格格 (gé ge) — (historical) princess or young lady of Manchu nobility in the Qing dynasty

Definition

A title for the daughters of Manchu nobles in the Qing dynasty — not the same as 公主 (the emperor's own daughter). Today the word mostly appears in historical dramas and costume stories.

noun
(historical) princess or young lady of Manchu nobility in the Qing dynasty
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 格格。
    Zhè bù diàn shì jù jiǎng de shì qīng cháo yí wèi gé ge de gù shi.
    This TV series tells the story of a Qing dynasty princess.
  • 格格，。
    Tā chuān le yí jiàn qīng cháo gé ge de yī fu, fēi cháng piào liang.
    She wore a Qing dynasty princess's outfit, which was very beautiful.
  • 格格。
    Lì shǐ shàng hěn duō gé ge dōu jià dào le měng gǔ.
    In history, many Manchu princesses married into Mongolia.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

格gé
格gé

格 and 格 record the Manchu sound for a princess/title; they carry no meaning of their own here.

Sound-only characters

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè格gé
Same sound today

格 is built from 木 (wood) on the left and 各 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 格 →

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
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè格gé
Same sound today

格 is built from 木 (wood) on the left and 各 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 格 →

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