말하다

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Korean

Etymology

First attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 말〯ᄒᆞ다〮 (Yale: mǎl-hòtá), equivalent to modern (mal, word) +‎ 하다 (-hada, to do, light verb deriving active verbs).

Pronunciation

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key):
    • Audio:(file)
  • Phonetic hangul:
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?malhada
Revised Romanization (translit.)?malhada
McCune–Reischauer?marhada
Yale Romanization?māl.hata

Verb

말하다 (malhada) (infinitive 말해 or 말하여, sequential 말하니) (transitive or intransitive)

  1. to speak, to talk
    한국어 말하자!
    han'gugeo-ro mal-haja!
    Let's talk in Korean! (colloquial)
    사랑한다고 말해.
    Nal sarang-han-dago mal-haejwo.
    Tell me you love me. (colloquial)
    여기 다고 그녀에게 말해.
    Ne-ga yeogi it-dago geunyeo-ege mal-hae.
    Tell her you’re here.
    어제 미안하다고 말하고 싶어요. — 괜찮아요. 아나.
    Eoje ir-eun mian-ha-dago mal-hago sipeoyo. - Gwaenchanayo. Ana.
    I want to say I’m sorry for yesterday. — It’s okay, Anna.
    Original English texts from 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
    • 2016, VOA Learning English, archived from the original on 13 November 2018:
  2. to explain (by talking)
    상황 어떻게 말해야지?
    i sanghwang-eul eotteoke malhaeyaji?
    How do I explain this situation? (colloquial)
    지역 어떻게 변화했는지 대해서 말했다.
    Wang ssi-neun geu jiyeog-i eotteoke byeonhwa-haen-neunji-e dae-haeseo mal-haetda.
    Wang spoke of how the area had changed.

Conjugation