돼지

Korean

Etymology

From Early Modern Korean 되야지 (twoyyaci), 도야지 (doyaji). Appears to be related to Middle Korean 돝 (twòth).

Perhaps from unattested *돌 (*dol, “pig, swine”) +‎ 아지 (-aji, “diminutive suffix”) with a development similar to 말 (mal) and 망아지 (mang'aji) with the latter's dialectal and historical forms such as Korean 매아지 (maeaji) and Middle Korean ᄆᆞ야지 (moyaci), ᄆᆡ야지 (moyyaci), which seem to phonologically match the dialectal and historical forms of the word 돼지 (dwaeji). Several sources report dialectal forms supposedly reflecting *돌 (*dol) such as 멧돌 (metdol, “boar, lit. mountain pig”) and 똘또리 (ttolttori, “pig”), but their credibility is difficult to verify.

Alexander Vovin speculates that this is a wanderwort, related to Middle Chinese 豚 (MC dwon, “pig”) and Common Turkic *toŋuz and perhaps from a Turkic source antecedent to Common Turkic.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈtwɛ(ː)d͡ʑi] ~ [ˈtwe̞(ː)d͡ʑi]
• Phonetic hangul: [돼(ː)지/뒈(ː)지]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	dwaeji
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	dwaeji
McCune–Reischauer?	twaeji
Yale Romanization?	twāyci

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 돼지의 / 돼지에 / 돼지까지

  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

돼지 • (dwaeji) (counter 마리)

1. pig, swine
2. (derogatory) fatty, pig

   Antonym: 멸치 (myeolchi)

Derived terms

• 개돼지 (gaedwaeji, “ignorant masses”, literally “dogs and pigs”)
• 돼지고기 (dwaejigogi, “pork”)
• 멧돼지 (metdwaeji, “wild boar”)
• 수퇘지 (sutwaeji, “boar”)
• 악대돼지 (akdaedwaeji, “hog”)
• 암퇘지 (amtwaeji, “sow”)

 

See also

• 豚 (don), a hanja for "pig"
• 豬 (jeo), a hanja for "pig"

Foods

• 베이컨 (beikeon, “bacon”)
• 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal)
• 오겹살 (ogyeopsal)
• 제육 (jeyuk)
• 햄 (haem, “ham”)