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大妈 (dà mā) — father's elder brother's wife; aunt (by marriage); affectionate or generic term for an elderly woman; auntie

Definition

Two meanings: your father's elder brother's wife (a relative) OR a casual term-of-address for an older woman, like 'auntie'. Both are more colloquial than 阿姨, which is the polite address for a woman of your parents' generation.

noun
father's elder brother's wifeaunt (by marriage)affectionate or generic term for an elderly womanauntie
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 大妈。
    Míng tiān wǒ yào qù dà mā jiā chī fàn.
    Tomorrow I'm going to my aunt's house for a meal.
  • 大妈，？
    dà mā, Qǐng wèn yín háng zài nǎ lǐ?
    Ma'am, could you tell me where the bank is?
  • 大妈。
    Gōng yuán lǐ de dà mā men měi tiān dōu zài liáo tiān.
    The aunties in the park chat every day.

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.

大dàelder
妈māmother

大 as elder modifies 妈 as mother/aunt, naming the elder mother-generation relative.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 媽; 妈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
馬
馬mǎ媽mā
Same sound today

The traditional form 媽 pairs 女 (woman) with 馬, which gives the sound. The simplified 妈 is a later shorthand.

Open 妈 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Family & KinshipLife Stages & Age

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