바보
Korean
Etymology
First attested in James Scarth Gale's Korean-English Dictionary, 1897. The etymology is unclear. The second element is clearly the derogatory agentive suffix 보 (-bo) (cf. 먹— (meok-, “to eat”) > 먹보 (meokbo, “glutton”)), but the first element is uncertain. Two hypotheses have been suggested (Cho Hang-beom 2019, pp. 161—164):
- Dropping of the final consonant in 밥 (bap, “rice; food”), with the original meaning of "one who does nothing but eat". There is a vowel length mismatch, however, although this could be compensatory for the consonant loss.
- A connection to 바사기 (basagi, “idiot”), ultimately from Chinese 八朔 (bā shuò, “eight months”), with premature birth implied. The dropping of the final syllables is not clearly motivated, however.
Pronunciation
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈpa̠(ː)bo̞]
- Phonetic hangul: [바(ː)보]
- Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | babo |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | babo |
| McCune–Reischauer? | pabo |
| Yale Romanization? | pāpo |
South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 바보의 / 바보에 / 바보까지
Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch only on the second syllable, and also heightens the subsequent suffixed syllable.
Synonyms
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