妹夫 (mèi fu) — younger sister's husband; brother-in-law (husba…

Definition

noun

younger sister's husbandbrother-in-law (husband of one's younger sister)

Measure word · 个

妹夫。
Wǒ mèi mei de mèi fu shì yī shēng.
My younger sister's husband is a doctor.
妹夫，。
Zuó tiān wǒ jiàn dào le mèi fu, tā cháng dé hěn gāo.
Yesterday I met my younger sister's husband; he is very tall.
妹夫。
mèi fu Duì wǒ mèi mei fēi cháng hǎo.
My younger sister's husband is very good to her.

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.

妹mèiyounger sister

夫fūhusband

妹 is younger sister and 夫 is husband, so 妹夫 is a younger sister's husband.

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.

女未妹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚfemale, woman

Sound part声符shēngfú

未

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

妹 combines 女, a woman, with 未, which gives the sound.

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

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

夫 originally drew a man. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write a pronoun, so the picture and the pronoun meaning are unrelated.

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