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大嫂 (dà sǎo) — wife of one's eldest brother; (polite address) older married woman (used for acquaintances or strangers)

Definition

Literally 'eldest brother's wife', but commonly used as a polite, familiar address for an older married woman you don't know well — more familial and warmer than 女士.

noun
wife of one's eldest brother(polite address) older married woman (used for acquaintances or strangers)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 大嫂，。
    Wǒ dà sǎo duì wǒ tè bié hǎo, jīng cháng gěi wǒ zuò hǎo chī de.
    My eldest brother's wife is especially good to me; she often cooks delicious food for me.
  • 大嫂，？
    dà sǎo, Qǐng wèn zhè tiáo lù zěn me zǒu?
    Excuse me, ma'am, how do I get to this road?
  • 大嫂。
    Cài shì chǎng nà wèi dà sǎo mài de shuǐ guǒ hěn xīn xiān.
    The fruit sold by that lady at the market is very fresh.

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.

大dàeldest
嫂sǎoelder brother's wife

大 indicates the eldest, and 嫂 is the elder brother's wife.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
叟
叟sǒu嫂sǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

嫂 has 女, showing it refers to a woman, and 叟, which gives the pronunciation.

Appears in
Family & Kinship

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