"몇 초"
Translation:how many seconds
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The etymology of 초 is interesting. This should be pronounced 묘 in accordance with the Korean reading of the character 秒. The identically pronounced characters which look similar probably caused this particular reading:
- 抄
- 炒
- 吵
- 鈔
- 耖
They are all part of the same phonetic series and so by mistake, 秒 also received the same pronunciation.
1017
The reading 초 for 秒 apparently derives from 初 (초, start) as it could refer to year one in the sixty-year cycle. -- https://ko.wiktionary.org/wiki/%EC%B4%88
The Japanese reading, totally unrelated, probably derives from 部 (부: unit for counting books or newspapers, department) from which they get the hiragana character ヘ, the only hiragana derived from only one part of a character in cursive. べうー＞びょう。
The ideograph 秒 means something like chaff or fine grain, but it can also mean a beard, an awn, or a beam (of light) at least in Japanese. Oh, it came from Sun Tzu (of The Art of War book of strategy) who used it as a measure equal to a tenth of a hair's breadth. I hope someone appreciates that -- that took me too long . . .
Yes - originally typed in "a few seconds" but still corrected me 2/26/18
