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大爷 (dà ye) — (noun) father's older brother; uncle; (term of respect) uncle; sir (used to address an older man)

Definition

Family term for your father's older brother; also a casual Beijing-style address to any older man on the street. Colloquial and warm; 伯父 is the formal written equivalent for the family sense, and 先生 is more neutral polite address.

noun
father's older brotheruncle(term of respect) unclesir (used to address an older man)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 大爷，。
    Wǒ dà ye hěn shàn liáng, jīng cháng bāng zhù bié rén.
    My uncle is very kind and often helps others.
  • 大爷。
    Nà wèi dà ye xǐ huan zài gōng yuán lǐ chàng gē.
    That old gentleman likes to sing in the park.
  • 大爷，？
    Qǐng wèn dà ye, zuì jìn de yī yuàn zài nǎ lǐ?
    Excuse me, sir, where is the nearest hospital?

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dàelder
爷yémale relative

大 marks the elder one, and 爷 is the male relative addressed, so 大爷 means uncle or an older man.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爺; 爷 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
父父fùfather
Sound part声符shēngfú
耶
耶yē爺yé
Same sound today

The traditional form 爺 combines 父, meaning father, with 耶 as a sound part; the simplified 爷 is a later shorthand, so its visible pieces do not carry that original role.

Open 爷 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Family & KinshipIdentity & Titles

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