뫼

First attested in the Hunminjeong'eum haerye (訓民正音解例 / 훈민정음해례), 1446, as Middle Korean 묗〯 (Yale: mwǒyh), from pre-MK <*mwòrV́h>.

The more archaic, perhaps dialectal Middle Korean form *모로〮 (Yale: *mwòlwó) is attested as part of the place name 피〮모로〮 (Yale: Phímwòlwó) in the 1447 Yongbi eocheonga. Beyond Korean sources, the earliest attestations are given in eighth-century Old Japanese documents as 山(むれ) (mure), presumably reflecting the Old Korean pronunciations of the era.^[1] Compare 모롱이 (morong'i, “curve of a mountain spur”).

The original "mountain" sense has been mostly displaced by Sino-Korean 산(山) (san), which began to drive out the native word in the eighteenth century. The "tomb" sense is from the nineteenth century, reinforced by the unrelated Sino-Korean 묘 (墓, myo, “tomb”).

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

뫼 • (moe)

1. (dated) grave

   Synonyms: 무덤 (mudeom), 묘(墓) (myo)

2. (archaic, original meaning) mountain

   Synonym: 산(山) (san)

• In the South Korean theoretical standard, the archaic "mountain" sense is covered by the phonetic variant 메 (me), and 뫼 (moe) should refer solely to the grave. In practice, 메 (me, “mountain”) is wholly obsolete, while 뫼 (moe) still sees occasional use in the "mountain" sense.

• 묏자리 (moetjari, “gravesite”)

뫼〯 (mwǒy)

1. Isolated form spelling of 묗〯 (mwǒyh, “mountain”)