열다
yeol-da
Why doors, shops, and hearts all open the same way
The picture Two things that were pressed together part, the inside shows, and a way in and out appears. 열다 parts something to make a way through; 닫다 presses it shut and cuts that way off.
Where the picture shows up in 열다
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a door swings apart
문 좀 열어 주세요.
mun jom yeo-reo ju-se-yo
Could you open the door?
A shut door swings inward and daylight slides through the widening gap
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the seal won't part
이 병뚜껑이 안 열려요.
i byeong-ttu-kkeong-i an yeol-lyeo-yo
This bottle cap won't open.
A hand twisting a bottle cap that stays clamped, not parting a millimetre
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a shop opens to customers
저희 가게는 아홉 시에 열어요.
jeo-hui ga-ge-neun a-hop si-e yeo-reo-yo
Our shop opens at nine.
A shutter rolling up while customers step in through the gap
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making a gap where there was none
다음 주에 회의를 열기로 했어요.
da-eum ju-e hoe-ui-reul yeol-gi-ro hae-sseo-yo
We decided to hold a meeting next week.
A blank square on the calendar pried apart to make room for people to sit around a table
A meeting is not a thing but a slot. Korean pictures it as a gap pried open in the week.
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a heart swings apart
그 사람한테 마음을 열기가 어려워요.
geu sa-ram-han-te ma-eu-meul yeol-gi-ga eo-ryeo-wo-yo
It is hard to open up to him.
Two hands pressed flat against the chest slowly parting to show what is behind them
All of it in one picture
열다 is one picture: a gap widening until there is a way through. A door parts and you walk in; a cap refuses to part and nothing comes out; a shutter parts and the shop takes customers; an empty square in the week is pried open and a meeting sits in it; a chest parts and a person lets you in. So wherever 열다 goes, something that was sealed now has a way through it.