암향

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 暗香, from 暗 (“secret”) + 香 (“fragrance”).

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	amhyang
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	amhyang
McCune–Reischauer?	amhyang
Yale Romanization?	āmhyang

Noun

암향 • (amhyang) (hanja 暗香)

1. (literary) deep and subtle fragrance (typically of a flower)
   • 1870, 安玟英 (An Min-yeong), “梅花詞 (Maehwasa)”, in 金玉叢部 (Geumok Chongbu):

     쵹잡고갓가이사랑할졔암향조차부동터라

     Chok japgo gakkai sarang-hal je amhyang-jocha budong-teora

     When with a candle in hand, I loved you from near, your subtle fragrance too was in the air.