Why is it 나는 문을 닫았다 instead of 나는 문을 닫었다? Shouldn't you use 었다 with ㄷ?

Respuestas

It's nothing to do with consonant ㄷ.

Korean has the concept called ‘vowel harmony’. The bright(yang) vowel tends to gather together with the bright(yang) vowel, the dark(yin) vowel with the dark(yin) vowel.

bright(yang) vowel : ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅐ, ㅒ, ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅘ, ㅙ, ㅚ, ㆍ
dark(yin) vowel : ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅔ, ㅖ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅝ, ㅞ, ㅟ, ㅡ, ㅢ

If the heaven(ㆍ) is after human(ㅣ), it(ㅏ) symbolizes brightness.
And If the heaven(ㆍ) is over the earth(ㅡ), it(ㅗ) also symbolizes brightness.
On the other hand, If the heaven(ㆍ) is before human(ㅣ) or under the earth(ㅡ), they(ㅓ, ㅜ) symbolize darkness.

This phenomenon affects the conjugation of verbs and adjectives.
낳다(to give birth to sbd) → 낳아, 낳았다
넣다(to put sth in) → 넣어, 넣었다

얕다(shallow) → 얕아, 얕았다
옅다(pale in color) → 옅어, 옅었다

작다(small in volume, area, length) → 작아, 작았다
적다(small in quantity) → 적어, 적었다

졸다(to drowse) → 졸아, 졸았다
줄다(to decrease) → 줄어, 줄었다

곱다(lovely) → 고와, 고왔다
굽다(to roast) → 구워, 구웠다

곱다(numb with cold) → 곱아, 곱았다
굽다(to be bent) → 굽어, 굽었다

Nowadays the vowel harmony has diminished in the conjugation. There are so many exceptions. However, even though some conjugations are not recognized as a standard Korean, some people like writer still use harmonic form like 아름다와, 고마와, 가까와 because they sound natural, nice and soft. You can see 까다로워 is pronounced as 까다로와 here : https://youtu.be/pX7DX0g_jRo?t=614

And the vowel harmony can convey a slightly different meaning.

주먹 fist
조막 thing smaller than fist

대골대골 represents a small thing to roll.
데굴데굴 represents a big thing to roll.

달랑달랑 represents a small thing to dangle.
덜렁덜렁 represents a big thing to dangle.

깡총깡총 represents a jump with short legs.
껑충껑충 represents a jump with long legs.

소곤소곤 represents a whisper in a small voice.
수군수군 represents a whisper in a low voice.

오돌토돌 describes a lumpy surface with small grain.
우둘투둘 describes a lumpy surface with big grain.

까맣다. bright black
꺼멓다. dark black

하얗다. bright white
허옇다. dark white

빨갛다. bright red
뻘겋다. dark red

파랗다. bright blue
퍼렇다. dark blue

노랗다. bright yellow
누렇다. dark yellow

말갛다. clear, clean, pure
멀겋다. dim, dull, murky

똥똥하다. little chubby
뚱뚱하다. fat

통통하다. chubby
퉁퉁하다. quite fat like it swell

볼록하다. convex with a slight curve
불룩하다. convex with a sharp curve

오목하다. concave with a slight curve
우묵하다. concave with a sharp curve

오똑하다. high, aloft (for small thing like nose)
우뚝하다. high, aloft (for big thing like building)

도드라지다. protruding, clearly visible
두드러지다. really protruding, clearly visible

도톰하다. moderately thick
두툼하다. quite thick

Usuario con respuestas altamente valoradas

@sleeprince sorry but I'm still a bit confused. When do I know if it's 았다 instead? Is this case just irregular?

Usuario con respuestas altamente valoradas

@sleeprince ahhhh okay, 찐자 감사합니다 for such detailed answers :)

Share this question

Preguntas similares