거리 (geori): Street · Stuff · Matter · Round — One Korean Sound, Four Meanings

 

거리 (geori): Street · Stuff · Matter · Round — One Korean Sound, Four Meanings

(Color diagram above.)

거리 (geori): Street · Stuff · Matter · Round — One Korean Sound, Four Meanings

🎯 One Sound, Four Native Meanings
A busy street, the makings of tonight's dinner, a nagging worry, and one act of a shamanic rite — Korean says all four with one pure-native sound: 거리 (geori). Careful: this native 거리 is not the Hanja 距離 ("distance"). Follow the four arrows.

⬆️ STREET — 길거리 (gil-geori)
A street, a road full of people. This 거리 is native, built from 걷다 (geot-da, "to walk") — literally a place for walking. 길거리 (the street), 번화한 거리 (a busy street).

거리에 사람이 많아요. (Geori-e sa-ram-i man-a-yo.) — There are many people on the street.

⬅️ STUFF — 반찬거리 (ban-chan-geori)
The makings or material for something: 반찬거리 (side-dish makings), 국거리 (soup ingredients), 일거리 (work to do). At a market you buy 거리 — the raw stuff before it becomes the meal.

반찬거리를 샀어요. (Ban-chan-geori-reul sa-sseo-yo.) — I bought makings for side dishes.

➡️ MATTER — 걱정거리 (geok-jeong-geori)
Pin any feeling or event to -거리 and it becomes a source of it: 걱정거리 (a worry), 이야깃거리 (something to talk about), 구경거리 (a spectacle), 웃음거리 (a laughingstock).

그건 걱정거리가 아니에요. (Geu-geon geok-jeong-geori-ga a-ni-e-yo.) — That's nothing to worry about.

⬇️ ROUND — 굿 한 거리 (gut han geori)
One act of a Korean shamanic rite (굿). A 굿 unfolds 거리 after 거리 — 열두 거리 (twelve rounds) is the classic set. The famous 굿거리 rhythm is named for these acts.

굿이 열두 거리로 이어졌어요. (Gut-i yeol-du geori-ro i-eo-jeo-sseo-yo.) — The rite ran through twelve rounds.

⚡ Memory Anchor
The 거리 you walk (street), the 거리 you cook with (stuff), the 거리 you worry over (matter), the 거리 a shaman performs (round). Road → makings → subject → ritual act — every 거리 is the thing at hand to deal with.

⚡ At a Glance

ArrowMeaningExampleEnglish

⬆️ STREET	a road	길거리	the street
⬅️ STUFF	makings	반찬거리	side-dish makings
➡️ MATTER	a source of ~	걱정거리	a worry
⬇️ ROUND	act of a rite	굿 한 거리	one round of a 굿

📌 In One Line
거리 (geori) turns one native sound into everything set before you to handle — the street you walk, the stuff you cook, the matter you worry over, and the round a shaman performs. (And no, not the Hanja 距離.)

K-Word Arrows: Korean Homonyms Visualized
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