村姑 (cūn gū) — country girl, village lass | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

country girlvillage lass

Measure word · 个

Examples

村姑，。
Tā shì yí gè lái zì xiǎo cūn zhuāng de cūn gū, tiān zhēn yòu shàn liáng.
She is a country girl from a small village, innocent and kind.
村姑。
Zhè bù xiǎo shuō lǐ de cūn gū xíng xiàng fēi cháng shēng dòng.
The image of the country girl in this novel is very vivid.
村姑。
Nà wèi cūn gū zhèng zài hé biān xǐ yī fu.
That country girl is washing clothes by the river.

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.

村cūnvillage

姑gūyoung woman

村 means village and 姑 means young woman, so the word describes a girl from the countryside.

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.

木寸村

Meaning part形符xíngfú

木木mùtree

Sound part声符shēngfú

寸

寸cùn村cūn

Same sound today

村 pairs 木 (tree) with 寸 as a sound hint; its origin is unclear.

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

女古姑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

古gǔ姑gū

Same sound today

The left part 女 marks it as a woman, and the right part 古 provides the sound. It is used for female relatives like an aunt or mother-in-law.

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