잇다

Korean

Etymology

First attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 닛다 (Yale: nis.ta).

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	itda
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	isda
McCune–Reischauer?	itta
Yale Romanization?	īsta

Verb

잇다 • (itda) (irregular, infinitive 이어, sequential 이으니)

1. (transitive) to join, to piece together, to connect
2. (transitive) to continue, to keep on
3. (transitive) to succeed to, to carry on, to inherit
4. (intransitive) to follow (after)

Conjugation

    Selected forms of the verb 잇다 (itda): consonant-stem, ㅅ(s)-irregular

Sentence-final forms
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	잇는다 inneunda	이어 ieo	이어요 ieoyo	잇습니다 itseumnida
	Past	이었다 ieotda	이었어 ieosseo	이었어요 ieosseoyo	이었습니다 ieotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	잇느냐 inneunya	이어 ieo	이어요 ieoyo	잇습니까 itseumnikka
	Past	이었느냐 ieonneunya	이었어 ieosseo	이었어요 ieosseoyo	이었습니까 ieotseumnikka
Hortative		잇자 itja	이어 ieo	이어요 ieoyo	이으십시다 ieusipsida
Imperative		이어라 ieora	이어 ieo	이어요 ieoyo	이읍시오 ieupsio
Assertive		잇겠다 itgetda	잇겠어 itgesseo	잇겠어요 itgesseoyo	잇겠습니다 itgetseumnida
Connective forms
Cause/Reason		이어 ieo	이어서 ieoseo	이으니 ieuni	이으니까 ieunikka
Contrast		잇지만 itjiman	잇는데 inneunde	잇더니 itdeoni
Conjunction		잇고 itgo
Condition		이으면 ieumyeon	이어야 ieoya
Motive		이으려고 ieuryeogo
Noun and determiner forms
Verbal nouns		이음 ieum	잇기 itgi
Past-tense verbal nouns		이었음 ieosseum	이었기 ieotgi
Determiners	Past	이은 ieun
	Present	잇는 inneun
	Future	이을 ieul

Sentence-final forms with honorific
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	이으신다 ieusinda	이으셔 ieusyeo	이으세요, 이으셔요 ieuseyo, ieusyeoyo	이으십니다 ieusimnida
	Past	이으셨다 ieusyeotda	이으셨어 ieusyeosseo	이으셨어요 ieusyeosseoyo	이으셨습니다 ieusyeotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	이으시느냐 ieusineunya	이으셔 ieusyeo	이으세요, 이으셔요 ieuseyo, ieusyeoyo	이으십니까 ieusimnikka
	Past	이으셨느냐 ieusyeonneunya	이으셨어 ieusyeosseo	이으셨어요 ieusyeosseoyo	이으셨습니까 ieusyeotseumnikka
Imperative		이으시라 ieusira	이으셔 ieusyeo	이으세요 ieuseyo	이으십시오 ieusipsio
Assertive		이으시겠다 ieusigetda	이으시겠어 ieusigesseo	이으시겠어요 ieusigesseoyo	이으시겠습니다 ieusigetseumnida
Connective forms with honorific
Cause/Reason		이으셔 ieusyeo	이으셔서 ieusyeoseo	이으시니 ieusini	이으시니까 ieusinikka
Contrast		이으시지만 ieusijiman	이으시는데 ieusineunde	이으시더니 ieusideoni
Conjunction		이으시고 ieusigo
Condition		이으시면 ieusimyeon	이으셔야 ieusyeoya
Motive		이으시려고 ieusiryeogo
Noun and determiner forms with honorific
Verbal nouns		이으심 ieusim	이으시기 ieusigi
Past-tense verbal nouns		이으셨음 ieusyeosseum	이으셨기 ieusyeotgi
Determiners	Past	이으신 ieusin
	Present	이으시는 ieusineun
	Future	이으실 ieusil

Middle Korean

Etymology

From Old Korean 有叱 (*Is-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ìs.tá/

Verb

잇다〮 (ìstá) (infinitive 이셔〮 (ìsyé), sequential 이시니〮 (ìsìní)) (intransitive)

1. to be (at a place); to exist
2. to have
3. (auxiliary) to be (in a state of having done the main verb)

Usage notes

• The verbal stem usually took the form 잇 (is-) before a consonant-initial suffix, and 이시 (isi-) before a vowel-initial one. When followed by certain suffixes, including the dictionary citation suffix 다〮 (-tá), both were permissible. Thus 잇다〮 (ìstá) and 이시다〮 (ìsìtá) are both permissible.
• However, 잇다〮 (ìstá) and 이시다〮 (ìsìtá) had a nuanced difference when acting as an auxiliary verb. As an auxiliary, the verb had the meaning of "to exist in a state of having VERBed". But if 잇다〮 (ìstá) was used, the completion of the act in the past was emphasized; if 이시다〮 (ìsìtá), the continued existence in the present of the completed state was emphasized.
• In the seventeenth century, the semantic gap widened so that the former eventually morphed into the modern past tense marker 었 (-eot-), while the latter form survived as an auxiliary. Thus Modern Korean has the doublet 사람이 죽었다 (saram-i jug-eot-da, “a person died”) and 사람이 죽어 있다 (saram-i jugeo itda, “a person is there, [lying] dead”), both coming from the same Middle Korean verb.

Descendants

• Korean: 있다 (itda)
• Korean: 었 (-eot-, past tense marker) (compounded with verbal infinitive suffix 어 (-eo))

References

• 나찬연 (Na Chan-yeon) (2014) Jungse Gugeo Munbeop-ui Ihae: Immunpyeon [Understanding Middle Korean Grammar: Introduction], Gyohak Yeon'gusa, →ISBN