고양이

Korean

Etymology

괴 (goe, “cat”, now largely obsolete) +‎ -앙이 (-ang'i, diminutive suffix). First recorded in 1690, and became popular in the late 19th century. Ultimately from Old Korean *kwò(y)ní, attested in the twelfth-century wordlist Jilin leishi; see 괴 (goe) for more.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ko̞ja̠ŋi]
• Phonetic hangul: [고양이]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	goyang'i
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	goyang'i
McCune–Reischauer?	koyangi
Yale Romanization?	ko.yangi

Noun

고양이 • (goyang'i) (counter 마리)

1. cat

   조용한 고양이가 쥐를 잡는다.

   Joyonghan goyang'iga jwi-reul jamneunda.

   The quiet cat catches the mouse. (proverb)

   꽁꽁 얼어붙은 한강 위로 고양이가 걸어다닙니다.

   Kkongkkong eoreobut-eun han'gang wi-ro goyang'iga georeodanimnida.

   A cat walks over solidly frozen Han River.

Synonyms

• (dialectal) 고냉이 (gonaeng'i)
• 괭이 (gwaeng'i)
• 나비 (nabi)

Derived terms

• 고양이고래 (goyang'igorae, “melon-headed whale”)
• 도둑고양이 (dodukgoyang'i, “stray cat”)
• 도적(盜賊)고양이 (dojeokgoyang'i)
• 사향(麝香)고양이 (sahyanggoyang'i, “civet”)
• 수고양이 (sugoyang'i, “male cat”)
• 암고양이 (amgoyang'i, “female cat”)
• 집고양이 (jipgoyang'i, “domestic cat”)

Related terms

• 길냥이 (gillyang'i, “stray cat”) (neologism)

See also

• 猫 (myo), the hanja for cat

Further reading

• 고양이 in dictionaries at daum.net