堂姐 (táng jiě) — elder female cousin on one's father's side (fat…

Definition

noun

elder female cousin on one's father's side (father's brother's daughter older than oneself)

Measure word · 个

堂姐。
Wǒ de táng jiě zài běi jīng gōng zuò.
My elder female cousin (on my father's side) works in Beijing.
堂姐？
Nǐ rèn shi nà wèi táng jiě ma?
Do you know that elder female cousin (on your father's side)?
堂姐，。
táng jiě Bǐ wǒ dà sān suì, duì wǒ hěn hǎo.
My elder female cousin is three years older than me and treats me very well.

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.

堂tángpaternal branch

姐jiěelder sister

堂 marks the paternal branch, and 姐 means elder sister, so together they name an elder female cousin.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

尚

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

堂 uses 土 as a ground/earth part and 尚 for sound.

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

女且姐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

且

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 女 part points to a woman, and 且 is a sound component.

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