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娘儿们 (niáng ér men) — (colloquial) womenfolk; women (as a group); (colloquial) married woman; (dialectal) wife; mother and child/children

Definition

A colloquial, often Northern-dialect word with three loose senses: "women" (as a group), "wife," or "mother and child(ren)." The tone is casual and sometimes rough; in formal writing prefer 妇女 or 妻子.

noun
(colloquial) womenfolkwomen (as a group)(colloquial) married woman(dialectal) wifemother and child/children

Examples

  • 娘儿们。
    Nà xiē niáng ér men zài hú tòng kǒu liáo tiān r ne.
    Those women are chatting at the entrance of the alley.
  • 娘儿们，。
    Tā jiā de niáng ér men tè bié néng gàn, yí gè rén dài liǎ hái zi.
    His wife is very capable — she takes care of two kids by herself.
  • 娘儿们。
    niáng ér men Liǎ zài gōng yuán lǐ sàn bù ne.
    The mother and child are taking a walk in the park.

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.

娘儿
娘niángwomen儿érfamiliar tone
们mengroup

娘 denotes women, 儿 gives a colloquial, familiar tone, and 们 indicates a group, so the whole means womenfolk.

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
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 →

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →

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 們; 们 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén們men
Same sound today

The traditional form 們 uses 亻 for a person and 門 for the sound; the simplified 们 is a later shorthand.

Open 们 →
Appears in
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