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女童 (nǚ tóng) — little girl (often used in formal or statistical contexts)

Definition

Formal or written term for 'little girl', commonly seen in reports, news, and statistical contexts — more clinical than 女孩.

noun
little girl (often used in formal or statistical contexts)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 女童。
    Zhè míng nǚ tóng bèi ān quán dì sòng huí le jiā.
    This little girl was safely sent home.
  • ，女童。
    Gēn jù bào gào, pín kùn dì qū de nǚ tóng rù xué lǜ zhèng zài tí gāo.
    According to the report, the enrollment rate of little girls in poor areas is increasing.
  • 女童。
    Yī shēng wèi nà wèi nǚ tóng zuò le quán miàn jiǎn chá.
    The doctor performed a comprehensive examination for that little girl.

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.

女nǚfemale
童tóngchild

女 marks female and 童 marks child, yielding a girl child.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

  • 䇂䇂䇂chisel
  • 見見jiànkneeling person with a huge eye

The form 童 comes from a pairing of 䇂 (a chisel) with 見 (a kneeling person with a huge eye), depicting a person having an eye gouged out.

Open 童 →
Appears in
Life Stages & Age

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