姑娘家 (gū niáng jiā) — (colloquial) a young unmarried woman; a girl (often implying youth or inexperience); (literal) a girl's home; the home of a young woman

Definition

Colloquial way to refer to 'a young unmarried woman' or 'a girl', often with a nuance of youth or innocence — don't use it for an adult woman. With a possessive (她们的), it can also mean 'her home'.

noun
(colloquial) a young unmarried womana girl (often implying youth or inexperience)(literal) a girl's homethe home of a young woman
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 姑娘家，。
    Rén jiā gū niáng jiā bù hǎo yì si shuō, nǐ bié wèn le.
    She's a young girl and too shy to say it—don't keep asking.
  • 姑娘家，。
    Nǐ yí gè gū niáng jiā, wǎn shàng yí gè rén chū mén bù ān quán.
    You're a young girl—going out alone at night is unsafe.
  • 姑娘家，。
    Tā men gū niáng jiā lí xué xiào hěn jìn, zǒu jǐ fēn zhōng jiù dào le.
    Their (girl's) home is very close to the school, just a few minutes' walk away.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

姑娘young woman
姑gūyoung woman娘niángwoman
联合Side by side
家jiā

姑娘 denotes a young woman, and 家 adds a familiar sense of a person.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ姑gū
Same sound today

The left part 女 marks it as a woman, and the right part 古 provides the sound. It is used for female relatives like an aunt or mother-in-law.

Open 姑 →

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 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

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