머리

Korean

Etymology

First attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 머리〮 (Yale: mèlí).

Also attested in the Worin cheon'gangjigok (月印千江之曲 / 월인천강지곡), 1449, as Middle Korean 마리〮 (Yale: màlí).

Originally identical to the modern animal classifier 마리 (mari).

Beyond Middle Korean, attested in the twelfth-century Jilin leishi word-list as 麻帝 (má dì) *mati, thus a case of intervocalic lenition. Perhaps cognate with Middle Korean ᄆᆞᆮ (mot, “eldest child”), modern 맏이 (maji).

Pronunciation
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [mʌ̹ɾi]
    • (file)
  • Phonetic hangul: [머리]
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?meori
Revised Romanization (translit.)?meoli
McCune–Reischauer?mŏri
Yale Romanization?meli

South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 머리의 / 머리에 / 머리까지

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

Noun

머리 • (meori)

  1. head
  2. intelligence
  3. hair
  4. the leader of a group
  5. the radical at the top of a Chinese character
  6. the top or front of an object

Derived terms

See also

References
  • National Institute of the Korean Language (Naver.com mirror) (2006 December 31 (last accessed)) “머리 [meori]”, in 표준국어대사전 [pyojun'gugeodaesajeon]‎
  • Seo Jeong-beom (서정범) (2000) “머리 [meori]”, in 國(국)語(어)語(어)源(원)辭(사)典(전), Seoul: Bogosa Books, page 246
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