大娘 (dà niáng) — (respectful term) used to address an elderly woman, especially one you know or a stranger in a community context; (kinship) wife of one's father's elder brother (one's uncle's wife)

Definition

大娘 (dàniáng) is BOTH a respectful way to address an older woman (like 'Aunty') AND a kinship term for the wife of one's father's elder brother (your 大伯's wife). The address use is common in northern and rural speech.

noun
(respectful term) used to address an elderly woman, especially one you know or a stranger in a community context(kinship) wife of one's father's elder brother (one's uncle's wife)
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 大娘，？
    dà niáng, Nín shēn tǐ hái hǎo ma?
    Aunty, how is your health?
  • 大娘，。
    Zhè shì wǒ jiā dà niáng, tā shì wǒ dà bó de qī zi.
    This is our family's dàniáng, she is my uncle's wife.
  • 大娘。
    Lù biān nà wèi dà niáng zhī dào zěn me qù yóu jú.
    That elderly lady on the street knows how to get to the post office.

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
娘niángwoman

'大' means elder or great, and '娘' is a woman or mother; together it names father's elder brother's wife or an elderly woman.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
良
良liáng娘niáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

娘 is built from 女 (woman) and 良, which supplies the sound.

Open 娘 →

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