예

From Middle Korean 이ᅌᅦ (ìngèy).

• (c. 1750) IPA^(key): [jəj]

예 (yey)

1. here

   Synonym: 여긔 (yeogui)

   • after 1795, 李洙 (I Su) [Lee Soo] et al., chapter 111, in 重刊老乞大諺解 (Junggan Nogeoldae Eonhae) [Reprinted Nogeoldae, with Korean Interpretation]‎^{Ogura Coll. Asami Coll.}, volume 2:

     예 이셔 두어 ᄃᆞᆯ […]

     yey isye twue tol […]

     being here for several months […]

• Korean: 예 (ye)

From Middle Korean 예〯 (Yěy), from Old Korean 倭理 (*YEri, “Japanese”). This is among the only native (non-Sino-Korean) Korean terms for ethnic groups that survive in the written record.

• (c. 1750) IPA^(key): [jəːj]

예 (Yey) (occasional hanja form 穢)

1. Japanese [until 1930s in some dialects]

   Synonym: 왜인(倭人) (Woayin)

• The hanja 穢 (yey, literally “filthy, obscene”) was sometimes assigned to this word, either pejoratively or out of a genuine misunderstanding that this was the origin of the word.

Not attested in Middle Korean. Probably from the same source as 네 (ne), plausibly *녜 (*nye) (not directly attested).

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

예 • (ye)

1. (formal) yes (affirms the truth of the question as stated)

   한 번은 가보셨습니까? — 예, 가본 적 있습니다.

   Han beon-eun ga-bosyeotseumnikka? - Ye, ga-bon jeok itseumnida.

   Have you been there at least once? — Yes, I have been there.

   한 번도 가본 적 없습니까? — 예, 없습니다.

   Han beon-do ga-bon jeok eopseumnikka? - Ye, eopseumnida.

   Have you never been there? — No [lit. Yes], never.

   • late 19th c., 열여춘향슈졀가 上 [Song of the Virtuous Girl Chunhyang Preserving her Chastity]:

     통인아 예 져 건네 화류 즁의 오락가락 힛ᄯᅳᆨ힛ᄯᅳᆨ 얼는얼는 ᄒᆞ는 겨 무어신지 자셔이 보와라

     Tong'ina ye jeo geonne hwaryu jung-ui orakgarak hittteukhittteuk eolleuneolleun haneun gyeo mueosinji jasyeoi bowara

     "Hey, Tong-in!" "Yes, sir." "Go look carefully at what that thing over there, amid the flowers and willows, might be: the thing that is hurrying back and forth in flashes of white."

• Korean has a number of words for "yes". 예 (ye) is highly polite and formal (appropriate in an interview), 네 (ne) is polite but less formal (appropriate in a conversation with parents), and 응 (eung) and 어 (eo) are plain and non-formal (appropriate in a conversation with friends).
• As in the example above, Korean "yes" follows the polarity of the question, unlike in English. Hence saying "yes" to a negatively stated question means that the negative is true.

• 예예 (yeye)

Sino-Korean word from 例 (“example”), from the Middle Korean reading 례〯 (Yale: lyěy).

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

예 • (ye) (hanja 例)

1. example

   Synonyms: 사례(事例) (sarye), 예시(例示) (yesi), 일례(一例) (illye)

   조리예 ― joriye ― serving suggestion

   예를 들자면, 일주일에 5kg을 감량하는 것은 현실적이지 않습니다.

   Ye-reul deulja-myeon, ilju'ir-e okillogeuraem-eul gamnyanghaneun geos-eun hyeonsiljeog-iji anseumnida.

   To give an example, losing 5 kilograms in a week is not a realistic goal.

   • 2014, B.I, Ju-ne, Bobby (lyrics and music), “Rhythm Ta”, in Welcome Back (full album):

     우린 가리는 거 없어 예를 들면 때와 장소

     urin garineun geo eopseo ye-reul deulmyeon ttae-wa jangso

     we ain't fussy, for example with things like a time and place

• This is often formatted as "예)" in textbooks and literature.

• See the hanja entry at 例 for Sino-Korean compounds of 예 (例, ye).

• 본보기 (bonbogi, “good example, example for others”)

Sino-Korean word from 禮 (“ritual, etiquette”), from the Middle Korean reading 례〮 (Yale: lyéy), 녜 (Yale: nyey).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [je̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [예]

예 • (ye) (hanja 禮)

1. (especially Confucianism) decorum, ceremonial (code of decorous behavior that all people ought to follow)

• See the hanja entry at 禮 for Sino-Korean compounds of 예 (禮, ye).

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

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

예 • (ye)

1. (in idiomatic expressions) ancient times, antiquity, old times

   Synonym: (much more common) 옛날 (yennal)

   예로부터 우리나라는 동방예의지국으로 알려져왔다.

   Ye-ro-buteo urinara-neun dongbang'yeuijigug-euro allyeojeo-watda.

   Since ancient times, Korea has been known as the "eastern land of decorum".

• Now used primarily in the following expressions:
  • 예나 지금이나 ― ye-na jigeum-ina ― whether in old times or nowadays
  • 예로부터 ― ye-ro-buteo ― since ancient times

• 옛 (yet, “old”)

First attested in the Seokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 1447, as Middle Korean 이ᅌᅦ (Yale: ìngèy), equivalent to a contraction of modern 여기 (yeogi, “here”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [je̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [예]

예 • (ye)

1. (dated or dialectal) here

   Coordinate terms: (distal) 제 (je, “there”), (mesial) 게 (ge, “there”)

   예가 어디라고 감히 찾아와!

   Ye-ga eodi-rago gamhi chaja-wa!

   Where do you think this is, that you dare to show up!

Sino-Korean word from 濊.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [je̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [예]

예 • (Ye) (hanja 濊)

1. an ancient tribe living in Korea in the early first millennium

   Hypernym: 예맥(濊貊) (yemaek)

• See the hanja entry at 濊 for Sino-Korean compounds of 예 (濊, ye).

Sino-Korean word from 羿.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [je̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [예]

예 • (Ye) (hanja 羿)

1. Hou Yi, a legendary archer in Chinese mythology

• See the hanja entry at 羿 for Sino-Korean compounds of 예 (羿, ye).

Modern Korean reading of various Chinese characters, from the Middle Korean reading 예 (Yale: yey).

예 (ye)

South Korean reading of various Chinese characters in isolation or as the first element of a compound, and also the reading in most dialects in 1945, excluding Pyongan and Yukjin, where they are pronounced in this position as 네 (ne) in Pyongan or as 녜 (nye) in Yukjin.

From Middle Korean 례 (Yale: lyey). When preceded by another character in a compound, they retain the original 례 (rye) form.

In the North Korean standard, they are always read as 례 (rye), but this is an artificial imposition intended to standardize Sino-Korean readings, which did not reflect any major dialect's pronunciation in 1945.

예 (ye)

From Old Korean 倭理 (*YEri, “Japanese”), today replaced by Sino-Korean terms in all modern dialects.

• IPA^(key): /jə̌j/

예〯 (Yěy)

1. the Japanese
   • 1447, “Stanza 52”, in 龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가 [Yongbi eocheon'ga]:

     請(쳐ᇰ)으〮로〮 온 예〯와〮 싸호〮샤〮 투〮구〮 아니〮 밧기〮시면〮 나랏〮 小(쇼)民(민)을〮 사ᄅᆞ시〮리〮ᅌᅵᆺ가〮

     CHYENG-úlwó wòn Yěy-Gwoá ssàhwósyá thwúkwú àní pàskísìmyén nàlá-s SYWO.MIN-úl sàlòsílíngìská

     If [he] had not been called to combat the hundreds of Japanese and not removed the helmet [of the Japanese general], would he have saved the poor people [of Korea]?

• Early Modern Korean: 예 (Yey, “Japanese”)

• 되〯 (twǒy, “Jurchen”)