셋

셋 U+C14B, 셋 HANGUL SYLLABLE SES Composition: ㅅ + ㅔ + ㅅ ← 셊 [U+C14A] Hangul Syllables 셌 → [U+C14C]

세섹섺섻센섽섾 섿셀셁셂셃셄셅 셆셇셈셉셊셋셌 셍셎셏셐셑셒셓
서 ←	→ 셔

Jeju

Etymology

Of native Jeju origin. Cognate with Korean 셋 (set).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sʰe̞ːt̚/

Numeral

셋 (set)

1. three

Alternative forms

• 싯 (sit)
• 서 (seo) (before ㄷ (d), ㅁ (m), ㅂ (b), ㅍ (p))
• 석 (seok) (before ㄴ (n), ㄷ (d), ㅅ (s), ㅈ (j))
• 세 (se) (with counters)

Synonyms

• 삼 (sam) (三) (Sino-Korean)

See also

• 설룬 (seollun) thirty

Korean

Etymology 1

First attested in the Seokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 1447, as Middle Korean 셓〯 (Yale: sěyh). A form similar to the Middle Korean is first attested in the twelfth-century Jilin leishi, which gives the Korean word for "three" as */sai/.

Beyond the Leishi, the reconstruction of the ancestral Koreanic root for "three" is difficult, although Alexander Vovin (Vovin 2010, p. 180) posits Proto-Koreanic *seki as the direct antecedent (via metathesis) of Middle Korean sěyh, on the strength of the Middle Korean form 석〯 (Yale: sěk, “three”, determiner form taken before certain classifiers). See a list of relevant attestations and forms in Appendix:Historical Koreanic numerals#Three.

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	set
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	ses
McCune–Reischauer?	set
Yale Romanization?	sēys

Korean numbers ^(edit)

	30
←  2	3	4  →
Native isol.: 셋 (set)     Native attr.: 세 (se), (dated) 석 (seok), (archaic) 서 (seo)     Sino-Korean: 삼 (sam)     Hanja: 三     Ordinal: 셋째 (setjjae)

Numeral

셋 • (set)

1. (native numeral) three (independently, without a classifier)

Usage notes

In modern Korean, numbers are usually written in Arabic numerals.

The Korean language has two sets of numerals: a native set of numerals inherited from Old Korean, and a Sino-Korean set which was borrowed from Middle Chinese in the first millennium C.E.

Native classifiers take native numerals.

• 개 한 마리 (gae han mari, “one dog”, native numeral)
• 나무 두 그루 (namu du geuru, “two trees”, native numeral)

Some Sino-Korean classifiers take native numerals, others take Sino-Korean numerals, while yet others take both.

• 종이 두 장(張) (jong'i du jang, “two sheets of paper”, native numeral)
• 이 분(分) (i bun, “two minutes”, Sino-Korean numeral)
• 서른/삼십 명(名) (seoreun/samsip myeong, “thirty people”, both sets possible)

Recently loaned classifiers generally take Sino-Korean numerals.

• 일 킬로미터 (il killomiteo, “one kilometer”, Sino-Korean numeral)

For many terms, a native numeral has a quantifying sense, whereas a Sino-Korean numeral has a sense of labeling.

• 세 반(班) (se ban, “three school classes”, native numeral)
• 삼 반(班) (sam ban, “Class Number Three”, Sino-Korean numeral)

When used in isolation, native numerals refer to objects of that number and are used in counting and quantifying, whereas Sino-Korean numerals refer to the numbers in a more mathematical sense.

• 하나만 더 주세요 (hana-man deo juse-yo, “Could you give me just one more, please”, native numeral)
• 일 더하기 일은? (il deohagi ir-eun?, “What's one plus one?”, Sino-Korean numeral)

While older stages of Korean had native numerals up to the thousands, native numerals currently exist only up to ninety-nine, and Sino-Korean is used for all higher numbers. There is also a tendency—particularly among younger speakers—to uniformly use Sino-Korean numerals for the higher tens as well, so that native numerals such as 일흔 (ilheun, “seventy”) or 아흔 (aheun, “ninety”) are becoming less common.

Related terms

• 서 (seo, “three”, determiner before certain words, fossilized)
• 석 (seok, “three”, determiner before certain words, fossilized)

See also

• 서른 (seoreun, “thirty”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Hebrew שֵׁת (Šet).

Proper noun

셋 • (Set)

1. (biblical) Seth (the third son of Adam and Eve)