‘소’를 문세영의 『조선어사전』 이후 『한국어대사전』에 이르기까지 한자 ‘沼’에서 起源한 것으로 處理하였다. 그러나 ‘소’는 漢字語가 아닌 固有語임을 特殊辭典이라 할 수 있는 古語辭典類에서 지적한 바 있다. 一般辭典 편찬 과정에서 반드시 해당 분야의 特殊辭典을 참고하여야만 이러한 잘못을 범하지 않을 것이다. ‘소’가 한자 ‘沼’에서 起源한 것이 아니고 우리말 基礎語彙에 속하는 固有語임을 歷代 文獻의 檢討를 통해서도 확인할 수 있다. ‘沼’의 漢字音은 [죠] 또는 [쇼]였으며 그 聲調는 上聲이었다. 반면에 ‘소’는 ㅎ종성체언으로 去聲이었다. ‘소’를 새김으로 삼고 있는 한자는 淵, 潭, 湫 등이며 ‘沼’는 ‘못’으로 對譯된다. 그러므로 ‘소’는 淵, 潭, 湫의 類槪念으로 보아야 하고 地名語의 後部要素를 分類할 때 ‘-淵, -潭, -湫’ 등은 그 種槪念으로 삼아야 한다.

From < Chosun Language Dictionary > of Moon Se-Young to < Standard Korean Dictionary >, the Korean word ‘소’ is regarded as originated from Chinese word ‘沼’. However, < Dictionary of Old Korean >, which is a kind of special dictionary, indicates that ‘소’ is a native Korean word. To prevent such errors, relevant special dictionaries should be consulted as reference in the compilation of general dictionaries. The fact that ‘소’ is one of the basic native Korean word can be identified with the examination of old Korean literatures. The cor- responding native Korean word of ‘沼’ was pronounced as [죠] or [쇼] and its tone was rising tone. However, ‘소’ was ‘ㅎ’ final consonant substantive and its tone was departing tone. ‘소’ was utilized as the corresponding Korean word for the translation of Chinese characters as ‘淵’, ‘潭’, ‘湫’. On the other hand, ‘못’ was utilized as the corresponding Korean word for the translation of ‘沼’. Accordingly, ‘소’ should be regarded as the specific concept of ‘淵’, ‘潭’, ‘湫’ and ‘-淵, -潭, -湫’ should be regarded as the generic concept in the categorization of the rear part element of Toponym words.