Where does “존댓말” come from?

존댓말 (Korean) comes from Korean 말, from Chinese 末.

존댓말 (Korean): honorific, term of respect

Definitions

  1. honorific, term of respect

Ancestry of “존댓말”, step by step

존댓말 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Korean 말

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean말word, speech, language; horse; sawhorse
2Chinese末—

via Korean 존대(尊待)

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Korean존대(尊待)—
Every word from Chinese 末 →Every word from Korean 말 →