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外孙女 (wài sūn nǚ) — granddaughter (daughter's daughter)

Definition

外孙女 specifically means your daughter's daughter. Compare with 外孙 (son) and 孙女 (son's daughter); with a daughter, the 外– prefix is required.

noun
granddaughter (daughter's daughter)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 外孙女，。
    Wǒ de wài sūn nǚ jīn nián wǔ suì, zài shàng yòu ér yuán.
    My granddaughter is five years old and goes to kindergarten.
  • 外孙女。
    Wài pó jīng cháng gěi wài sūn nǚ jiǎng gù shi.
    Grandma often tells stories to her granddaughter.
  • 外孙女。
    wài sūn nǚ Fàng shǔ jià shí huì lái wǒ jiā zhù liǎng zhōu.
    My granddaughter will come stay with us for two weeks during summer vacation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

外wàioutside/maternal
孙女female grandchild
孙sūngrandchild女nǚfemale
偏正Modifier + head

外 points to the daughter's side, while 孙 and 女 together give the idea of a female grandchild.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 孫; 孙 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 孫 pairs 子 (son) with 系 (continue), showing a line of descendants continuing. The simplified 孙 is a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Open 孙 →

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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