가위

Equivalent to Middle Korean ᄀᆞᇫ다〮 (Yale: kòz-tá, “to cut”) + 개 (Yale: -kay, inanimate agentive suffix), but the source verb is obsolete and the word is no longer perceivable as a compound by any speakers.

First attested in the Jīlín lèishì (鷄林類事 / 계림유사), 1103, as Late Old Korean 割子蓋 (Yale: *kòsókáy). This form is preserved in the conservative Gyeongsang dialect form 가시개 (gasigae, “scissors”).

In the hangul script, first attested in the Bullyu dugongbu si eonhae (分類杜工部詩諺解 / 분류두공부시언해), 1481, as Middle Korean ᄀᆞᇫ애〮 (Yale: kòzGáy).

Lee (1958) asserts Manchu ᡥᠠᠰᠠᡥᠠ (hasaha, “scissors”) appears to be an old borrowing from Korean.^[1]

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

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 가위의 / 가위에 / 가위까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch only on the first syllable, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.

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 가위 on Korean Wikipedia

가위 • (gawi)

1. scissors

   가위로 자르다/오리다 ― gawi-ro jareuda/orida ― to cut with scissors

First attested in the Worin seokbo (月印釋譜 / 월인석보), 1459, as Middle Korean ᄀᆞ오〮 (Yale: kòwó).

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

가위 • (gawi)

1. nightmare experienced during sleep paralysis (traditionally linked to paranormal phenomena)

   Hypernym: 꿈 (kkum)

   가위에 눌리다 ― gawi-e nullida ― to have a nightmare

First attested in the Yeogeo yuhae (譯語類解 / 역어유해), 1690, as Early Modern Korean 가외 (Yale: kawoy).

Beyond Hangul sources, recorded as 嘉俳 (*kapoy) in the Samguk Yusa, 1280s, possibly derived from the unattested verbal root *kapo- ("to be in the middle", see 갑다 (-gapda, suffix to make adjective) and Hamgyeong dialect 갑다 (gapda, “to be full, to fill, to brim (with), to become filled”)) and the nominal suffix *-i, and thus cognate to 가운데 (gaunde). The 嘉俳 form is also found in Dongdong, a highly archaic fifteenth-century Middle Korean song.

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

가위 • (gawi)

1. Synonym of 추석(秋夕) (chuseok, “Mid-Autumn Festival”)

Sino-Korean word from 可謂 (“as can be said”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): ~
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

가위 • (gawi) (hanja 可謂)

1. (literary) truly; indeed