류

Sino-Korean word from 類, from the Middle Korean reading 류 (Yale: lyu).

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

류 • (ryu) (hanja 類)

1. type; kind; sort

   그런 류의 사고는 다시는 일어나면 안 된다.

   Geureon ryu-ui sago-neun dasi-neun ireonamyeon an doenda.

   An accident of that sort must never again happen.

The prescriptive South Korean standard demands the pronunciation 유 (yu) for this character when used as a noun, but 류 (ryu) is by far the more common—the number of Google search results preliminarily suggest that 류 (ryu) is about ten times more frequent than 유 (yu). South Korean legal documents also regularly use the "incorrect" 류 (ryu). In North Korea, only 류 (ryu) is accepted.

—류 • (-ryu) (hanja 類)

1. type; category

• See the hanja entry at 類 for Sino-Korean compounds of 류 (類, ryu).