淪

Phono-semantic compound:

水 (물 수) — semantic, water, flowing, sinking, immersion

侖 (륜) — phonetic, gives the sound (륜/윤, 논)

Thus 淪 originally meant “to sink into water; to be swallowed by water.”

From this literal meaning emerged metaphorical senses: falling, declining, perishing, being overrun.

In Korean, 淪(륜) appears mainly in formal, literary, political, historical, and academic compounds related to ruin, decline, sinking, or being overrun.

Political / national collapse:

淪陷 (륜함) — 함락되다; to fall, be overrun, be captured

陷淪 (함륜) — 무너지다, 붕괴되다; collapse, fall into ruin

Moral / social decline:

淪落 (륜락) — 몰락, 전락; to fall into degradation, decline

淪亡 (륜망) — 패망; to be destroyed, perish

淪喪 (륜상) — 타락, 상실; loss, degradation, ruin

Being consumed or overwhelmed:

沉淪 (침륜) — 깊이 빠지다; to sink deeply into (despair, addiction, vice)

淪溺 (륜닉) — 빠져 헤어나지 못함; to be stuck, helplessly submerged

Literal:

淪沒 (륜몰) — 물에 잠김; submerged, lost underwater

These are widely used in Korean academic writing and newspapers, especially for geopolitical contexts.

淪 evolved from “sink into water” → “sink into disaster” → “sink into vice/despair/ruin.”

This makes it a highly expressive character in literature.

Close related words:

陷 — to fall into (a trap or danger)

溺 — to drown (literal)

没 — to sink or disappear

淪 combines the sense of water (immersion) and ruin (decline).

Classical citations:

《左傳·襄公三十一年》 (Zuo Zhuan)

「國將淪亡。」

“The state is about to sink into ruin” — 淪 = collapse, destruction.

《史記·秦始皇本紀》 (Records of the Grand Historian)

「天下淪陷。」

“All under Heaven fell into submission / was overrun” — 淪陷 becomes a standard phrase in later history.

《後漢書·耿弇傳》 (Book of the Later Han Dynasty)

「民皆淪沒。」

“The people were all lost/ruined.”

《文選·潘岳〈寡婦賦〉》 (Wenxuan, Anthology of Literature)

「淪溺於悲。」

“She was drowned in sorrow” — metaphorical: overwhelmed by sorrow.

《宋史·五行志》 (History of Song Dynasty)

「山川淪沒，不可復見。」

“The mountains and rivers were submerged and could no longer be seen” —literal + symbolic meaning.