# 쌀

| 쌀 | U+C300, &#49920; HANGUL SYLLABLE SSAL |
| Composition: | ㅆ + ㅏ + ㄹ |
| ← 싿 [U+C2FF] | Hangul Syllables | 쌁 → [U+C301] |
싸싹싺싻싼싽싾 싿쌀쌁쌂쌃쌄쌅 쌆쌇쌈쌉쌊쌋쌌 쌍쌎쌏쌐쌑쌒쌓 :
| 시 ← | → 쌔 |

## Korean
### Etymology

First attested as Late Old Korean 菩薩 in the Jīlín lèishì (鷄林類事 / 계림유사), 1103.
In the Hangeul script, first attested as Middle Korean ᄡᆞᆯ〮 (psól) in the Seokbo sangjeol (釋譜詳節 / 석보상절), 3:38b, 1447. The Middle Korean p- is still preserved in many compounds where 쌀 is the second element, such as 멥쌀 (mepssal) and 찹쌀 (chapssal).
Alexander Vovin argues in a 2015 work that this term could be a Japonic loan, connecting it with Japanese 早稲 (wase, “early-ripening rice”), with two assumptions:
* That the initial p- came from a phonological inability to render initial Japonic w-.
* That the final consonant was originally present in early Japonic but had been eliminated in the insular languages.
Meanwhile, James Marshall Unger presents a case in a 2000 paper that explains a possible derivation for Japanese terms like 早稲 (wase) that have alternating apophonic forms (standalone wase and compounding form wasa-), suggesting instead that these may be cognates with Koreanic terms.
Joo (2021) argues that its earlier transcription as posal 菩薩 (“bodhisattva”) is in fact not a mere phonetic transcription but actually reflects its etymological origin from Middle Chinese, citing the case of a Japanese dialect using the same word 菩薩 (bosatsu) to refer to raw rice, and also a religious practice in Korea where a jar of grain is used to symbolize the Buddha's body.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)
* (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA: [s͈a̠ɭ]
* Phonetic hangul: [쌀]
* South Gyeongsang (Busan) pitch accent: 쌀의 / 쌀에 / 쌀까지Syllables in red take high pitch. This word always takes high pitch and also heightens the next suffixed syllable, unless it is 에.

### Noun

쌀 • (ssal)
* uncooked rice
* white hulled grains of barley, wheat, etc.

#### Derived terms

* 귀리쌀 (gwirissal)
* 날쌀 (nalssal)
* 멥쌀 (mepssal)
* 묵은쌀 (mugeunssal)
* 밀쌀 (milssal)
* 보리쌀 (borissal)
* 생쌀 (生—, saengssal)
* 쌀가게 (ssalgage)
* 쌀가루 (ssalgaru)
* 쌀가마 (ssalgama)
* 쌀값 (ssalgap)
* 쌀겨 (ssalgyeo)
* 쌀국수 (ssalguksu)
* 쌀농사 (—農事, ssallongsa)
* 쌀눈 (ssallun)
* 쌀독 (ssaldok)
* 쌀되 (ssaldoe)
* 쌀뒤주 (ssaldwiju)
* 쌀뜨물 (ssaltteumul)
* 쌀밥 (ssalbap)
* 쌀벌레 (ssalbeolle)
* 쌀보리 (ssalbori)
* 쌀부대 (—負袋, ssalbudae)
* 쌀섬 (ssalseom)
* 쌀알 (ssaral)
* 쌀엿 (ssaryeot)
* 쌀장사 (ssaljangsa)
* 쌀장수 (ssaljangsu)
* 쌀죽 (—粥, ssaljuk)
* 쌀집 (ssaljip)
* 쌀통 (—桶, ssaltong)
* 쌀풀 (ssalpul)
* 옴쌀 (omssal)
* 웁쌀 (upssal)
* 입쌀 (ipssal)
* 좁쌀 (jopssal)
* 찹쌀 (chapssal)
* 풀살 (pulsal)
* 햅쌀 (haepssal)
* 흰쌀 (huinssal)

#### Related terms

* 싸라기 (ssaragi)
* 싸전 (—廛, ssajeon)

#### See also

* 벼 (byeo, “rice plant”)
* 米 (mi), the hanja for "rice"

### References

* ↑ Vovin, Alexander (2015) “On The Etymology of Middle Korean psʌr 'rice'”, in Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları‎, number 25.2, pages 229-238
* ↑ Unger, J. Marshall (2000) “Reconciling Comparative and Internal Reconstruction: The Case of Old Japanese /ti ri ni/”, in Language‎, number 76.3, pages 655–681
* ↑ Joo, Ian (2021) “The etymology of Korean ssal 'uncooked grain' and pap 'cooked grain'”, in Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale‎, number 50.1, pages 94-110