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The word kimchi is commonly used today in Chinese characters, "chimchae" (沈菜), which literally means "bile vegetable." This is because vegetables are soaked in salt water, pickled, and stored for a long time. Dongchimi is also a modified version of the word Dongchim (冬沈) +-i, which refers to a salad made in winter.
During the Middle Korean period, '沈菜' was pronounced as 'dimche ᆡ', which was changed to 'jimchim ᆡ' in the 17th century due to the palate conversion phenomenon in which the C that comes before the "e" that most Korean dialects have experienced. However, some regional dialects, such as Gyeongsang-do's southeastern dialect, such as 'oil> diameter', 'side> outside', and 'gim>jim' had a palate conversion phenomenon in which the ㄱ that comes before the "e" was changed to 'ㅈ'. In the late Joseon Dynasty, 'jimchim ᆡ' was also changed to 'Kimchim ᆡ' because it was mistaken for the wrong pronunciation of 'Kimchim ᆡ' amid an atmosphere in which Seoul people were reluctant to pronounce it. This is a representative example of transitional correction. Later, in the 19th century, 'Kimchim ᆡ' was settled as today's 'Kimchi' through 'Kimchae'.
In some dialects, it is still called 'Jimchi' and 'Ji'.
The word used in pure Korean was 'dihi', but it was changed to 'ji' today due to the application of oral traditions. 'ji' still remains as the suffix '-ji' corresponding to the 'kimchi' part of the compound word 'XX kimchi' in the southwestern dialect, and kimchi is also referred to as the 'ji' of aged kimchi among the standard languages. On the other hand, it also exists as an expression of pickles that exists separately from kimchi, such as pickles. The expression referring to pickles made with salt is salty, but in Andong City, North Gyeongsang Province, it is also expressed as 'salty' meaning whether kimchi is salty. Some view the etymology of 'ji' such as 'salty' as '漬', but some argue that it is highly likely not to be the case when looking at the used word 'j's reconstruction.
In the Joseon Dynasty, Chinese characters such as Hamchae (鹹菜) and Chimchae (沈菜) began to differentiate from 'dihi' as a general divination as the phonological changes occurred. One argument is that Chimchae changed from Chimchae → Gimchae → Gimchae → Gimchi, and another example is that Chimchae goes to Timchae → Dimchae → Jimchi and becomes the present kimchi in the Seoul dialect [8]. However, if you look at ancient documents, it is difficult to find examples of the progress of the former, and there are few traces of it in the local dialect. Rather, it is easier to find a form called Chimchi because Chimchae and Ji are added.
In other words, the problem is that the Chinese character hamchae is often seen, but persimmon and kimchi are rarely used. On the other hand, the most representative example of the etymology of chimchae is Hunmongjabi. Among these developments, dimchae became the trademark of kimchi refrigerator, and zimchi and others remain intact in the southeastern dialect, which has the strongest remnants of the medieval Korean language. This word is also used in the southwestern dialect.