녀다

Middle Korean

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /njəta/

Verb

녀다〮 (nyètá) (infinitive 녀〮아〮, sequential 녀니〮)

to go; to move physically towards another place
- 1447, 釋譜詳節 / 석보상절 [Seokbo sangjeol], page 6:23a:
  ᄒᆞᄅᆞ 몃〮里(링〯)ᄅᆞᆯ〮 녀〮시〮ᄂᆞ니〮ᅌᅵᆺ고〮 對(됭〮)答(답〮)호〮ᄃᆡ〮 ᄒᆞᄅᆞ 二(ᅀᅵᆼ〮)十(씹〮)里(링〯)ᄅᆞᆯ〮 녀〮시〮ᄂᆞ니〮 […]
  hòlò myés LǏ-lól nyésínòníngìskwó TWÓY.TÁP-hótóy hòlò ZÍ.SSÍP.LǏ-lól nyésínòní […]
  "How many leagues does [the World-Honoured one] travel a day?" [Śāriputra] answered, "[He] travels twenty leagues a day."
- 1461, 楞嚴經諺解 / 능엄경언해 [Neung'eomgyeong eonhae], page 7:61a:
  길〮 녀〮다가〮 바〮ᄅᆞᆯ〮 그릇 드듸〮유미〮 […]
  kíl nyétàká pál-ól kùlùs tùtúyywùm-í […]
  While walking [on the] street, [he] missed his footing […]

Usage notes

Middle Korean had two (possibly three) verbs equivalent to Modern 가다 (gada, “to go”) or English "to go": 가다〮 (kàtá), and 녀다〮 (nyètá) / 니다〮 (nìtá). The latter appears only in compound verbs and before the suffix 거 (-ke-). Some scholars believe that 녀다〮 (nyètá) and 니다〮 (nìtá) were separate verbs.

It is believed that 가다〮 (kàtá) had a stronger emphasis on the purpose of the movement, while 녀다〮 (nyètá) / 니다〮 (nìtá) had a stronger emphasis on the physical movement itself. For example, only 가다〮 (kàtá) is attested with a human indirect object (i.e. expressing "to go to a person [for something]"); the indirect objects taken by 녀다〮 (nyètá) / 니다〮 (nìtá) are all real or metaphorical spaces. However, both could be used to translate the same Chinese verb, showing that the semantic distinction was not so strict.

Descendants

Korean: 예다 (yeda)

References

김천학 [gimcheonhak] (2004) “中(중)世(세)國(국)語(어) '가다, 니다, 녀다'에 관한 考(고)察(찰) [A study of ka-ta, ni-ta, and nye-ta in Middle Korean]”, in Eomun yeon'gu, volume 32, number 4, pages 141—162
南(남)星(성)祐(우) (2020) “杜(두)詩(시)諺(언)解(해)의 同(동)義(의)語(어) 硏(연)究(구) [A study of synonyms in the Dusi eonhae]”, in Han'gugeosa yeon'gu, volume 6, pages 7—141