Wow -yay- some activity on the forum!
Nice to meet you Yu-e? (germboy). Your Korean is good! I'm George, a fellow student here at KC101.
What great answers from Dr. Sean (my favorite 김 씨) and Tim! Awesome Sean! I never thought about the root of 그립다 being 그리다 (to paint/draw) --what an excellent way to explain it!
Anyway, germboy, I just wanted to be sure you understood that "지곤" is not a separate word, in this case "가" (e.g.
가지다,
가지고,
가지고는 등등) is part of the word, not a particle. By asking about '지곤' by itself is like asking about "derstood" from the word "understood."
발음 (one more time for us US westerners who don't get the i = ee thing): 가지곤 = ka-jee-gon ... but I like to say "가지곤" is pronounced "가 - 지 - 곤"
In Korean proper division of words is extremely important, I once heard it expressed like this:
할아버지가 방으로 들어갔다 - Grandfather went into the room.
할아버지 가방으로 들어갔다 - Grandfather got into the suitcase.
Depending on context, alternate definitions of the word 가지고 (possessing, having) might also be 'along with that' or 'to the extent of.' Anyway here is an interesting example I stumbled across yesterday while reading a children's book:
"그러나 아버지는 옛 학문
만 가지고는 부족하다는 것을 알았습니다." 'But his father realized that
possessing only a knowledge of classic literature would be insufficient.'
It adds to my confusion when '가지고/는' is used as an end in itself (which some Koreans do quite often) where the next sentence clause is implied rather than plainly stated. Imagine a conversation where someone is talking about his plans to go work/live/study in a foreign country and the conversation partner replies "글쎄, 그 실력만 가지고는..." (Well, having only that skill level...) and the sentence just tapers off there. We expect something else, such as "can you succeed?" or "you should do just fine" but the conversation partner assumes from the context, his tone, or our knowledge of each other that I will understand his implied meaning.
Anyway I wonder abut the etymology of this word 가지다 (to have, to carry); it appears to be of pure Korean origin, and I am thinking that it may have been a combination of '가다 (to go)' + '지다 (to carry on one's back)' certainly if I can carry it around on my back as I go then it is my possession - I possess it.
어쨌든 지곤를 어떻게 발음하나요? "주고"나 "주구"지요? 
