묵념

Sino-Korean word from 默念, from 默 (“silent”) + 念 (“thought”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [muŋɲjʌ̹m]
• Phonetic hangeul: [뭉념]

묵념 • (mungnyeom) (hanja 默念)

1. silent contemplation, a moment of silence (often in commemoration)
   • 2020, 이장욱, “유명한 정희”, in 창작과 비평, volume 48, pages 217—242:

     "나는 구름에 대해 묵념을 한 적도 있고 우리 집 마당의 사철나무에 대해 묵념을 한 적도 있고 배가 터진 비둘기 시신 앞에서도……" […] 나도 알고는 있었다. 묵념이란 무언가를 깊이 생각하고 추모하는 행위라는 걸. 죽은 사람이라든가 순국선열이라든가 역사적인 위인이라든가 그런 것을. 하지만 구름이라든가 사철나무라든가 비둘기 같은 것을 향해 묵념을 한다는 것은 무슨 뜻일까?

     Naneun gureume daehae mungnyeomeul han jeokdo itgo uri jip madang-ui sacheollamue daehae mungnyeomeul han jeokdo itgo baega teojin bidulgi sisin apeseodo…… […] nado algoneun isseotda. Mungnyeomiran mueon-gareul gipi saenggakhago chumohaneun haeng-wiraneun geol. Jugeun saramiradeun-ga sun-gukseonyeoriradeun-ga yeoksajeogin wiiniradeun-ga geureon geoseul. Hajiman gureumiradeun-ga sacheollamuradeun-ga bidulgi gateun geoseul hyanghae mungnyeomeul handaneun geoseun museun tteudilkka?

     "I've observed a moment of silence for a cloud, and I've observed a moment of silence for the evergreen spindle in my yard, and for the corpse of the pigeon with its guts spilled out..." […] I knew also that a moment of silence is an act of thinking on something deeply, of commemorating it. That it is meant for someone dead, or for the martyrs of the nation, or for someone like a historical hero. But what did it mean to observe a moment of silence for a cloud, for a spindle, or for something like a pigeon?

• 묵념하다 (默念—, mungnyeomhada, “to contemplate silently, to observe a moment of silence”)