abstract meaning of a word stem
once acquainted with some common verbs, I very soon realize that -스럽다 seems to associate with the character of whatever comes before it. Recently I came across two verbs 짓궂다 & 심술궂다 and both share a common stem of -궂다.

As far as I know 굿(differ from 궂 though phonetically similar) by itself is a form of traditional shaman exorcism but I am curious as to whether there is an abstract meaning associated to it being present in a verb form as exemplified by the two above. I wonder if there are other verbs that you guys know about that contain this stem? Granted I have been studying Korean for quite a long while and it is only recently I stumbled across these two verbs I would suppose their occurrence in daily language must be quite infrequent.

Question

abstract meaning of a word stem
once acquainted with some common verbs, I very soon realize that  -스럽다 seems to associate with the character of whatever comes before it.  Recently I came across two verbs 짓궂다 & 심술궂다  and both share a common stem of -궂다.

As far as I know 굿(differ from 궂 though phonetically similar) by itself is a form of traditional shaman exorcism but I am curious as to whether there is an abstract meaning associated to it being present in a verb form as exemplified by the two above.  I wonder if there are other verbs that you guys know about that contain this stem?  Granted I have been studying Korean for quite a long while and it is only recently I stumbled across these two verbs I would suppose their occurrence in daily language must be quite infrequent.

Answer

궂다 is an abstract meaning associated to 죽다(die).
궂다 : 날씨가 좋지 못하거나, 기분이 언짢고 꺼림직한 상태(궂은 날씨,궂은 일)
궂기다 : 윗사람이 죽다의 완곡어법, 어머님 궂기신 지 어언 10년 되었구나.
              일에 헤살이 들어 잘되지 않음, ‘하는 일마다 궂겨서 굿이라도 해야 할 모양이다.’
궂히다 : 죽게 하다, ‘애 너 그러다가 여러 사람 궂히겠다, 그만둬라.’
                일을 그르치다, ‘너 때문에 다 된 일을 궂히고 말았다.’(타동사)

Answer

You said you've been studying for quite a long time, so I'd like to explain -궂다 in Korean.
-궂다 : 좋지 않은 의미를 나타내는 일부 명사나 어근 뒤에 붙어 '그러한 상태가 심하다'의 뜻을 더하여 형용사를 만드는 말( I quoted explanation of -궂다 from Daum Korean Dictionary)

* For examples 
  험상궂다 : 거칠고 흉하다
  얄궂다 : 평소와 달리 이상하고 짖궂어 얄밉다
  엄살궂다 : 엄살스럽게 행동하는 데가 있다

굿 is noun and the meaning is an exorcism. 
Two Korean letters( 굿, 궂 )have the same pronunciation but there isn't any abstract meaning associated to it being present in a verb form as exemplified by the two( 굿, 궂 )

Answer

궂다 = 나쁘고 험하다.
험상궂다, 얄궂다

Answers · 3

Still haven’t found your answers?

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!