열

Jeju

Etymology

From Middle Korean 엻〮 (yélh), from earlier Old Korean 十尸 (*YEl).

Pronunciation

• (Morphophonemic) IPA^(key): ⫽jəl⫽
• (Jeju City) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Numeral

열 (yeol)

1. (native numeral) ten

   Synonym: (Sino-Korean) 십 (sip)

Korean

Etymology 1

First attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 엻〮 (Yale: yélh), from earlier Old Korean 十尸 (*YEl).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 열의 / 열에 / 열까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch and also heightens the next suffixed syllable.

Numeral

열 • (yeol)

1. (native numeral) ten

   Synonym: 십(十) (sip, “ten”, Sino-Korean numeral)

Usage notes

In modern Korean, numbers are usually written in Arabic numerals.

The Korean language has two sets of numerals: a native set of numerals inherited from Old Korean, and a Sino-Korean set which was borrowed from Middle Chinese in the first millennium C.E.

Native classifiers take native numerals.

• 개 한 마리 (gae han mari, “one dog”, native numeral)
• 나무 두 그루 (namu du geuru, “two trees”, native numeral)

Some Sino-Korean classifiers take native numerals, others take Sino-Korean numerals, while yet others take both.

• 종이 두 장(張) (jong'i du jang, “two sheets of paper”, native numeral)
• 이 분(分) (i bun, “two minutes”, Sino-Korean numeral)
• 서른/삼십 명(名) (seoreun/samsip myeong, “thirty people”, both sets possible)

Recently loaned classifiers generally take Sino-Korean numerals.

• 일 킬로미터 (il killomiteo, “one kilometer”, Sino-Korean numeral)

For many terms, a native numeral has a quantifying sense, whereas a Sino-Korean numeral has a sense of labeling.

• 세 반(班) (se ban, “three school classes”, native numeral)
• 삼 반(班) (sam ban, “Class Number Three”, Sino-Korean numeral)

When used in isolation, native numerals refer to objects of that number and are used in counting and quantifying, whereas Sino-Korean numerals refer to the numbers in a more mathematical sense.

• 하나만 더 주세요 (hana-man deo juse-yo, “Could you give me just one more, please”, native numeral)
• 일 더하기 일은? (il deohagi ir-eun?, “What's one plus one?”, Sino-Korean numeral)

While older stages of Korean had native numerals up to the thousands, native numerals currently exist only up to ninety-nine, and Sino-Korean is used for all higher numbers. There is also a tendency—particularly among younger speakers—to uniformly use Sino-Korean numerals for the higher tens as well, so that native numerals such as 일흔 (ilheun, “seventy”) or 아흔 (aheun, “ninety”) are becoming less common.

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 熱, from the Middle Korean reading ᅀᅧᆯ〮 (Yale: zyél).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Noun

열 • (yeol) (hanja 熱)

1. fever
2. heat
   • 1926, Han Yong-un, 한용운(韓龍雲), “生(생)의 藝(예)術(술) (Saeng-ui yesul)”, in 님의 沈(침)默(묵) (Nimui chimmuk):

     저리고쓰린 슯음은 힘이되고 熱(열)이되야서 어린羊(양)과가튼 적은목숨을 사러움지기게함니다.

     Jeorigo sseurin seulbeumeun himi doego yeori doeyaseo eorin yanggwa gateun jeogeun moksumeul sareo umjigige hamnida.

     The bitter sadness has become a force and a heat that makes a little life like a lamb move alive.

3. passion

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 熱 for Sino-Korean compounds of 열 (熱, yeol).

Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 列, from the Middle Korean reading 렬〮 (Yale: lyél).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Noun

열 • (yeol) (hanja 列)

1. line, row
2. (military) file; column of troops, one behind the other

   Coordinate term: 오(伍) (o, “rank”)

Derived terms

• See the hanja entry at 列 for Sino-Korean compounds of 열 (列, yeol).

Derived terms with native elements: