쓰다 (Korean)
concept / concept-word-sseuda-ko
쓰다（朝鮮語）
쓰다 (Korean) is the Korean adjective (sseuda; in translation: "bitter"). Separate dictionary entries include (sseunmat; in translation: "bitter taste") and milder (sseupsseulhada; in translation: "slightly bitter") and (ssapssareumhada; in translation: "somewhat bitter").
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Reading the bitterness
The Standard Korean Language Dictionary, compiled by the National Institute of Korean Language, defines the taste sense of the adjective 「쓰다」 (sseuda; in translation: "bitter") as 『혀로 느끼는 맛이 한약이나 소태, 씀바귀의 맛과 같다.』 (in translation: "The taste felt on the tongue is the same as that of herbal medicine, sotae [nigaki], or sseumbagwi [a kind of bitter greens]"). It lists the noun 「쓴맛」 (sseunmat; in translation: "bitter taste") separately, explaining it as a taste like sotae or sseumbagwi and giving 「고미」 (gomi; in translation: "bitterness") as a synonym.
The same dictionary also has separate entries for words expressing a milder degree of bitterness. 「씁쓸하다」 (sseupsseulhada; in translation: "slightly bitter") has only the sense 『조금 쓰다.』 (in translation: "slightly bitter"), while 「쌉싸름하다」 (ssapssareumhada; in translation: "seemingly slightly bitter") is defined as 『조금 쓴 맛이 있는 듯하다.』 (in translation: "seeming to have a slightly bitter taste") and lists 「쌉싸래하다」 (ssapssaraehada; in translation: "slightly bitter") as a synonym. The definitions of basic 「쓰다」 (sseuda; in translation: "bitter") and 「쓴맛」 (sseunmat; in translation: "bitter taste") have no weakening term, whereas those of 「씁쓸하다」 and 「쌉싸름하다」 both include a word corresponding to 「少し」 (in translation: "a little"). Thus only the milder bitterness words, not the basic words, explicitly contain “a little.”
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Used verbatim the taste definition of 쓰다 (sseuda). / Used the finding from comparing definitions of 4 headwords.
Checked for this overview: Used the definition of 쓴맛 (sseunmat) and its synonym 고미 (gomi).
Checked for this overview: Used the mild-bitterness sense of 씁쓸하다 (sseupsseulhada).
Checked for this overview: Used the mild-bitterness sense of 쌉싸름하다 (ssapssareumhada).
Other names: 쓰다 (ko)
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Culture (5)
Scope: National Institute of Korean Language, Standard Korean Language Dictionary, headword sseuda6, adjective sense entry
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concept-word-sseuda-ko —is_defined_in_dictionary_as→ "『혀로 느끼는 맛이 한약이나 소태, 씀바귀의 맛과 같다.』 (in translation: "The taste sensed by the tongue is the same as the taste of herbal medicine, sotae [a bitter wood], or sseumbagwi [a bitter lettuce].")"Scope: National Institute of Korean Language, Standard Korean Language Dictionary (표준국어대사전), headword 「쓴맛」 (sseunmat; in translation: "bitter taste"), noun (명사).
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concept-word-sseuda-ko —is_documented_in→ "『소태나 씀바귀 따위의 맛처럼 느껴지는 맛.』 (in translation: "A taste felt like that of sotae [nigaki] or sseumbagwi"). The dictionary gives 「고미」 (gomi; in translation: "bitterness") as a synonym."Scope: National Institute of Korean Language, Standard Korean Language Dictionary, headword "씁쓸하다" (adjective), sole sense entry
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concept-word-sseuda-ko —is_documented_in→ "『조금 쓰다.』 (in translation: "A little bitter.")"Scope: National Institute of Korean Language, Standard Korean Language Dictionary, headword "쌉싸름하다" (adjective)
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concept-word-sseuda-ko —is_documented_in→ "『조금 쓴 맛이 있는 듯하다.』 (in translation: "Seems to have a slightly bitter taste.") Given as a synonym: 「쌉싸래하다」."Scope: National Institute of Korean Language, Standard Korean Language Dictionary, a comparison of the definitions of 4 headwords: sseuda, sseunmat, sseupsseulhada, and ssapssareumhada
Note: Compares a word form (the presence or absence of jogeum, "a little") that appears in common across the 4 definition texts; no interpretation beyond the definition text itself has been added.
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concept-word-sseuda-ko —differs_from→ "The dictionary defines sseuda as the basic sense of bitterness, while sseupsseulhada and ssapssareumhada are both established as separate headwords for a weaker degree of bitterness that includes jogeum ("a little")."