-으면

Korean

Alternative forms

• 면 (-myeon) — after vowels and ㄹ (l)

Etymology

From Middle Korean 으〮면〮/ᄋᆞ〮면〮 (Yale: -úmyén/ómyén), a Middle Korean innovation from Old Korean 㢱 (*-mye, adverb-deriving suffix) + 隱 (*-n, topic marker).^[1] Modern speakers do not perceive it as such.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ɯmjʌ̹n]
• Phonetic hangul: [으면]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	eumyeon
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	eumyeon
McCune–Reischauer?	ŭmyŏn
Yale Romanization?	umyen

Suffix

으면 • (-eumyeon)

1. if, when

   꼬리가 길면 밟힌다.

   Kkori-ga gilmyeon balpinda.

   One's evil deeds will eventually be discovered.

   (literally, “If one's tail is long, it will be stepped on.”)

   그분이 가시면, 저도 가겠습니다.

   Geubun-i gasimyeon, jeo-do gagetseumnida.

   If he goes, I will also go.

   봄이 오면, 꽃이 핀다.

   Bom-i omyeon, kkoch-i pinda.

   When spring comes, flowers blossom.

Usage notes

• Unlike most suffixes with epenthetic 으 (eu), this suffix does not cause elision of ㄹ (l), as its starting consonant is ㅁ (m): 울면 (ulmyeon, “if one cries”), not *우면 (*umyeon).
• when sense is only used with 으면 (-eumyeon) and never with other variants such as 는다면 (-neundamyeon), as they show less possibility of a certain action happening.

References

1. 남풍현 (Nam Pung-hyeon) (2000) “조건법 연결어미 '면'의 발달”, in Gugyeol Yeon'gu, volume 6, pages 11–40