안

First attested in the Yongbi eocheon'ga (龍飛御天歌 / 용비어천가), 1447, as Middle Korean 않〮 (Yale: ánh).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [a̠n]
• Phonetic hangul: [안]

• South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 안의 / 안에 / 안까지

  Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch and also heightens the next suffixed syllable, unless it is 에.

안 • (an)

1. inside

   Antonym: 바깥 (bakkat)

2. interior

Contraction of 아니 (ani), ultimately from Old Korean 不知 (*ANti).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [a̠n]
• Phonetic hangul: [안]

안 • (an)

1. not

   안 먹어?

   An meogeo?

   Won’t [you] eat?

   안 먹어!

   An meogeo!

   [I] won’t eat!

The related auxiliary verb 않다 (anta) is used to negate a clause, and has a more formal connotation. Compare:

• 야, 나 안 먹었어.

  Ya, na an meogeosseo.

  Hey, I didn't eat.

• 교수님, 저는 먹지 않았습니다.

  Gyosu-nim, jeo-neun meokji anatseumnida.

  I didn't eat, Professor.

Certain terms or expressions have a strong (sometimes obligatory) preference for one negation type or another. For example, adjectives derived from 스럽다 (-seureopda) are usually negated by 않다 (anta), as do inherently negative verbs such as 없다 (eopda, “to not have”) and 모르다 (moreuda, “to not know”). By contrast, negated rhetorical questions obligatorily require 안 (an).

안 (an, “not”) negates only the verb or adjective, whereas 않다 (anta) negates the entire embedded clause. While this difference is often not semantically meaningful, it can also lead to contrasting meanings, such as when the particle 만 (man, “only”) is involved:

• 사과만 안 먹어.

  Sagwa-man an meogeo.

  Apples are the only thing they don't eat.

• 사과만 먹지 않아.

  Sagwa-man meokji ana.

  They don't only eat apples [but they eat other things too].

In the first case, only the verb 먹다 (meokda, “to eat”) is negated. In the latter, the entire clause 사과만 먹다 (sagwa-man meokda, “to eat only apples”) is negated.

• 아니다 (anida) (verb)

Sino-Korean word from 案.

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

안 • (an) (hanja 案)

1. idea, suggestion, opinion, thought
2. plan, proposal, bill

• See the hanja entry at 案 for Sino-Korean compounds of 안 (案, an).

Korean reading of various Chinese characters.

안 (an)