소중화
Korean
Etymology
Sino-Korean word from 小中華, from 小 (“little”) + 中華 (“China”)
Pronunciation
- (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈsʰo̞(ː)d͡ʑuŋβwa̠]
- Phonetic hangul: [소(ː)중화]
- Though still prescriptive in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
| Romanizations | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization? | sojunghwa |
| Revised Romanization (translit.)? | sojunghwa |
| McCune–Reischauer? | sojunghwa |
| Yale Romanization? | sōcwunghwa |
Noun
소중화 • (sojunghwa) (hanja 小中華)
- (historical) a non-Chinese country which had nonetheless attained the heights of Chinese civilization
- (in particular) Korea after the Manchu conquest of China, as Koreans believed themselves to have inherited Ming civilization
Usage notes
- The use of 소중화 (Sojunghwa) in reference to Korea, while used by the Joseon Court, is nowadays considered degrading and is not used.