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Definition 2024


Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

(radical 38 +3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 女心木 (VPD), four-corner 44412, composition)

References

  • KangXi: page 255, character 5
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6046
  • Dae Jaweon: page 518, character 5
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1029, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+5979

Chinese

simp. and trad.

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲) : semantic  (female, woman) + phonetic  (OC *laːlʔ).

Originally a variant of (jiě, “elder sister”), later repurposed as a feminine third-person pronoun influenced by European languages. Linguist Liu Bannong is credited with coining this use around 1910s (Bi, 2013).

Pronunciation


Definitions

  1. she, her
       qù le.   She went away.
    認識 / 认识   Wǒ rènshi .   I know her.

Usage notes

  • Occasionally, () may be used for both genders.

See also

No major Chinese dialect distinguishes between “he”, “she” and “it” in spoken form, and Mandarin () is the only instance where such a distinction is made in written form. Thus see the table below for words for “she” in other varieties of Chinese.

Dialectal synonyms of (“he”)
Variety Location Words
Classical Chinese
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)
Mandarin Beijing
Taiwan
Jinan
Xi'an
Wuhan 他家
Chengdu
Yangzhou
Hefei
Cantonese Guangzhou
Hong Kong 佢、其、渠
Taishan
Yangjiang
Gan Nanchang
Hakka Meixian
Miaoli (N. Sixian)
Liudui (S. Sixian)
Hsinchu (Hailu)
Dongshi (Dabu)
Zhuolan (Raoping)
Yunlin (Zhao'an)
Jin Taiyuan
Min Bei Jian'ou
Min Dong Fuzhou
Min Nan Xiamen
Taipei
Chaozhou
Wu Shanghai
Suzhou 、俚倷、唔倷
Hangzhou
Wenzhou
Chongming
Danyang
Jinhua
Tangxi 渠儂
Ningbo 渠儂
Xiang Changsha
Shuangfeng
Standard Chinese personal pronouns
Person Singular Plural
1st () 我們我们 (wǒmen)
inclusive 咱們咱们 (zánmen)
2nd male/indefinite () 你們你们 (nǐmen)
female () 妳們你们 (nǐmen)
deity () 祢們祢们 (nǐmen)
polite (nín) 你們你们 (nǐmen)
您們您们 (nínmen)
3rd male/indefinite () 他們他们 (tāmen)
female 她們她们 (tāmen)
deity () 祂們祂们 (tāmen)
animal () 牠們它们 (tāmen)
inanimate () 它們它们 (tāmen)
  • (, “(feminine) you”)

Compounds


Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

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Readings


Vietnamese

Han character

(tha)

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