V/A+ 을지언정/ㄹ지언정
It is attached to the stem of an action verb or descriptive verb when one assumes extreme circumstances to emphasize the content of the following clause. It is usually used in spoken language.
난 굶어 죽을지언정 다른 사람한테서 빚을 지기는 싫어.
I don’t want to be indebted to anyone else even if I starve to death.
평생 혼자 살지언정 좋아하지도 않는 사람과 결혼하지는 않을 거예요.
I’m not going to marry someone I don’t even like even if I will be living alone for the rest of my life.
이념과 사상은 다를지언정 우리가 한 민족이라는 사실에는 변함이 없다.
Ideology and thought may differ, but the fact that we are one ethnic group remains unchanged.
Conversation:
백제 시대의 것으로 알려진 석탑이 20년 만에 복원됐는데요. 책임자로서 감회가 남다르시겠습니다.
The stone tower, known to be from the Baekje Kingdom, was restored after 20 years. I’m sure you have a lot of extraordinary emotions as the manager.
세월이 지나면서 많이 훼손된 상태였기 때문에 복원에 어려움이 많았습니다.
It was difficult to restore it because it had been damaged a lot over the years.
저도 들었어요. 단일 문화재 복원 사업으로는 가장 오랫동안 진행됐다고요.
I heard that, too. It was the longest project to restore a single cultural asset.
네, 원래 있던 돌을 최대한 재사용하면서 작업했기 때문입니다.
Yes, it’s because we’ve reused the original stone as much as possible.
9층으로 추정되는 석탑을 6층으로만 마무리해서 불완전한 복원이라는 평가도 있는데요.
There is some evaluation that it’s not a complete restoration because the tower was built into only the 6th floor, and it is presumed to be on the 9th floor originally.
그렇죠. 하지만 결과가 불완전할지언정 고증되지 않은 부분을 복원할 수는 없다고 생각했습니다.
That’s true. However, I thought I shouldn’t restore the unproven parts even if the results can be incomplete.
Related words
석탑 stone tower
복원 restoration
감회 feelings, emotion
남다르다 to be extraordinary
세월 time
훼손 damage
단일 single
추정 presumption
불완전하다 to be incomplete
고증 historical research
Source: Yonsei University. Korean Language Institute
