열아홉이었음에랴.

[idialegre]

Hi Everybody. In the novel 레몬 by 권여선, a woman is describing how beautiful her sister was. She then says, 하물며 열아홉이었음에랴. I think I understand that this means, "Moreover, she was 18 years old." But I'm unfamiliar with the ending -에랴. Could someone explain it to me?

Thanks!

 

[SeasnailSalad]

-음에랴 is a closing remark (어미) indicating that there is nothing more to argue about since the matter has already been all set.
I think this is a literary style that you'd mostly find in something written or printed, not colloquial.
I haven't seen anyone using '-음에랴' in daily conversations but might be nodding if the elderly spoke that way.

하물며 열아홉이었음에랴 simply means “She was only 19,” I’d say.

If you are a serious learner, you may find this link below helpful! (It's the Korean dictionaries on the website Naver)
https://ko.dict.naver.com/#/entry/koko/fef935558132432abe25c3c5b6fe30e5

 

[idialegre]

That's very helpful, thank you!