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姥爷 (lǎo ye) — maternal grandfather

Definition

Maternal grandfather, mainly spoken in northern China. Unlike 爷爷 (father's father), it's a casual, colloquial northern term; 外公 is the more standard or southern equivalent.

noun
maternal grandfather
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 姥爷，。
    Wǒ lǎo ye shēn tǐ hěn hǎo, měi tiān sàn bù.
    My maternal grandfather is in good health and goes for a walk every day.
  • 姥爷？
    Nǐ hái jì de nǐ lǎo ye gěi nǐ jiǎng de gù shi ma?
    Do you still remember the stories your maternal grandfather told you?
  • ，姥爷。
    Fàng jià de shí hou, wǒ qù kàn lǎo ye.
    During the holidays, I go to visit my maternal grandfather.

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.

姥lǎomaternal
爷yégrandfather

The 姥 points to the mother's side and 爷 means grandfather, giving maternal grandfather.

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nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
老
老lǎo姥
Same sound today

The left part 女 and the right part 老 form 姥; the 老 part gives the sound.

Open 姥 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爺; 爷 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
父父fùfather
Sound part声符shēngfú
耶
耶yē爺yé
Same sound today

The traditional form 爺 combines 父, meaning father, with 耶 as a sound part; the simplified 爷 is a later shorthand, so its visible pieces do not carry that original role.

Open 爷 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Family & Kinship

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