허벅지

Korean

Etymology

From Jurchen, related to Manchu ᡥᡝᡶᡝᠯᡳ (hefeli, “belly”). Gyeongsang Korean 허불지 (heobulji) preserves the Tungusic final better.[1] The pan-Korean distribution and the existence of alternative Gyeongsang Korean 허욱다리 (heoukdari, “thigh”), showing pre-Middle Korean deletion of intervocalic /-p-/, strongly suggests an ancient borrowing before the fifteenth century.

The semantic shift was as follows: 허벅 (heobeok, “belly”, with diminutive suffix attached, still found in northern dialects) > 다리허벅 (dariheobeok, “inside of the thigh”, still found in northern dialects, literally “belly of the leg”) > 허벅지 (heobeokji, with clipping and additional Korean suffixation).[1]

The semantic shift is further supported by the existence of Early Modern Korean 다리ᄇᆡ (daribae, “inside of the thigh”, literally “belly of the leg”), with the same semantics but composed of native elements.[1]

Displaced native Middle Korean 싄다리 (Yale: suyn-tali).

Pronunciation
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [hʌ̹bʌ̹k̚t͡ɕ͈i]
  • Phonetic hangul: [허벅찌]
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?heobeokji
Revised Romanization (translit.)?heobeogji
McCune–Reischauer?hŏbŏkchi
Yale Romanization?hepekci

Noun

허벅지 • (heobeokji)

  1. upper thigh; thigh
    Synonym: (less common) 허벅다리 (heobeokdari)
    Hypernym: 넓적다리 (neopjeokdari, “thigh”)
  2. (original meaning) inside of the thigh
  • 허벅살 (heobeoksal, “thigh fat”)

References
  1. 郭(곽)忠(충)求(구) (2018) “국어의 만주퉁구스어·몽골어系 어휘와 그 지리적 분포 [Manchu-Tungusic and Mongolic vocabulary in Korean and its geographic distribution]”, in Jindan hakbo (in Korean), volume 131, pages 281—309: “공통어에서 기원한 '허벅지'와 순수고유어 '다리ᄇᆡ'가 경합을 벌이다가 '허벅지'가 승리한 것으로 보인다. ― gongtong'eo'eseo giwonhan heobeokji wa sunsugoyueo daribᆡ ga gyeonghabeul beoridaga heobeokji ga seungnihan geoseuro boinda.”
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