많다
man-ta
Crowds, chores, years of practice: Korean counts them all with one word
The picture The same thing is set down one more time, and one more, until no empty spot is left and the eye reads it as full. manta is every spot filled with nothing empty left; jeokda is spots standing empty with only a few left.
Where the picture shows up in 많다
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Every seat has someone in it
오늘은 손님이 많아요.
o-neu-reun son-ni-mi ma-na-yo
It's crowded with customers today.
Not one empty chair left inside the shop, with people standing right up to the door
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It heaps over the rim
양이 많아서 다 못 먹었어요.
yang-i ma-na-seo da mot meo-geo-sseo-yo
The portion was generous, I couldn't finish it.
Rice mounded above the edge of the bowl, about to spill over
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Paper stacks to your chin
할 일이 많으니까 먼저 가세요.
hal i-ri ma-neu-ni-kka meon-jeo ga-se-yo
I have work piled up, so go on ahead.
Files on the desk stacked to the chin of the person sitting there, half hiding the face
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Days of practice layer up
사장님은 경험이 많으세요.
sa-jang-ni-meun gyeong-heo-mi ma-neu-se-yo
The boss has been doing this a long time.
A hand that has done it countless times moves straight to work without checking the manual
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One queue runs longer
여기가 저기보다 사람이 많네요.
yeo-gi-ga jeo-gi-bo-da sa-ra-mi man-ne-yo
There are more people here than over there.
Of two queues side by side, only one stretches out the door and down the street
manta is for number and amount; for size Korean uses keuda.
All of it in one picture
manta is a pile that grows until the gaps disappear. A person on every chair and the shop is crowded; rice heaped over the rim and the portion is large; paper stacked to your chin and the work is piled up. Days of doing the same job layer up and that is long experience, and when one of two queues runs out the door, this side is the busier one.