Usage
i) Possession
철수의 책
철수’s book
ii) X of Y
음악의 천사
angel of music
iii) Noun1 modifies Noun2
연하의 남자
younger man
iv) Use with other particles
제주도에서의 주말
weekend in Jeju
Marking
| Noun | Marking | |
|---|---|---|
| Vowel | 남자 | 남자의 |
| Consonant | 사람 | 사람의 |
Contents
Introduction
i) Possession
ii) X of Y
iii) Noun1 modifies Noun2
iv) Use with other particles
Semantic interpretations
Link between nouns
Additional details
Associated grammar
See also
Bibliography
User examples
Introduction
While commonly known as the ‘possessive particle’, there is much more to particle 의 than this role. Possession is only one of the many interpretations of nouns linked together by 의. This concept will be explained throughout.
• While most commonly pronounced as 에, this particle is occasionally pronounced as 의 in careful speech.
i) Possession
Perhaps the most common instance of 의 is when it expresses possession.
철수의 책
철수’s book
Here the first noun is the possessor of the second noun.
More specifically, there is a possessive relationship between the two nouns – where Noun1 is the possessor of Noun2. The reason for explaining it like this will become clear later.
철수의 책
N1의 N2
ii) X of Y
Perhaps the second most common usage of 의 is to mean X of Y.
음악의 천사
angel of music
Here particle 의 indicates an association between two entities. Typically, the first noun is an attribute of the second noun. In the example above, being musical is an attribute of the angel.
Other examples:
오페라의 유령
phantom of the opera
밤의 음악
music of the night
표현의 자유
freedom of speech
꽃의 향기
scent of flowers
평생의 기회
chance of a lifetime
책의 정원
book garden (garden of books)
When the relationship between X and Y is one of scale or measured value, there is no attribute association. Here 의 simply expresses a measure.
Measurement examples:
반의 반
a quarter (half of half)
세 권의 책
three books (books of three)
하루의 대부분
most of the day
월급의 2배가 넘다
more than twice the salary
돈의 여유가 없거든 내가 낼게.
I’ll pay if you don’t have the money.
iii) Noun1 modifies Noun2
In this usage, the first noun modifies (changes the meaning of) the second noun. See the introductory example in UKR-006 to understand ‘modification’.
연하의 남자
younger man
In this example, ‘the man’ is described as being ‘younger’. Or more specifically, N1 changes the interpretation of N2 by describing it in more detail.
Notice that this is essentially what happens in the possessive and X of Y examples where the preceding noun affects the meaning of the second noun.
Compare:
철수의 책 — 철수’s book
영희의 책 — 영희’s book
음악의 천사 — angel of music
어두움의 천사 — angel of darkness
Clearly, the way you perceive N2 is determined by N1. This is because N1 modifies N2. The following examples illustrate how particle 의 enables the first noun to modify the second. While these examples are rarely used in spoken language, they exist in literature and are common in titles.
최고의 선물
the best present
최소의 비용
minimal cost
근처의 절
nearby temple
가을의 수확
autumn harvest
대중의 인식
public perception
맨몸의 소방관
naked fireman
미국의 소고기
American beef
빗속의 여인
girl in the rain
이별의 부산 정거장
Busan Station farewell
Looking at 비속의 여인, you might be wondering why it’s a) rather than b):
a) 빗속의 여인 — girl in the rain
b) 빗속에 여인 — girl in the rain
The difference is that in a), N1 denotes the property or attributes of the girl. In b), N1 only denotes the location of the girl. Being in the rain isn’t denoted as an attribute of her. In the same way, angel in the darkness denotes the location of the angel, whereas angel of darkness denotes the character of the angel.
Compare:
a) 어둠의 천사 — angel of darkness
b) 어둠에 천사 — angel in the darkness
iv) Use with other particles
Perhaps the most confusing aspect of particle 의 is when it occurs with other particles.
제주도에서의 주말
weekend in Jeju
One might question what role 의 plays in this sentence and whether it’s really necessary. This sentence however would be ungrammatical without 의 because the phrase 제주도에서 itself cannot modify a noun. As seen previously, particle 의 enables one noun (or prepositional phrase seen here) to modify another. In this case, 의 creates a single noun phrase meaning weekend (of being) in Jeju.
Particle 의 can occur with many other particles to create noun phrases in the same way.
에
성공에의 길
road to success
에서
제주도에서의 주말
weekend in Jeju
로부터
우주로부터의 메시지
message from space
에서로부터
세계에서로부터의 뉴스
news from the world
로서
자식으로서의 도리
duty to one’s parents
와
촘스키와의 인터뷰
interview with Chomsky
만
둘만의 약속
promise just between the two
Once noun phrases like these are created, they can be treated as single syntactic units. See Link between nouns for more detail.
Semantic interpretations
Beside possession, many other semantic interpretations are possible when nouns are linked by 의. Note that these examples fit in with either the possession or X of Y usages. Here the semantic relation is with regard to the head noun (N2) and determined by context.
철수의 책
철수’s book (possession)
철수의 친구
철수’s friend (relationship)
디킨스의 두 도시 이야기
Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities (authorship)
동아리의 회장
club president (membership)
세계의 평화
world peace (goal)
옛날의 서울
olden days Seoul (time)
안동의 하회마을
하회 village in Andong (location)
미국의 소고기
American beef (origin)
독서의 계절
reading season (pertinence)
천사의 목소리
voice of an angel (similarity)
Link between nouns
One way to understand particle 의 is to see it as something which links nouns together. This makes 의 different from other case particles which mark noun relationships. Once nouns are linked into an expression, they can be treated as a single syntactic unit.
밤의 음악
the music of the night
나는 밤의 음악을 작곡한다.
I compose the music of the night.
밤의 음악을 들어보라.
Listen to the music of the night.
밤의 음악의 힘
The power of the music of the night.
In the first two examples, the noun phrase 밤의 음악 acts as sentence objects. In the third example, the 밤의 음악 sits within another noun phrase. Here we see how particle 의 links nouns together to create a syntactic unit (which can be used as subject, object etc).
Additional details
General
• Some linguists have suggested that particle 의 is an allomorphic relation with modifier ㄴ. Basically, the argument is that particle 의 is indifferent to case, as demonstrated by its occurrence with multiple cases. The basic function of 의 is suggested to be a modifier like ㄴ — where Noun1 modifies Noun2. Moreover, both 의 and ㄴ are classified as 관형 (prenominal modifier suffixes) in traditional Korean grammar, which exemplifies how they behave similarly.
• Grammarians claim that 내 is a shortening of 나 + 의. However, 내 was originally 나 combined with particle 이. This predates 나의 which may be in fact be a renewal from 내.
Omission
• An important point not mentioned until now is that 의 is one of the most commonly omitted particles. Many of the examples presented so far would more naturally have 의 omitted. This particle is often omitted because the noun relationships are normally apparent from context (eg., 철수 집 is rarely interpreted as anything other than possession). There are many compounds where particle 의 is omitted because its use would be superfluous (eg., 영희의 엄마 > 영희엄마; 한국의 문화 > 한국문화). A general rule is 의 should be used when there is uncertainty (eg., 칠수 형 could be 철수’s brother or Brother 철수). Additionally, 의 should be used when linking phrases which would become ungrammatical without its use (as mentioned previously).
Origin
• In Middle Korean (10th-16th century), particle ㅅ was basically equivalent to particle 의 before it began to disappear in Early Modern Korean (17th-19th century). Since then ㅅ has appeared only in compound nouns such as 나뭇잎 (나무 + 잎) and 햇빛 (해 + 빛). This is known as 사이시옷 which bears some resemblance to the noun-linking function of 의. However, it should be noted that the two phenomena are not the same and linguists cannot determine the exact function of 사이시옷. Ease of pronunciation alone is arguably one purpose.
Associated grammar
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See also
Bibliography
Affiliate links help support uK.
— An, D. Genitive Case in Korean and its Implications for Noun Phrase Structure. (2014). Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 23(4), 361-392.
— Choo, M., & Kwak, H. (2008). Using Korean: A Guide to Contemporary Usage. New York: Cambridge University Press.
— Lee, I., & Ramsey, S.R. (2000). The Korean Language. Albany: State University of New York Press.
— Lee, K., & Ramsey, S.R. (2011). A History of the Korean Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
— King, R., & Yeon, J., (2000). Elementary Korean. Boston: Tuttle Publishing.
— Sohn, H. (1999). The Korean Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.