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少爷 (shào ye) — young master of the house (in traditional wealthy families); (polite) your son

Definition

Historical term for the young master of a wealthy or official household — a son of the master, not a servant. In old novels, calling someone 少爷 (or 您家少爷) is a polite way to address a family's son.

noun
young master of the house (in traditional wealthy families)(polite) your son
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 少爷，。
    Zhè wèi shào ye cóng xiǎo jǐn yī yù shí, cóng bù zhī mín jiān jí kǔ.
    This young master grew up in luxury and never knew the hardships of the common people.
  • 少爷，。
    Nín jiā de shào ye zhēn shì cōng ming líng lì, jiāng lái bì chéng dà qì.
    Your son is truly intelligent and clever; he will surely achieve great things in the future.
  • ，少爷。
    Jiù xiǎo shuō lǐ, shào ye zǒng shì dài zhe jǐ gè pú rén chū mén.
    In old novels, the young master always goes out with several servants.

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.

少shǎoyoung
爷yémaster

少 gives young and 爷 gives master, naming a young master of a household.

Characters in this word

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

The form 少 is drawn as four dots, perhaps three grains of sand, to indicate a few or a little.

Open 少 →

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
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