분

Korean

Etymology 1

부북붂붃분붅붆 붇불붉붊붋붌붍 붎붏붐붑붒붓붔 붕붖붗붘붙붚붛
뵤 ←	→ 붜

Syllable

(deprecated template usage) 분 • (bun)

1. (deprecated template usage) A Hangul syllabic block made up of ㅂ, ㅜ, and ㄴ.

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 分 (“part, division”)

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pun]
• Phonetic hangul: [분]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	bun
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	bun
McCune–Reischauer?	pun
Yale Romanization?	pun

Noun

분 • (bun) (hanja 分)

1. (Units of measure) bun, a unit of length equivalent to about 0.3 cm, the Korean equivalent of the Chinese fen
2. (Units of measure) bun, a unit of weight equivalent to about 0.4 g, the Korean equivalent of the Chinese fen
3. (time) minute
   • 8(여덟)시 45(사십오)분

     8(yeodeol)si 45(sasibo)bun

     8:45 (time)

Etymology 3

Possibly from Chinese 分/份 ("part, portion").

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pun]
• Phonetic hangul: [분]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	bun
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	bun
McCune–Reischauer?	pun
Yale Romanization?	pun

Noun

분 • (bun)

1. (honorific) person

Counter

분 • (bun)

1. (honorific) people (honorific counter)
   • 교실에서 교수님 다섯 분은 계시다

     gyosir-eseo gyosunim daseot bun-eun gyesida

     There are 5 professors in the classroom

Usage notes

As with most count words (a.k.a. classifiers), 분 (bun) is preceded by native Korean numerals. More technically, 분 is classified as a "counter," not a noun. The concept of a counter is unusual in English, but common in Korean. It is the equivalent of the word "loaf" in three loaves of bread.

See also

• 시 (si, “o'clock”), 시간 (sigan, “hours”), 번 (beon, “times”), 살 (sal, “years”), 사람 (saram, “people”), 갑 (gap, “packs”), 마리 (mari, “animals”), 권 (gwon, “volumes”), 채 (chae, “houses”)