-럽다 vs -롭다 Suffix Spelling?

Question

Many adjectives end in -럽다 and -롭다, but is there any rhyme or reason when which spelling is used? Is there a difference in meaning or some phonetic pattern? I always seem to spell these wrong, so wondering there's a good way to know which words use which endings. \n\n**-럽다 Examples:**\n\n - 부드럽다\n - 자연스럽다\n - 부럽다\n\n**-롭다 Examples**\n\n - 까다롭다\n - 괴롭다\n - 외롭다\n\n

Answer 1

Generally the rule is as follows.

Use "럽" for negative vowels:

If you have a word ending in ㅡ, like in 드 or 스

If you have a word ending in ㅜ, like in 부

Use "롭" for positive vowels:

If you have a word ending in ㅏ, like 다

If you have a word ending in ㅚ, like in 괴 or 외