军嫂 (jūn sǎo) — wife of a military serviceman (term of respect)

Definition

A respectful Chinese term for the wife of a soldier. It acknowledges the sacrifice and social standing of women married to military personnel, often used in official or honorific contexts.

noun
wife of a military serviceman (term of respect)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 军嫂，。
    Tā zuò wéi yí wèi jūn sǎo, dú zì chéng dān qǐ zhào gù jiā tíng de zhòng rèn.
    As a military wife, she bears the heavy responsibility of caring for the family alone.
  • 军嫂。
    Quán shè huì dōu yīng gāi zūn zhòng hé lǐ jiě měi yí wèi jūn sǎo de fù chū.
    All of society should respect and understand the contributions of every military wife.
  • 军嫂，。
    Hěn duō jūn sǎo cháng qī yǔ zhàng fu liǎng dì fēn jū, fēi cháng bù róng yì.
    Many military wives live apart from their husbands for long periods—it's really tough.

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.

军jūnmilitary
嫂sǎowife

军, military, and 嫂, wife, together name a soldier's wife.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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
叟
叟sǒu嫂sǎo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

嫂 has 女, showing it refers to a woman, and 叟, which gives the pronunciation.

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