How many 되s make a 말?

ANSWER: Ten 되s make a 말 (mal). And since ten 홉s make a 되, 100 홉s make a 말. And, by the way, 10 말s make a 섬, which is a big straw sack. So, five 말s of rice is equal to half a sack (섬) of rice.

섬, 말, 되, and 홉 were measurements used in Korea to measure grains. They are all pure-Korean words. Their Chinese character equivalents are 石 (석), 斗 (두), 升 (승), and 合 (합).

The Sino-Korean word 오두미 (五斗米) literally translates as "five (五) mal (斗) of rice (米)" but is used in Korea to mean "a small salary," referring back to a time when Korean government officials were paid in rice and other grains. Five mal of rice is equal to half a sack (섬) of rice. Imagine trying to live off of that for a year.

By the way, when Sino-Korean words start with the character 五 (오), the 오 is pronounced with a long vowel sound, so 오두미 (五斗米), for example, is pronounced as /오오두미/. Here are other Sino-Korean words that start with of 오 (五), which means the 오 is pronounced as /오오/.

• 오각형 (五角形) a pentagon
• 오감 (五感) the five senses
• 오경 (五經) the five classics (of ancient China)
• 오계 (五戒) the five Buddhist commandments (against murder, theft, adultery, falsehood, and intemperance)
• 오곡 (五穀) the five grains (rice, millet, beans, wheat, and barnyard millet)
• 오관 (五官) the five sensory organs
• 오뉴월 (五六月) May and June of the lunar calendar
• 오대양 (五大洋) the Five Oceans
• 오대주 (五大洲) the Five Continents
• 오륜 (五倫) moral rules to govern the Five Human Relations (of master and servant, of father and son, of husband and wife, of brothers, of friends)
• 오리 (五里) five ri (Korean miles)
• 오리무중 (五里霧中) literally means "five (五) ri (里) in a fog (霧中)" but is used to mean "utter bewilderment."
• 오만 (五萬) literally means "fifty thousand," but is used to mean "innumerable."
• 오만상 (五萬相) a distorted [frowning, wry, puckered)] face; a grimace; a scowl
• 오미 (五味) the Five Tastes (of sour, bitter, pungent, sweet, and salty)
• 오배 (五倍) five times (as many as), fivefold
• 오복 (五福) the Five Blessings (longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue, peaceful death)
• 오분 (五分) 1) to divide into five parts, 2) five minutes
• 오색 (五色) the five cardinal colors (blue, yellow, red, white, black); variegated colors
• 오색잡놈 (五色雜놈) a reprobate; a rogue; a scamp
• 오십 (五十) fifty
• 오언절구 (五言絶句) a quatrain with five Chinese characters in each line
• 오열 (五列) the Fifth Column; secret agents
• 오월 (五月) May
• 오일 (五日) five days; the fifth day of the month
• 오장 (五腸) the five viscera (of the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys)
• 오장육부 (五腸六腑) the five viscera and the six entrails (of gall bladder, stomach, small and large intestines, the paunch, the bladder, and the bowels)
• 오채 (五彩) the five colors
• 오체 (五體) the (whole) body; the whole frame; the limbs
• 오촌 (五寸) one's cousin's son (daughter); one's father's cousin
• 오층 (五層) five stories (floors, levels); the fifth floor
• 오행 (五行) the Five Elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth)
• 오현금 (五絃琴) a five-stringed musical instrument; a pentachord