-오

Korean

Etymology

See the main entry.

Pronunciation

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

Suffix

오 • (-o)

1. Post-vowel and post-ㄹ (l) allomorphic form of 소 (-so, “semi-formal style sentence-final suffix”).

Usage notes

• For comments regarding the relationship between 소 (-so) and 오 (-o) in the imperative mood, see "Usage notes" at 소 (-so).

Middle Korean

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o/

Suffix

오 (-wo)

1. Yang-vowel form of 우 (-wu, adverb-deriving suffix)

Etymology 2

Lenition in voiced environments. See Appendix:Koreanic reconstructions for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣó/

Suffix

오〮 (-Gwó)

1. Lenited allomorphic form of 고〮 (-kwó, verbal connective suffix) (in certain voiced environments)

Usage notes

• This allomorph only occurs after coda liquid /-l/, a falling diphthong, the copula 이 (i-), or the passivizing auxiliary 디 (ti-). The velar stop is preserved before all other vowels.

Etymology 3

Lenition in voiced environments. See Appendix:Koreanic reconstructions for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /(ɣ)ó/

Particle

오〮 (-(G)wó)

1. Lenited allomorphic form of 고〮 (-kwo, non-polar interrogative marker) (in certain voiced environments)

Usage notes

• This allomorph is obligatory after /-j/, /-i/, or /-l/ (note that the irrealis suffix /-lQ/ is excluded here). It sometimes appears before other vowels as well.
• It was sometimes pronounced as /-ɣo/ and sometimes as /-o/, as can be perceived from orthographic variation between e.g. ᄒᆞ리〮오〮 (hò-lí-Gwó) and ᄒᆞ료〮 (hò-ly-wó).

See also

References