건물

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 建物, from 建 (“to construct”) + 物 (“thing, object”), an orthographic borrowing from Japanese 建(たて)物(もの) (tatemono).^[1]

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈkɘ(ː)nmuɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [건(ː)물]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	geonmul
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	geonmul
McCune–Reischauer?	kŏnmul
Yale Romanization?	kēnmul

Noun

건물 • (geonmul) (hanja 建物)

1. building, construction, edifice

   그 건물은 보수가 몹시 필요한 상태이다.

   Geu geonmur-eun bosu-ga mopsi piryohan sangtae-ida.

   The building is badly in need of repair.

References

1. CHO Eui-sung (2001) “우리말에 들어온 일본말 [urimare deureoon ilbonmal, Japanese words that have entered Korean]”, in Cho's Lab of Korean Language‎