고장

From Proto-Koreanic *kwoco, cognate to Korean 꽃 (kkot, “flower”).

• (Morphophonemic) IPA^(key): ⫽kot͡ɕaŋ⫽
• (Jeju City) IPA^(key): [kod͡ʑa̠ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [고장]

고장 (gojang)

1. (botany) flower; flowering plant

Sino-Korean word from 故障, from 故 (“reason”) + 障 (“obstruction”).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈko̞(ː)d͡ʑa̠ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [고(ː)장]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

고장 • (gojang) (hanja 故障)

1. breakdown (mechanical)

   우리는 길가 쪽에 고장난 차가 있는 것을 목격하였다.

   Uri-neun gilga jjog-e gojangnan cha-ga inneun geos-eul mokgyeokhayeotda.

   We saw a breakdown by the side of the road.

• 고장이 나다 (gojang'i nada, “to break down”)

This term is not attested in pre-twentieth century documents.

The Pyongan dialect form 고당 (godang) implies original *고댱, given the regular eighteenth- and nineteenth-century sound shift of /tj/ > /t/ in Pyongan and /tj/ > /t͡ɕ/ elsewhere. Hence perhaps a nativisation of the Sino-Korean term 고장 (古場, gojang, “old place; hometown”), whose original Sino-Korean reading was indeed 고댱.

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ko̞d͡ʑa̠ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [고장]

고장 • (gojang)

1. a populated district; a town
2. a center of production for a particular commodity

• Seo Jeong-beom (서정범) (2000), “고장 [gojang]”, in 國(국)語(어)語(어)源(원)辭(사)典(전), Seoul: Bogosa Books, pages 63-64