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小姨子 (xiǎo yí zǐ) — wife's younger sister (colloquial); sister-in-law

Definition

Colloquial, everyday word for your wife's younger sister (小姨). Use 小姨子 when talking about her as your in-law; 姨妈/小姨 refer to her directly as your wife's family relation.

noun
wife's younger sister (colloquial)sister-in-law
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小姨子。
    Wǒ de xiǎo yí zǐ bǐ wǒ xiǎo wǔ suì.
    My wife's younger sister is five years younger than me.
  • 小姨子。
    xiǎo yí zǐ Míng tiān yào lái wǒ jiā chī fàn.
    My wife's younger sister is coming to my home for dinner tomorrow.
  • 小姨子。
    Wǒ xiǎo yí zǐ shì gè hěn piào liang de nǚ hái.
    My wife's younger sister is a very pretty girl.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

小姨younger wife's sister
小xiǎoyounger姨yíwife's sister
偏正Modifier + head
子zǐfamiliar form

小 'younger' and 姨 'wife's sister' with 子 make the familiar term for wife's younger sister.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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
夷
夷yí姨yí
Same sound today

姨 combines 女 (woman) with 夷, which gives the sound. The 女 part marks it as a woman-related word.

Open 姨 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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