# 한많은 이세상 야속한 님아



## idialegre

Hi Everybody!

I am trying to understand this phrase (한많은 이세상 야속한 님아) from the song, 한오백년. Could anyone help me understand "한많은"? Is there a separate verb, 한많다? Or is it a combination of 한 in the sense of "approximately," as in the title, 한오백년, and 많다?

Also, I have seen two versions of this line, one with 야속한 님아, and the other with 야속한 임아. Which is correct?

Thanks to all who have any input on this!


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## SeasnailSalad

idialegre said:


> Hi Everybody!
> 
> I am trying to understand this phrase (한많은 이세상 야속한 님아) from the song, 한오백년. Could anyone help me understand "한많은"? Is there a separate verb, 한많다? Or is it a combination of 한 in the sense of "approximately," as in the title, 한오백년, and 많다?
> 
> Also, I have seen two versions of this line, one with 야속한 님아, and the other with 야속한 임아. Which is correct?
> 
> Thanks to all who have any input on this!


한 오백년 is the old folk song that makes me a little bit challenging to explain it to you clearly. I am trying!

- You're right. 한 오백년 means 'about/approximately 500 years,' which implies such a long time the main character of the song (the narrator) wanted to live with her loved one.

- '한 많은' may refer to the depressive feeling that makes her complain about things but there's no one to talk to about them, and '이 세상' is 'this world'. (Someone might say 한 here might be translated into 'anger, resentment, etc...,' but I believe it's closer to 'depressive and stuffy feelings (like being in the middle of a stuffy room, she can't get things better on her own because she's got no political/economic power to do so, and all this lets her down and makes her feel hopeless)'

- 야속한 님아(= 임아) should be 'you are such a cold-hearted person' if translated in English.

- The first line of the lyrics you brought up here would be like,
"There are too many things I want to complain about in this world, like you being such a cold-hearted person."
Or a simpler version of the song would go like, "Life is hard, and I hate you ghosting me."

- '님아' and '임아' are both correct since Koreans have used both for centuries, but you may find this link below very helpful just in case you are a serious learner >> Grammar Rule: Beginning-Sound Rule [두음법칙]
Technically, by 두음법칙(the beginning sound rule) '님/nim/' should be converted to '임/yim/' in South Korea (not in North Korea because they have not adopted the rule)

I hope all this helps!


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## lkjhg811

idialegre said:


> I am trying to understand this phrase (한많은 이세상 야속한 님아) from the song, 한오백년.


"한많은 이세상 야속한 님아" was phrased with poetic imagery.



idialegre said:


> Could anyone help me understand "한많은"? Is there a separate verb, 한많다? Or is it a combination of 한 in the sense of "approximately," as in the title, 한오백년, and 많다?


The "한" in "한많은" means roughly "deep sorrow", and the "많은" in "한많은" means roughly "a lot of". (Note that there is no English word that has exactly the same meaning as a Korean word)



idialegre said:


> Also, I have seen two versions of this line, one with 야속한 님아, and the other with 야속한 임아. Which is correct?


"님" and "임" have the same meaning in that context.


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## idialegre

Thank you both so much for your very helpful replies! I wasn't aware that 한 also functioned as a noun with the meaning "deep sorrow." I don't believe I've ever encountered it outside of this particular song text. Is it commonly used?


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## lkjhg811

idialegre said:


> I don't believe I've ever encountered it outside of this particular song text. Is it commonly used?


It is used occasionally.


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