The suffix -san in Korean The suffix -san in Korean means 'mountain'. So far so good. When traveling in the north of Chollabukdo and the adjoining south of Chungcheonnamdo, an area which is very flat,

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Alex 알렉스

Professional Teacher

The suffix -san in Korean The suffix -san in Korean means 'mountain'. So far so good. When traveling in the north of Chollabukdo and the adjoining south of Chungcheonnamdo, an area which is very flat, I noticed that many place names are ending with -san. Iksan, Gunsan, Geumsan, Nonsan and many more. Any idea why?

Mar 25, 2019 10:49 PM

Comments · 4

Case 1 : Renaming by a royal mandate

* Taejong of Joseon(조선 태종) said that there are too many place names which ends with Ju(주). So some place names are changed from 주(Ju) to 산(San) or 천(Cheon).

익주(益州) -> 익산(益山)

금주(錦州) -> 금산(錦山)

울주(蔚州) -> 울산(蔚山)

Case 2 : contraction

고군산군도(古群山群島) -> 군산(群山)

Case 3 : literal translation of pure Korean place name.

'논뫼' or '놀뫼'(rice paddy and mountain - Gyeryongsan Mountain ) -> 논산(論山)

March 26, 2019