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Definition 2024


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Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

(radical 38 +7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 女戈日女 (VIAV), four-corner 43432, composition)

References

  • KangXi: page 262, character 16
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6304
  • Dae Jaweon: page 529, character 6
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1054, character 5
  • Unihan data for U+5A18

Chinese

trad. /
simp.
: “mother”

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series () (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
*raːl, *raːlʔ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ, *raːŋs
*raːŋ, *raŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ, *raŋ, *raŋs
*raːŋ, *raːŋs
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ, *raːŋs
*raːŋ, *raŋs
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ, *raːŋʔ
*raːŋ
*raːŋ
*raːŋʔ
*raːŋʔ
*raːŋʔ
*raːŋʔ
*raːŋʔ
*raːŋs
*raːŋs
*naŋ
*raŋ
*raŋ
*raŋs

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *naŋ) : semantic  + phonetic  (OC *raŋ).

Etymology

This syllable was not attested in pre-Tang texts. It may ultimately have been a fusion of 女郎 (MC ɳɨʌX lɑŋ, “lady”) (Coblin, 1994: 389).

Pronunciation



  • Dialectal data
Variety Location
Mandarin Beijing /niɑŋ³⁵/
Harbin /niaŋ²⁴/
Tianjin /niɑŋ⁴⁵/
Jinan /ȵiaŋ⁴²/
Qingdao /niaŋ⁴²/
Zhengzhou /niaŋ⁴²/
Xi'an /niaŋ²⁴/
Xining /ȵiɔ̃²⁴/
Yinchuan /niɑŋ⁵³/
Lanzhou /ȵiɑ̃⁵³/
Ürümqi /ȵiɑŋ⁵¹/
Wuhan /niaŋ²¹³/
Chengdu /ȵiaŋ³¹/
Guiyang /niaŋ²¹/
Kunming /niã̠³¹/
Nanjing /liaŋ²⁴/ 爹~
/liaŋ³¹/ 姑姑
Hefei /liɑ̃⁵⁵/
Jin Taiyuan /niɒ̃¹¹/ ~家
/niɒ̃⁴⁵/ 姥姥
Pingyao /ȵiɑŋ¹³/
/ȵyə¹³/ ~~廟
Hohhot /niɑ̃³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ȵiã²³/
Suzhou /ȵiã¹³/
Hangzhou /ȵiɑŋ²¹³/
Wenzhou /ȵi³¹/
Hui Shexian /nia⁴⁴/
Tunxi /ȵiau⁴⁴/
Xiang Changsha /ȵian¹³/
Xiangtan /ȵian¹²/
Gan Nanchang /ȵiɔŋ⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /ŋioŋ¹¹/
Taoyuan /ŋioŋ¹¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /nœŋ²¹/
Nanning /nɛŋ⁵⁵/
/nœŋ²¹/
Hong Kong /nœŋ²¹/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /liɔŋ³⁵/
/niu³⁵/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /nuoŋ⁵³/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /niɔŋ³³/
/niɔŋ²¹/
Shantou (Min Nan) /niõ⁵⁵/
Haikou (Min Nan) /niaŋ³¹/
/nio³¹/

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1
Initial () (12)
Final () (105)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division () III
Fanqie
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ɳɨɐŋ/
Pan
Wuyun
/ɳiɐŋ/
Shao
Rongfen
/niɑŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ɳɨaŋ/
Li
Rong
/niaŋ/
Wang
Li
/nĭaŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ni̯aŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
niáng
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/1
No. 8045
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*naŋ/
Notes

Definitions

  1. woman, especially a young girl
       niang   girl
  2. (colloquial) mother; ma
  3. wife of another person
  4. elderly lady

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 媽媽 (“mum (face-to-face)”)
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 母親
Mandarin Beijing 媽媽
Taiwan 媽媽
Tianjin 媽媽
Jinan
Xi'an
Wuhan 姆媽媽媽
Chengdu 媽媽
Yangzhou 媽媽姆媽
Hefei 、媽爺
Cantonese Guangzhou 阿媽媽媽
Hong Kong 媽咪阿媽媽媽
Yangjiang 阿媽阿娘
Gan Nanchang 姆媽
Jin Taiyuan
Min Dong Fuzhou 依媽依奶
Min Nan Quanzhou 阿母、母仔、阿娘
Xiamen 阿母、阿母仔、母仔、阿媽阿娘
Zhangzhou 阿母、母仔
Taipei 阿母阿娘媽媽
Kaohsiung khà-sàng、阿母仔
Tainan o͘-khà-sàng、阿母、俺娘仔、娘嬭
Taichung 媽媽阿母
Yilan 阿母阿娘
Lukang 阿母阿娘姨仔
Sanxia 阿母阿娘姨仔
Kinmen 俺娘仔
Magong 阿母
Hsinchu 媽媽阿娘阿母
Malaysia 阿媽媽媽
Chaozhou 阿媽阿娘、阿姈
Wu Shanghai 媽媽姆媽
Suzhou 姆媽
Wenzhou 阿媽、阿奶、
Xiang Changsha 媽媽姆媽
Shuangfeng 姆媽
Dialectal synonyms of 媽媽 (“mum (non-face-to-face)”)
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 母親
Mandarin Beijing 媽媽
Taiwan 媽媽
Tianjin 媽媽
Jinan
Xi'an
Wuhan 姆媽媽媽
Chengdu 媽媽
Yangzhou 媽媽姆媽
Hefei 、媽爺
Cantonese Guangzhou 老母
Hong Kong 老母阿媽媽咪
Yangjiang 阿奶
Gan Nanchang 姆媽
Hakka Miaoli (N. Sixian) 阿姆、哀仔
Liudui (S. Sixian) 阿姆、唔媽、哀仔
Hsinchu (Hailu) 阿姆、哀仔
Dongshi (Dabu) 阿姆、細阿妹、
Zhuolan (Raoping) 阿姆、哀仔
Yunlin (Zhao'an) 阿依、
Jin Taiyuan 媽媽
Min Dong Fuzhou 娘奶
Min Nan Quanzhou 老母阿娘
Xiamen 老母、娘嬭、阿娘
Zhangzhou 老母、娘嬭
Taipei 老母
Kaohsiung 老母
Tainan 老母
Taichung 老母媽媽
Yilan 老母
Lukang 老母
Sanxia 老母
Kinmen 老母、俺母
Magong 老母
Hsinchu 老母
Chaozhou 阿嬡
Wu Shanghai
Suzhou
Wenzhou 阿媽、阿奶
Xiang Changsha 媽媽姆媽娘老子
Shuangfeng 姆媽

Compounds

Descendants

Sino-Xenic ():

Others:

  • Khmer: នាង (néang, young woman; girl)
  • Lao: ນາງ (nāng, woman; girl; lady; Mrs.)
  • Thai: นาง (naang, woman; wife; female lover)
  • Vietnamese: nàng (lady; young woman; she)

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

Etymology

Kanji in this term
むすめ
Grade: S
kun'yomi

From 生す (musu, to beget) + (me, female).[1][2]

Pronunciation

Noun

(hiragana むすめ, romaji musume)

  1. (humble) a female child, a daughter

Synonyms

Antonyms

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

Korean

Hanja

(nang) (hangeul )

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

Han character

(nương, nàng, nường)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.