강남

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 江南, from 江 (“river”) + 南 (“south”), from the Middle Korean reading 가ᇰ남 (Yale: Kàngnàm).

In Seoul, south of the Han River; in China, south of the Yangtze. The now archaic sense of "China" in general is very old, being attested since at least the fifteenth century, and may date from the Southern Song (1127−1279), when the capital of China was in Jiangnan.

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ka̠ŋna̠m]
Phonetic hangul: [강남]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	gangnam
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	gangnam
McCune–Reischauer^?	kangnam
Yale Romanization^?	kangnam

Noun

강남 • (gangnam) (hanja 江南)

south of a river
Antonym: 강북(江北) (gangbuk)

Proper noun

강남 • (Gangnam) (hanja 江南)

Gangnam (a district of Seoul, South Korea)
(more generally) the area of Seoul south of the Han River, known for its affluent residents
강남 좌파 ― gangnam jwapa ― champagne socialist (literally, “Gangnam leftist”)
Jiangnan (the region of China around the Yangtze Delta, the country's most productive area since the early second millennium)
(archaic, by extension) China
강남천자국 ― gangnamcheonjaguk ― China (literally, “Son of Heaven's country in Jiangnan”)

Descendants

→ English: Gangnam