3: the names of these numbers are words from Buddhist texts, they are not used in ordinary life. Scientists argue about the exact numerical meanings of these words.
• In general, numerals greater than 10 ²⁰ are usually not used.

The initial consonants of the counting words and numbers following the original Korean numerals “yol” (eight) and “yol” (ten) become as tense as possible.

• 열 셋 yolet (13) is pronounced as 열쎗 yo ss et ;
• 여덟 권 ёdolkvon (eight [books]) is pronounced as 여 덜꿘 ёdol kk won

Several numerals have long vowels (2: 둘, 3: 셋, 4: 넷), but they become short in combination with other numerals or in a phrase (12, 13, 14 ...).

In the numerals, all the usual phonetic changes also apply: 66 (예순 여섯) is pronounced 예 순녀 섣 ( Yesun N Yosot ), and 70 (칠십) is pronounced 칠씹 Chil ss un .

The suffixes 번 (番), 호 (號), 차 (次), 회 (回) are always used with Chinese numerals and Arabic numerals:

[Metro] line number two (이호선, Hancha 二號 線, ichosan);

Highway number 37 (37 번국 도, khancha 37 番 國 道).

Numbers with a number and without a number cannot replace each other, for example 906 호 («) means" apartment 906 "in the mailing address, but simply 906 without" 호 "cannot mean the number of the apartment or office. The word “che” (제, 第) is usually used to indicate one of several events in a sequence, for example, the Olympics.

In commerce, numbers written in hancha are used to avoid ambiguity or falsification.

When dictating phone numbers and other sequences of numbers, the Chinese name for the numbers 1 and 2 is often replaced by the original Korean.

555-1212 is pronounced like oooh, hana -tul- hana -tul (오오오 하나 둘 하나 둘) instead of oooh , il-il-i (오오오 일 이 일 이), since the Chinese numbers are easier to confuse.

• Korean
• Account Word (Korean)
• Vietnamese numbers
• Japanese numbers

• JJ Song The Korean language: Structure, Use and Context (2005 Routledge) pp. 81ff.