TongTong
Sign in

丫头 (yā tou) — (colloquial) girl, young woman (often used in familiar or affectionate address); (historical) maidservant, bondservant

Definition

丫头 is a familiar, often affectionate way to address a young girl — warmer and more old-fashioned than 女孩儿 or 女生, which are neutral. The historical 'maidservant' sense is dated.

noun
(colloquial) girlyoung woman (often used in familiar or affectionate address)(historical) maidservantbondservant
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 丫头，？
    Zhè ge yā tou zhēn kě ài, shì shuí jiā de hái zi?
    This girl is so cute, whose child is she?
  • ，丫头。
    Zài gǔ dài, dà hù rén jiā dōu yǒu yā tou cì hou.
    In ancient times, wealthy families all had maidservants to attend them.
  • 丫头，。
    yā tou, Guò lái bāng ā yí yí xià.
    Girl, come over and help Auntie for a moment.

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.

丫yāforked braid
头tóuending

The 丫 (forked braid) plus 头 forms a familiar word for a girl.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 丫 comes from a fork in a branch or path.

Open 丫 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9People (General)

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.