Where does “말이 아니다” come from?
말이 아니다 (Korean) comes from Korean 말, from Chinese 末.
Ancestry of “말이 아니다”, step by step
말이 아니다 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via Korean —이
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Korean | —이 | For non-honorific nouns ending in consonants, the nominative case particle marking it as the subject of a verb or adjective; see also Usage Notes |
| 2 | Middle Korean | 이 | person |
via Korean 아니다
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Korean | 아니다 | to be not |