奶奶 (nǎi nai) — (paternal) grandmother | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Informal everyday word for 'grandma', almost always the paternal grandmother. Pair with 爷爷 for 'grandpa'; 外婆/姥姥 are the maternal grandmother (mother's side).

noun

(paternal) grandmother

Measure word · 位

Examples

奶奶。
Wǒ de nǎi nai jīn nián qī shí suì le.
My grandma is seventy years old this year.
奶奶。
Wǒ xǐ huan chī nǎi nai zuò de cài.
I like eating the dishes my grandma cooks.
奶奶。
Wǒ men měi gè xīng qī tiān qù nǎi nai jiā.
We go to grandma's house every Sunday.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

奶nǎigrandmother

奶nǎigrandmother

The repeated 奶 forms a familiar kinship word for paternal grandmother.

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.

女乃奶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

乃

乃nǎi奶nǎi

Same sound today

奶 combines 女, a woman, and 乃, which gives the sound.

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

女乃奶

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

乃

乃nǎi奶nǎi

Same sound today

奶 combines 女, a woman, and 乃, which gives the sound.

Appears in

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