侄儿 (zhí ér) — nephew (brother's son) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Informal spoken word for 'nephew (brother's son)'. The standard written form is 侄子, which is preferred in formal contexts.

noun

nephew (brother's son)

Measure word · 个

Examples

侄儿。
Wǒ zhí ér qù nián shàng le dà xué.
My nephew started college last year.
侄儿？
Nǐ zhí ér duō dà le?
How old is your nephew?
侄儿，。
Xiǎo zhí ér hěn cōng ming, xué xí hěn hǎo.
The little nephew is very smart and studies well.

Origin

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

儿érfamiliar ending

侄 names a nephew, and 儿 gives the familiar spoken form.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻至侄

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénman

Sound part声符shēngfú

至

至zhì侄zhí

Same sound today

侄 pairs 亻 (a person) with 至, which gives the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Appears in

Family & Kinship

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