바다

First attested in the Worin seokbo (月印釋譜 / 월인석보), 1459, as Middle Korean 바닿〮 (Yale: pàtáh), from pre-Middle Korean *바닥〮 (Yale: *pàták), a form still preserved directly in certain southern dialects. An Old Korean phrase attested in a tenth-century poem, 海惡中 (“in the sea”), has sometimes been segmented as 海惡中 (*PATak-kuy, “in the sea”), which would provide direct attestation of *pàták. However, this is conventionally understood as 海惡中 (*PATOL-a-kuy, “in the sea”), with 惡中 a spelling variant of the fused locative 良中 (*a-kuy).

The */-k/ may be the remnant of an archaic place suffix (see Appendix:Middle Korean h-final nouns), which leaves *바다〮 (Yale: *pàtá) as the etymological root; this notion is further supported by the existence of the alternative Middle Korean form 바ᄅᆞᆯ〮 (Yale: pàlól), representing intervocalic lenition of /t/ to (phonemically /l/) from Old Korean 海等 (*PAtol), a form presumably related to *pàták but with different suffixation. Despite being both the only attested Old Korean form and the more common Middle Korean form, the variant with coda /l/ is now lost in most dialects.

The word may speculatively be related to 바닥 (badak, “floor; flat surface”), according to Kim 2008. Beyond Korean, the word is believed to be related to Japanese 海(わた) (wata, “sea”), perhaps via ancient borrowing from Korean to Japanese, given the apparent lack of derivatives in Japonic languages, compared to the established Japonic root *omi (“sea, ocean”) with many derived terms.

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

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 바다의 / 바다에 / 바다까지

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

바다 • (bada)

1. sea, ocean

   Synonyms: 해양(海洋) (haeyang, “ocean”), 대양(大洋) (daeyang, “ocean”)

   Antonyms: 땅 (ttang, “land”), 육지(陸地) (yukji, “land, mainland”), 뭍 (mut, “land, mainland”)

   바다와 하늘 모두 얼마나 푸르렀는지, 수평선 따위는 누군가 지어낸 이야기일 뿐이라고 나는 확신했다.

   Bada-wa haneul modu eolmana pureureonneunji, supyeongseon ttawi-neun nugun'ga jieonaen iyagi-il ppun-irago na-neun hwaksin-haetda.

   The sea and the sky were both so blue that I was certain that the horizon was but a story someone had made up.

   • 1617, 東國新續三綱行實圖／동국신속삼강행실도 [New Edition of the Korean Illustrated Conduct of the Three Bonds]:

     하ᄂᆞᆯ히 길고 바다히 너ᄅᆞ니 ᄒᆞᆫ이 ᄀᆞ이 업도다

     hanol-hi kilkwo pata-hi neloni hon-i ko-i eptwota

     The skies are long and the seas are wide; how endless therefore is my grief.

   • c. 1790, 樂學拾零 (Akhak Seumnyeong) [Tidbits of the Musical Sciences]:

     바다 ᄒᆞᆫ 가온ᄃᆡ ᄲᅮ리 업슨 남기 나셔 가지ᄂᆞᆫ 열둘이오 닙흔 삼ᄇᆡᆨ 예순이라 그 남게 여름이 열니되 다만 둘이 열녓더라

     pata hon kawontoy spwuli epsun namki nasye kaci-non yeltwul-iwo nip-hun sampoyk yeyswun-ila ku nam-key yelum-i yelnitwoy taman twul-i yelnyestela

     In the middle of the ocean grows a tree with no roots, whose branches number twelve and whose leaves are three hundred sixty. Fruits grow on that tree−but no more than two fruits.

   • 1955 (posthumous), 윤동주／尹東柱<t:Yun Dong-ju>, “黃(황)昏(혼)이 바다가 되어”, in 하늘과 바람과 별과 詩(시) [Sky, Wind, and Stars]:

     黃(황)昏(혼)이 바다가 되어
     오늘도 數(수)많은 배가
     나와 함께 이 물결에 잠겼을게오.

     The twilight becomes the ocean; today too, countless boats will have sunk in these waves with me.

   • 2021 February 5, “2월 6일 토요일, 곳곳에 강한 바람, 출조에 주의 [2wol 6il toyoil, gotgose ganghan baram, chuljo'e juui, Saturday February 6, strong winds in many places, take caution if fishing]”, in ytn.co.kr‎, Yonhap News Agency:

     성산포 바다 상황 나쁘지 않아 낚시 즐기실 수 있겠고요.

     Seongsan-po bada sanghwang nappeuji ana naksi jeulgisil su itgetgo-yo.

     The situation in the seas Seongsan-po won't be bad, so you'll be able to enjoy your fishing.

• 海 (hae), the hanja for "sea"

• 김영일 [gimyeong'il] (2008) “한국어 어휘 비교의 재인식 [han'gugeo eohwi bigyoui jaeinsik, A new approach to Korean lexical comparisons]”, in Hangeul, volume 279, page 153−176
• Alexander Vovin (2010) Koreo-Japonica: A Re-evaluation of a Genetic Origin, University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN.
• Vovin, Alexander (2015) “On The Etymology of Middle Korean psʌr 'rice'”, in Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları‎, number 25.2, pages 229-238
• 박석문 (Park Seok-mun), 서장국 (Seo Jang-guk) (2015) “국어 어말음 ‘ㄱ’의 교체와 변화에 대하여 [gugeo eomareum ‘g’ui gyochewa byeonhwa'e daehayeo, On the alternation and change of the Korean coda consonant *-k]”, in Ban'gyo Eomun Yeon'gu, volume 41, pages 315–334

바다〮 (pàtá)

1. Isolated form spelling of 바닿〮 (pàtáh, “sea; ocean”)