어머니

Korean

Etymology

First attested in the Yeombul bogwonmun (念佛普勸文 / 염불보권문), 1776, as Modern Korean 어마니 (eomani).

From 어미 (eomi, “mother”) +‎ 아 (-a, vocative particle) +‎ —님 (-nim, honorific marker).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ʌ̹mʌ̹ni]

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Phonetic hangul: [어머니]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	eomeoni
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	eomeoni
McCune–Reischauer?	ŏmŏni
Yale Romanization?	emeni

South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 어머니의 / 어머니에 / 어머니까지

Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch on the first two syllables, and lowers the pitch of subsequent suffixes.

Noun

어머니 • (eomeoni)

1. mother

Synonyms

• 엄마 (eomma) ma, mom
• 어이 (eoi) mother, parent
• 어멈 (eomeom) (humble speech) mom, wife
• 어미 (eomi) (humble speech) mom, wife
• 애미 (aemi) (humble speech)
• (honorific) 어머님 (eomeonim)

Antonyms

• 아버지 (abeoji) father
• 아버님 (abeonim) father (honorific)
• 아빠 (appa) pa, papa, dad, daddy
• 아범 (abeom) (humble speech) dad, husband
• 아비 (abi) (humble speech) dad, husband
• 애비 (aebi) (humble speech)

Derived terms

• 양어머니 (yang'eomeoni, “adoptive mother”)
• 의붓어머니 (uibudeomeoni, “stepmother”)
• 작은어머니 (jageuneomeoni, “aunt, father's younger brother's wife”)
• 큰어머니 (keuneomeoni, “aunt, father's elder brother's wife”)
• 할머니 (halmeoni, “grandmother”)
• 증조할머니 (jeungjohalmeoni, “great grandmother”)

Related terms

• 지어미 (jieomi) wife

Descendants

• → Japanese: オモニ (omoni)
• → Mandarin: 阿媽妮／阿妈妮 (āmānī)

Further reading

• 어머니 in dictionaries at daum.net