구

Sino-Korean word from 九 (“nine”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ku]
• Phonetic hangul: [구]

구 • (gu) (hanja 九)

1. (Sino-Korean numeral) nine

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.

• See the hanja entry at 九 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (九, gu).

Sino-Korean word from 球 (“ball, sphere”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ku]
• Phonetic hangul: [구]

구 • (gu) (hanja 球)

1. sphere

• See the hanja entry at 球 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (球, gu).

• 공 (gong, “ball”)

Sino-Korean word from 舊 (“former, old”).

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

구 • (gu) (hanja 舊)

1. former; defunct

   Antonym: 신(新) (sin, “new”)

   구시대 ― gusidae ― former period; bygone period

   구 소련 ― gu Soryeon ― the former Soviet Union

• Before most common nouns, it is written without spaces as a prefix.

• See the hanja entry at 舊 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (舊, gu).

Sino-Korean word from 區 (“area, district”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ku]
• Phonetic hangul: [구]

구 • (gu) (hanja 區)

1. ward, district; administrative division of a large city.

• (Administrative divisions of South Korea) 리(里) (ri), 동(洞) (dong), 면(面) (myeon), 읍(邑) (eup), 구(區) (gu), 군(郡) (gun), 시(市) (si), 도(道) (do)

• See the hanja entry at 區 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (區, gu).

Sino-Korean word from 具 (“classifier for coffins, corpses”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ku]
• Phonetic hangul: [구]

구 • (gu) (hanja 具)

1. Used to count corpses.

• Usually takes native numerals.

• See the hanja entry at 具 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (具, gu).

Sino-Korean word from 口 (“mouth, hole”).

구 • (gu) (hanja 口)

1. (obsolete) Used to count family members.

—구 • (-gu) (hanja 口)

1. gateway

   ‎출입(出入) (churip, “coming and going”) + ‎구(口) (gu) → ‎출입구(出入口) (churipgu, “entrance/exit”)

   ‎비상(非常) (bisang, “emergency”) + ‎구(口) (gu) → ‎비상구(非常口) (bisanggu, “emergency exit”)

• See the hanja entry at 口 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (口, gu).

Sino-Korean word from 俱 (“tool”).

—구 • (-gu) (hanja 俱)

1. tool for...

• See the hanja entry at 俱 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (俱, gu).

Sino-Korean word from 溝.

구 • (gu) (hanja 溝)

1. (rare) the number 10³²

• See the hanja entry at 溝 for Sino-Korean compounds of 구 (溝, gu).

Modern Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

구 (gu)