姐夫 (jiě fu) — elder sister's husband; brother-in-law (specifi…

Definition

noun

elder sister's husbandbrother-in-law (specifically, husband of one's elder sister)

Measure word · 个

姐夫。
Wǒ de jiě fu shì yí wèi lǎo shī.
My brother-in-law is a teacher.
姐夫。
jiě fu Jīng cháng dài jiě jie qù lǚ xíng.
My brother-in-law often takes my elder sister on trips.
姐夫。
Zuó tiān jiě fu lái jiā lǐ chī fàn le.
Yesterday my brother-in-law came to our house for dinner.

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.

姐jiěelder sister

夫fūhusband

姐 points to the elder sister, and 夫 gives the husband in that relation.

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.

女且姐

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

且

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The 女 part points to a woman, and 且 is a sound component.

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.

Appears in