대한국

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 大 (“great”) + 漢 (“Han, Han Chinese”) + 國 (“country”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈtɛ(ː)ɦa̠nɡuk̚] ~ [ˈte̞(ː)ɦa̠nɡuk̚]
• Phonetic hangul: [대(ː)한국/데(ː)한국]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	Daehan'guk
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	Daehangug
McCune–Reischauer?	Taehan'guk
Yale Romanization?	tāyhankwuk

Proper noun

대한국 • (Daehan'guk) (hanja 大漢國)

1. (shamanism, folk religion) China

   Synonyms: 강남천자국(江南天子國), 천자국(天子國)

   Antonym: 소한국(小韓國) (“Korea”)

   • 1960s, 『바리공주』김포 지역 필사본:

     강남은 대한국 이 나라는 죠선국이신대 […]

     Gangnam-eun daehan'guk i nara-neun joseon'gug-isindae [ … ]

     Jiangnan is the Great Han country, and this land is the Korean country […]

Usage notes

Not to be confused with 대한민국 (大韓民國, daehanmin'guk, “Republic of Korea”), the official name of South Korea.