심마니말

Korean

Etymology

From 심마니 (simmani, “ginseng digger”) +‎ 말 (mal, “speech”).

Pronunciation
Examples

Using 흘림 (heullim, literally “spilling”) to mean 비 (bi, “rain”)

Using 모새 (mosae, literally “sand”) to mean 쌀 (ssal, “rice”)

Using 먹킹이 (meok'king'i, literally “eaters”) to mean 사람 (saram, “people”)

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ɕʰimma̠nima̠ɭ]
  • Phonetic hangul: [심마니말]
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?simmanimal
Revised Romanization (translit.)?simmanimal
McCune–Reischauer?simmanimal
Yale Romanization?simmanimal

Noun

심마니말 • (simmanimal)

  1. (historical, linguistics) A coded cant historically used by Korean ginseng gatherers, both to hide the best ginseng spots from outsiders (since ginseng was an extremely valuable product) and because it was believed that using normal language would make it harder to find ginseng. Typically, common words are replaced by figurative or ideophonic expressions; loanwords from Manchu may also be used.
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