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The function of 만 in 바라만보다 and difference from 바라보다

Korean Language Asked by pavelkomin on August 24, 2021

After coming by the expression 바라만 보다, I spent more than two hours trying to find something on it, and just before posting that very question here, I got the bright idea of putting the whole term 바라만보다 into Naver. I was told that 바라만보다 is a conjugation of 바라다보다.

I tried looking further from there, but the results were only in Korean and unfortunately not comprehensible to me at this point (see below). I got the feeling that I really should have stopped there, but after spending the time and writing and scrapping an entire question on it here, I kind of want the rest of the picture.

My main thoughts and questions are:

  1. What is the function (and possibly origin) of 만 in 바라만보다? It is certainly joining the two, but are there any other nuances to that? Are there any other words/expressions that this appears in?
  2. Is 바라다보다/바라만보다 sort of archaic/poetic?
  3. Is it any different from 바라보다, except from the archaic/poetic feel? Would it be usable in speech? (Naver claims they are synonyms)

A shorter answer to each of these would suffice, but not that I would refuse a comprehensive one.


The sources I found:

3 Answers

Although jick gave a great answer, I would like to add some details in case you meet a word simliar to this later on.

We can breakdown "바라만 보다" into 3 parts:

바라 + 만 + 보다

Q1 : '만' is a postposition that can add various kinds of meanings, and is able to come :

  1. after a noun

  2. after a verb

  3. and sometimes even in between a verb when the word is in (main verb + auxilary verb) form

and according to the Standard Korean Dictionary, postposition '만' means :

  1. showing limitation by restricting ('only' in English)

    ex) 나는 매일 사과 하나만 먹는다. (I only eat an apple everyday.)

  2. emphasizing the noun/verb that came before it (similar to 'has to' in English)

    ex) 그녀는 건강을 위해 뛰어야만 한다. (She has to run for her health.)

  3. showing the minimun quantitiy of expectation (similar to 'at least' in English)

    ex) 다섯 개의 오디션 중 하나만 붙어라. ((I) hope (I) pass at least one audition out of five.)

  4. comparing the noun/verb that comes before it with another (used with "하다" or "못하다", similar to "just like" / "no where near" in English)

    ex) 그의 새 차가 코끼리만 하다. (His new car is just like an elephant.)

  5. showing the condition for something (similar to "everytime")

    ex) 나는 뛰기만 하면 다친다. (I get hurt everytime I run.)

'만' appears in so many different parts in Korean.

In our case '바라만 보다', '만' comes in between a verb, and is showing limitation by restricting. So it means "only staring at it. (no other actions taken)"

Q2 : So no, '바라만 보다' is not archaic/poetic. It is used in daily conversations, and is actually used very often!

(but it is also true that '바라만 보다' is used often in lyrics/poems/classic novels because it has that "sad, heartbroken" feel to it.)

Q3 : Using answers from Q1 and Q2, we can now say that '바라만 보다' is interpreted as (only + '바라보다'), and we can use it in everyday speech.

Correct answer by pkeu on August 24, 2021

바라만 보다 is not a conjugation of 바라다보다; I do not think that you have read carefully the sources you found.

  1. In 바라만 보다 (You should place a space right after 만), is a postpositional particle that indicates an emphasis. The compound verb 바라보다 can be separated into 바라- and 보다 when 만 comes to emphasize it. I have said can because you may also use 바라보기만 하다. 바라다보다 is just another compound verb made of the same verbs (바라다 and 보다); 바라다 means to glance toward something here (not "to hope, want, etc." here).

  2. Archaic means old and no longer used, but those words are still used. They are not poetic either because they themselves do not express emotions in a sensitive or moving way. It is just that you can easily find them in the lyrics of songs. I would say that 바라다 alone is now unlikely to be used to mean to glance toward something because there are other verbs used often, such as 바라보다 and 보다.

  3. They are usable in speech. One thing I should say is that people much prefer 바라보다 to 바라다보다.

Answered by Klmo on August 24, 2021

I think it's best understood as an analogy of a pattern: (main verb)+만+(aux. verb), meaning "only (verb)". Some examples:

아무 말도 없이 걷고만 있다. [He] is only walking without a word.

부끄러워 죽고만 싶다. [I] am so ashmed that I only want to die.

여기 올려만 놓으면 됩니다. You only have to place it up here.

Now, I feel that "바라만 보다" is a bit unusual(?) because it's not exactly two verbs "바라다"+"보다" - its primary meaning ("stare") is different enough from 바라다 ("hope"), so it's best considered a new verb in its own. However, etymologically speaking, it's still a combination of "바라" + "보다", and apparently the structure is still visible enough that one can insert "만" in the middle.

Also, I don't think it's that archaic. I can imagine it being used in everyday speech, like "뭘 그렇게 멍하니 바라만 보냐?"

Answered by jick on August 24, 2021

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