Regularly derived from the verb ᄀᆞᆷ (Yale: kom-) "to close one's eyes", modern 감- (gam-).
This ideophone had two forms, the yang-vowel form ᄀᆞᆷᄌᆞᆨ (Yale: komcok) and the extremely rare yin-vowel form 금즉 (Yale: kumcuk), attested only once. ᄀᆞᆷᄌᆞᆨ (Yale: komcok) had a sense broader than the verb from which it was derived: besides the image of closing one's eyes, it could also evoke movement in general, including the budging of the body and the metaphoric movement of the heart when emotionally agitated.
In the Early Modern era of Korean (1600—1900), these two terms diversified into dozens of nuanced ideophones relating in many different ways to the closing of the eyes, to the movement of the body, or to emotional surprise, as seen in the table below. This diversification was brought about by a combination of yin-yang vowel ablaut, consonant tensing, and consonant alternation.
At the same time, initial tensing occurred for sound-symbolic reasons. The variants relating to bodily movement were influenced by the 곰틀 (gomteul, “squirmingly”) family of ideophones, explaining why they were unaffected.
ᄀᆞᆷᄌᆞᆨ (komcok)
| Sound-symbolic terms related to 감다 (gamda, “to close one's eyes”) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yang-vowel form |
Yin-vowel form
| ||||||
Middle Korean: ᄀᆞᆷᄌᆞᆨ (Yale: komcok) |
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| 깜작 (kkamjak) 깜작깜작 (kkamjakkkamjak) |
깜짝 (kkamjjak) 깜짝깜짝 (kkamjjakkkamjjak) |
끔적 (kkeumjeok) 끔적끔적 (kkeumjeokkkeumjeok) |
끔쩍 (kkeumjjeok) 끔쩍끔쩍 (kkeumjjeokkkeumjjeok) | ||||
| 깜박 (kkambak) 깜박깜박 (kkambakkkambak) |
깜빡 (kkamppak) 깜빡깜빡 (kkamppakkkamppak) |
껌벅 (kkeombeok) 껌벅껌벅 (kkeombeokkkeombeok) |
껌뻑 (kkeomppeok) 껌뻑껌뻑 (kkeomppeokkkeomppeok) | ||||
| 끔벅 (kkeumbeok) 끔벅끔벅 (kkeumbeokkkeumbeok) |
끔뻑 (kkeumppeok) 끔뻑끔뻑 (kkeumppeokkkeumppeok) | ||||||
| 깜찍하다 (kkamjjikhada) | 끔찍하다 (kkeumjjikhada) 끔찍끔찍하다 (kkeumjjikkkeumjjikhada) | ||||||
| 곰작 (gomjak) 곰작곰작 (gomjakgomjak) |
꼼작 (kkomjak) 꼼작꼼작 (kkomjakkkomjak) |
꼼짝 (kkomjjak) 꼼짝꼼짝 (kkomjjakkkomjjak) |
굼적 (gumjeok) 굼적굼적 (gumjeokgumjeok) |
꿈적 (kkumjeok) 꿈적꿈적 (kkumjeokkkumjeok) |
꿈쩍 (kkumjjeok) 꿈쩍꿈쩍 (kkumjjeokkkumjjeok) | ||