外公 (wài gōng) — maternal grandfather | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Maternal grandfather (mother's father), common in everyday speech. 姥爷 is a northern variant of the same role; 爷爷 is the paternal grandfather.

noun

maternal grandfather

Measure word · 位

Examples

外公。
Wǒ wài gōng jīn nián qī shí suì le.
My maternal grandfather is seventy years old this year.
外公。
Zhōu mò wǒ men yì qǐ qù wài gōng jia chī fàn.
This weekend we'll go to my maternal grandfather's house for a meal together.
外公。
wài gōng Xǐ huan zài gōng yuán lǐ sàn bù.
My maternal grandfather likes to take walks in the park.

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.

外wàioutside

公gōnggrandfather

外 means outside and 公 means grandfather, so 外公 refers to the grandfather on the maternal side.

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

月

月yuè外wài

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

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

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

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 Family & Kinship

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