동백꽃

Korean

동백꽃 (dongbaekkkot)

Etymology

From 동백 (冬柏, dongbaek, “Camellia”) + 꽃 (kkot, “flower”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [to̞ŋbɛk̚k͈o̞t̚] ~ [to̞ŋbe̞k̚k͈o̞t̚]
• Phonetic hangul: [동백꼳/동벡꼳]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	dongbaekkkot
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	dongbaegkkoch
McCune–Reischauer?	tongbaekkot
Yale Romanization?	tongpayk.kkoch

Noun

동백꽃 • (dongbaekkkot)

1. Camellia, more specifically the Camellia flower
2. (Gangwon, Yeongseo) the spicebush, more specifically the Japanese spicebush.

   Synonym: (Standard Korean) 생강나무 (saenggangnamu) Synonym: (Yeongseo dialect) 동박꽃 (dongbakkkot)

   • 1936, Gim Yujeong, 동백꽃 [Dongbaekkkot, The Camellias]:
     한창 피어 퍼드러진 노란 동백꽃 속으로 폭 파묻혀 버렸다. (Yeongseo dialect, Chuncheon)

     Hanchang pieo peodeureojin noran dongbaekkkot sogeuro pok pamucheo beoryeotda.

     I buried myself into the yellow Japanese spicebrush, which were in full bloom.

     Although the title's meaning is often interpreted to mean 'The Camellias' due to standard Korean (hence the name of the English translation) Gim Yujeong, who was born and raised in Chuncheon, would have spoken the Yeongseo dialect. Thus, the title and flowers described in the book are believed to be referring to Japanese spicebrush, a belief supported by the description of the flowers as having a pungent smell and yellow colour, features that are more closer to Japanese spicebrushes than Camellias in Korea. In modern day Yeongseo dialect speaking areas, it is still somewhat common to refer to Japanese spicebrush flowers as 'Camellia flowers'.