What do 나가다 and 나오다 have in common?

 ANSWER: Both words have the syllables 나 and 다 in them.

My Korean-English dictionary lists about 20 different definitions for 나다, but the definition that seems to be missing is the one that can mean both 나가다 and 나오다, which means that 나다, by itself, can mean either "to go out" or "to come out." Luckily, however, my Dong-A New Korean dictionary (동아새국어사전) does list the 나다 with those meanings but claims that is it is an old (옛) usage of the word.

Since I do not like the example sentence in the above definition--because I am not sure what it means--here is the example sentence from my "Korean Language Example Dictionary (국어용례사전):

"길동이 부모를 이별하고 문을 나매 일신이 표박아여 정처없이 행아더니" (고전 - "홍길동 전") 

"After parting with his parents, Kil-dong came out of the gate and wandered alone aimlessly," (Classical Literature: "The Tale of Hong Gil-dong")

NOTE: I hope I got that English translation right. The 매 after the 나 in the above example is a sentence connector, so I think 나매 is similar to saying "나와서."

Some may be wondering, "Why should I learn an old definition for 나다?" Because Koreans still seem to use some expressions that use that old definition.

In Korea, there is the idiom 의가 나다. The 의 in 의가 나다 is an abbreviation of 정의, but which 정의? Is it the one that means "righteousness" or "justice," the one that means "a definition," the one that means "friendship" or "friendly feelings," or the one that means "the exact meaning"?

ANSWER: It's the 정의 (情誼) that means "friendly feelings," which is not as popular as the 정의 that means "justice" or the 정의 that means "a definition." In fact, the 의 (誼) in 정의 (情誼) is not even among the 1800 Chinese characters that Korea used to teach in its middle schools and high schools. It would have been more of a college-level character.

The 誼 (의) in 정의 (情誼) means "right" (옳다), but it can also mean 정분 (情分) and 교분 (交分). 정분 means "a cordial friendship," "affection," or "intimacy," and 교분 (交分) means "friendship," "friendly relations," or "intimacy," so 誼 (의) is the 의 used in the idiom "의가 나다."

Now, what about the 나다 used in the idiom 의가 나다? Is it the 나다 that means 생기다 (to come out," "to grow," or "to spring up")? Or is it that old 나다 that means 나가다 ("to go out")? If it is the 나다 that means "생기다," then the idiom 의가 나다 could translate as "Friendly feelings grow," but if it is the old 나다, then 의가 나다 would translate as "Friendly feelings go out."

Well, as some may have already guessed, 의가 나다 literally means, "Friendly feelings go out," which could be translated as "a loss of intimacy" (친한 사이가 나빠지다) or "to have a falling out [with a friend or relative]." It is similar to saying 의(誼)가 상하다, which is used in the following sentence from my Korean-English dictionary:

"사소한 일로 그 친구들은 의가 상했다."
"A small matter divided the friends." / "They fell out over some trifling matter."

Now, here is an example of the use of 의가 나다 from a book I have:

"형제가 돈 때문에 의가 나서 연락도 하지 않고 산다니 도대체 그게 말이 되는가?"
"Does it make any sense that brothers would live without contacting each other because they had a falling out over money?"

Finally, what would Koreans do without the verb 나다?