Korean numerals

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The Korean language has two regularly used sets of numerals, a Sino-Korean system and a native Korean system.

Contents 1 Construction 2 Numerals 3 Pronunciation 4 Notes 5 See also

[edit] Construction

For both native and Sino-Korean numerals, the tens (11 through 19) are represented by a combination of tens and the ones places. For instance, 15 would be sib-o (십오), but not usually il-sib-o in the Sino-Korean system, and yeol-daseot (열다섯) in native Korean. Twenty through ninety are likewise represented in this place-holding manner in the Sino-Korean system, while Native Korean has its own unique set of words, as can be seen in the above chart. The grouping of large numbers in Korean follow the Chinese tradition of myriads (10000) rather than thousands (1000). The Sino-Korean system is nearly entirely based on the Chinese numerals.

The distinction between the two numeral systems is very important. Everything that can be counted will use one of the two systems, but seldom both. Sino-Korean words are sometimes used to mark ordinal usage: yeol beon (열 번) means "ten times" while sip beon (십 번) means "number ten."

When denoting the age of a person, one will usually use sal (살) for the native Korean numerals, and se (세) for Sino-Korean. For example, seu-mul da-seot sal (스물다섯 살) and i-sib-o se (이십오 세) both mean 'twenty-five-year-old'. See also East Asian age reckoning.

The Sino-Korean numerals are used to denote the minute of time. For example, sam-sib-o bun (삼십오 분) means "__:35" or "thirty-five minutes." The native Korean numerals are used for the hours in the 12-hour system and for the hours 0:00 to 12:00 in the 24-hour system. The hours 13:00 to 24:00 in the 24-hour system are only denoted using the Sino-Korean numerals. For example, se si (세 시) means '03:00' or '3:00 a.m./p.m.' and sip-chil si (십칠 시) means '17:00'.

For counting above 100, Sino-Korean words are used, sometimes in combination: 101 can be baek-hana or baeg-il.

Some of the native numbers take a different form in front of measure words:

Number	Native Korean cardinals			Attributive forms of native Korean cardinals
	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised
1	하나	hana	hana	한	han	han
2	둘	tul	dul	두	tu	du
3	셋	set	set	세	se	se
4	넷	net	net	네	ne	ne
20	스물	sŭmul	seumul	스무	sŭmu	seumu

Each is formed by "dropping the last letter" from the original native cardinal, so to speak. Examples:

• 한 번 han beon ("once")
• 세 시 se si ("three o'clock")

The above ones are regular changes and always happen. However, there are also other ones that don't follow rules:

• 석 달 seok dal ("three months")
• 넉 잔 neok jan ("four cups")

It may also occur in Sino-Korean cardinals:

• 시월 siwol ("October")

[edit] Numerals

Number	Sino-Korean cardinals				Native Korean cardinals
	Hanja	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised
0	零/〇	영 (N: 령)/공	yŏng (N: ryŏng)/kong	yeong/gong	-	-	-
1	一	일	il	il	하나	hana	hana
2	二	이	i	i	둘	tul	dul
3	三	삼	sam	sam	셋	set	set
4	四	사	sa	sa	넷	net	net
5	五	오	o	o	다섯	tasŏt	daseot
6	六	육 (N: 륙)	yuk (N: ryuk)	yuk	여섯	yŏsŏt	yeoseot
7	七	칠	ch'il	chil	일곱	ilgop	ilgop
8	八	팔	p'al	pal	여덟	yŏdŏl	yeodeol
9	九	구	ku	gu	아홉	ahop	ahop
10	十	십	sip	sip	열	yŏl	yeol
11	十一	십일	sibil	sibil	열 하나	yŏrhana	yeolhana
12	十二	십이	sibi	sibi	열 둘	yŏltul	yeoldul
13	十三	십삼	sipsam	sipsam	열 셋	yŏlset	yeolset
14	十四	십사	sipsa	sipsa	열 넷	yŏllet	yeollet
15	十五	십오	sibo	sibo	열 다섯	yŏltasŏt	yeoldaseot
16	十六	십육 (N: 십륙)	simnyuk (N: simryuk)	simnyuk	열 여섯	yŏllyŏsŏt	yeoryeoseot
17	十七	십칠	sipch'il	sipchil	열 일곱	yŏrilgop	yeorilgop
18	十八	십팔	sipp'al	sip-pal	열 여덟	yŏllyŏdŏl	yeoryeodeol
19	十九	십구	sipku	sipgu	열 아홉	yŏrahop	yeorahop
20	二十	이십	isip	isip	스물	sŭmul	seumul
30	三十	삼십	samsip	samsip	서른	sŏrŭn	seoreun
40	四十	사십	sasip	sasip	마흔	mahŭn	maheun
50	五十	오십	osip	osip	쉰	shwin	swin
60	六十	육십 (N: 륙십)	yuksip (N: ryuksip)	yuksip	예순	yesun	yesun
70	七十	칠십	ch'ilsip	chilsip	일흔	irhŭn	ilheun
80	八十	팔십	p'alsip	palsip	여든	yŏdŭn	yeodeun
90	九十	구십	kusip	gusip	아흔	ahŭn	aheun
100	百	백	paek	baek	온1	on	on
1,000	千	천	ch'ŏn	cheon	즈믄1	chŭmŭn	jeumeun
104	萬	만	man	man	드먼	-	deumeon
108	億	억	ŏk	eok	잘	-	-
1012	兆	조	cho	jo	-	-	-
1016	京	경	kyŏng	gyeong	골	-	gol
1020	垓	해	hae	hae	-	-	-
1024	秭	자2	cha	ja	-	-	-
1028	穰	양2	yang	yang	-	-	-
1032	溝	구2	ku	gu	-	-	-
1036	澗	간2	kan	gan	-	-	-
1040	正	정2	chŏng	jeong	-	-	-
1044	載	재2	chae	jae	-	-	-
1048	極	극2	kŭk	geuk	-	-	-
1052	恒河沙	항하사2	hanghasa	hanghasa	-	-	-
1056	阿僧祇	아승기2	asŭnggi	aseunggi	-	-	-
1060	那由他	나유타2	nayut'a	nayuta	-	-	-
1064	不可思議	불가사의2	pulgasaŭi	bulgasaui	-	-	-
1068	無量大數	무량대수2	muryangdaesu	muryangdaesu	-	-	-

[edit] Pronunciation

The initial consonants of measure words and numbers following the native cardinals 여덟 ("eight", only when the ㅂ is not pronounced) and 열 ("ten") become tensed consonants when possible. Thus for example:

• 열 셋 yeolset (thirteen) is pronounced like 열 쎗 yeolsset
• 여덟 권 yeodeolgwon (eight (books)) is pronounced like 여덟 꿘 yeodeolkkwon

See Korean Numbers to hear someone speaking the numerals 1-50.

[edit] Notes

• Note 1: These names are considered archaic, and are not used.
• Note 2: The numbers higher than 10²⁰ (hae) are not usually used and considered to be only conceptual by many people.

[edit] See also

• Korean language
• Korean count words
• List of Korea-related topics