누나

Korean

Etymology

Contracted from 누이 (nu'i, “sister of a male”) +‎ 님 (-nim, honorific) +‎ 아 (-a, “hey”, vocative particle), ultimately from pre-Middle Korean */nup/ "sister" or similar; see 누이 (nu'i) for more. The phonologically conservative Gyeongsang and Yukjin dialects conserve the original /p~b/ in this word.

Korean colloquial family terms commonly stem from a fused vocative. See Category:Korean terms suffixed with -아 (vocative).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈnu(ː)na̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [누(ː)나]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	nuna
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	nuna
McCune–Reischauer?	nuna
Yale Romanization?	nwūna

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 누나의 / 누나에 / 누나까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch only on the first syllable, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.

Noun

누나 • (nuna)

1. older sister of a male

   Synonym: (honorific) 누님 (nunim)

   Coordinate term: 형 (hyeong)

2. (men's speech, in informal friendly settings) somewhat older female friend or acquaintance

   그 누나랑 나랑 나이 차이가 두 살이지?

   geu nuna-rang na-rang nai chai-ga du sar-iji?

   The age difference between her and me is two years, right?

   그 누나가 나한테 너무 잘 해 줬어.

   Geu nuna-ga na-hante neomu jal hae jwosseo.

   She helped me so much.

Usage notes

This term is used as a de facto second-person pronoun by men to address both older sisters and unrelated women of somewhat older age. This is because Korean does not permit the use of true second-person pronouns towards a social superior. See 너#Usage notes for more.

Synonyms

Historical and regional synonyms of 누나 (nuna, “older sister of a male”)
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Group	Region	Location	Words
Standardised forms	South Korean Standard Language		누나 (nūna), 누님 (nūnim) (hon.)
	North Korean Cultured Language		누나 (nūna), 누님 (nūnim) (hon.)
Historical forms	Middle Korean		누의 (nwùùy) (also y.)
	Early Modern Seoul Korean		누의 (nuui) (also y.), 누위 (nuwi) (also y.)
Central Korean	Gyeonggi	Modern colloquial Seoul	누나 (nuna), 누님 (nunim) (hon.)
	Yeongdong	Gangneung	누우 (nùú), 누 (nù)
		Jeongseon	누나 (nūna), 누님 (nūnim) (hon.)
	South Chungcheong	Seosan	뉘님 (nwīnim)
		Yesan	뉘나 (nwīna)
		Hongseong	뉘님 (nwīnim)
		Boryeong	뉘나 (nwina)
		Buyeo	누님 (nunim), 누이 (nu'i)
		Seocheon	누님 (nunim), 눈님 (nunnim)
Gyeongsang Korean	North Gyeongsang	Daegu	누'부 (nu bu)
		Mungyeong	'누나 ( nuna), 누님 (núnìm)
		Andong	누 (nu), 누님 (núnìm)
		Gumi	누'우 (nu u)
		Goryeong	누'부 (nu bu)
	South Gyeongsang	Busan	누'부 (nu bu), 누임 (núìm) (hon.)
		Ulsan	누'부 (nu bu), 누부 (nubu)
		Changwon	누'부 (nu bu), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.)
		Geochang	누'부 (nu bu), '누나 ( nuna), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.)
		Hapcheon	누'부 (nu bu), 누'우 (nu u)
		Changnyeong	누'부 (nu bu), 누'비 (nu bi), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.)
		Miryang	누'부 (nu bu), 누'우 (nu u), '누나 ( nuna), 누'우야 (nu uya)
		Hamyang	누'우 (nu u), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.)
		Sancheong	누'우 (nu u), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.), 누우님 (nùúnìm) (hon), 눈님 (núnnìm) (hon.)
		Uiryeong	누'우 (nu u)
		Hadong	누'부 (nu bu), 누'우 (nu u), 누 (nu), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.), 누님 (núnìm) (hon.)
		Jinju	누'부 (nu bu), 누'우 (nu u), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.)
		Haman	누'부 (nu bu), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.)
		Gimhae	누'부 (nu bu)
		Yangsan	누'부 (nu bu), '누나 ( nuna)
		Sacheon	누'우 (nu u)
		Goseong	누'부 (nu bu), 누'우 (nu u)
		Namhae	누'부 (nu bu), 누'우 (nu u)
		Geoje	누'우 (nu u), 누'야 (nu ya) (chil.), 엉가 (éunggà)
		Ulju	누'부 (nu bu), '누나 ( nuna)
	Diaspora	Harbin	눈님 (núnnìm)
Jeolla Korean	North Jeolla	Gunsan	누 (nu), 누님 (nunim)
		Iksan	누나 (nuna), 누님 (nunim)
		Muju	누지 (nūji), 누나 (nuna), 성 (seong), 형님 (hyeongnim)
	South Jeolla	Yeonggwang	누나 (nūna), 누님 (nūnim)
		Gokseong	누 (nu)
		Hampyeong	누임 (nūim)
		Muan	누 (nu), 뉘 (nwī), 매씨 (messi) (married)
		Gwangyang	누님 (nūnim)
		Jindo	누나 (nūna), 누님 (nūnim)
		Wando	누나 (nūna), 누 (nu), 누님 (nūnim) (hon.), 뉨 (nwīm) (hon), 매씨 (messi) (married)
		Goheung	누님 (nūnim), 누나 (nūna) (voc.)
		Yeosu	누나 (nūna), 누님 (nūnim)
Pyongan Korean	South Pyongan	Ryonggang	누이 (nu'i) (unmarried, also y.), 누님 (nunim) (married)
		Mundok	누이 (nu'i) (unmarried, also y.), 누님 (nunim) (married)
	North Pyongan	Sonchon	뉘 (nwi)
		Ryongchon	누이 (nu'i), 누님 (nunim) (hon.)
		Chosan	누이 (nu'i), 누님 (nunim) (married)
	Diaspora	Shenyang	누야 (nuya) (also y.)
Hamgyong Korean	North Hamgyong	Samsu	누'어미 (nu eomi)
Yukjin Korean	Yukjin	Kyongwon	누비 (nùbì), 누배 (nùbàe)
	Diaspora	Hunchun	느비 (nèubì), 느베 (nèubè)
		Longjing	누애 (nùàe), 누얘 (nùyàe), 누이님 (nùìním) (married)
Jeju		Jeju City	누님 (nunim)
		Daejeong	누님 (nunim)
		Gujwa	누님 (nunim)
		Seogwipo	누님 (nunim)
hon.: honorific / voc.: vocative / chil.: childish (exact age range may differ) also y.: refers to any sister of a male, regardless of relative age
This table is an amalgamation of surveys of speakers mostly born before 1950 and may not reflect the language of younger speakers, which has lexically converged towards the standard Seoul dialect in both North and South Koreas.

Descendants

• → English: noona, nuna
• → Japanese: ヌナ (nuna)
• → Mandarin: 怒那 (nùnà), 努那 (nǔnà)

See also

• 언니 (eonni, “older sister of a female”)
• 오빠 (oppa, “older brother of a female”)
• 동생(同生) (dongsaeng, “younger sibling”)