인간

Jeju

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 人間, cognate with Korean 인간 (in'gan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /inɡa̠n/

Noun

인간 (in'gan)

1. man
2. humanity

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 人間 (“human world”). In the hangul script, first attested in the Beonyeok Bak Tongsa (飜譯朴通事 / 번역박통사), before 1517, as Middle Korean ᅀᅵᆫ간 (Yale: zinkan). The most common modern sense of "human being" is an orthographic borrowing from Japanese 人間(にんげん) (ningen).

Pronunciation

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

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Phonetic hangul: [인간]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	in'gan
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	ingan
McCune–Reischauer?	in'gan
Yale Romanization?	inkan

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 인간의 / 인간에 / 인간까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch only on the second syllable, except before consonant-initial multisyllabic suffixes, when it takes full low pitch.

Noun

인간 • (in'gan) (hanja 人間)

1. human, human being

   Synonym: 사람 (saram, “person”)

   인간은 죽기 마련이다. (written register)

   In'ganeun jukgi maryeonida.

   Humans are bound to die.

2. (rather derogatory) fellow, guy

   Synonym: 양반(兩班) (yangban)

3. (dated, original meaning) human world, human society
4. (North Korea) family member

   Synonym: 식구(食口) (sikgu)

Derived terms

• 인간성(人間性) (in'ganseong, “humanness”)
• 인간적(人間的) (in'ganjeok, “human”, attributive)

 

See also

• 닝겐 (ninggen)