娃娃 (wá wa) — baby, young child (affectionate, informal); dol…

Definition

Affectionate word for a young child or for a doll, not a clinical term like 婴儿 ('infant'). 宝贝 is a term of endearment for a person, often a partner.

noun

babyyoung child (affectionate, informal)doll (toy)

Measure word · 个

娃娃。
Tā shēng le yí gè kě ài de wá wa.
She gave birth to a cute baby.
娃娃。
Mèi mei měi tiān wǎn shàng dōu yào bào zhe wá wa shuì jiào.
My little sister needs to hold a doll every night to sleep.
娃娃，。
Nà ge wá wa zài gōng yuán lǐ pǎo lái pǎo qù, zhēn huó pō.
That little kid is running around in the park — so lively.

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

The child sense of 娃 is reinforced by the second 娃.

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.

女圭娃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

娃 combines 女 (woman) on the left with 圭 on the right; 女 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part.

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

女圭娃

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

圭

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

娃 combines 女 (woman) on the left with 圭 on the right; 女 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part.

Appears in