First attested in the Jīlín lèishì (鷄林類事 / 계림유사), 1103, as Late Old Korean 區戌 (Yale: *kwùsúl). In the Hangul script, first attested in the Seokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 1447, as Middle Korean 구슬〮 (Yale: kwùsúl).
Related to, and possibly a suffixed form of, an element found in two ancient place name glosses from the Samguk Sagi: pseudo-Goguryeo 古斯 (*kwos(V)), apparently meaning “jade; precious stone”, and Baekje 丘斯 (*kwus(V)), apparently meaning “something precious”. The latter is also transcribed as 仇叱 (*kwus). Both place names are from southern Korea.
Compared to Common Turkic *qāš (“jade”). Japanese 釧 (kushiro, “ancient ceremonial bracelet”) may be an ancient borrowing from Korean.
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | guseul |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | guseul |
| McCune–Reischauer? | kusŭl |
| Yale Romanization? | kwusul |
Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch only on the first syllable, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.
구슬 • (guseul)