Where does “칸막이” come from?
칸막이 (Korean) comes from Korean 칸, from Korean 간, from Chinese 奸.
칸막이 (Korean): partition, divider, room screen
Definitions
- partition, divider, room screen
Ancestry of “칸막이”, step by step
칸막이 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Korean 칸
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Korean | 칸 | room, chamber; Synonym of 칸막이; space, blank space |
| 2 | Korean | 간 | for; between; salty seasonings |
| 3 | Chinese | 奸 | — |
via Korean 막이
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Korean | 막이 | damming (up), banking (up) |
| 2 | 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 |
| 3 | Middle Korean | 이 | person |