嫂嫂 (sǎo sao) — elder brother's wife; sister-in-law; a respectf…

Definition

Literally 'elder brother's wife' and the everyday, intimate way to address her. The address sense ('big sister' for a married woman of one's own age) is warm and respectful, more colloquial than the plain 嫂子.

noun

elder brother's wifesister-in-lawa respectful term of address for a married woman (similar to 'big sister')

Measure word · 个

Examples

嫂嫂，。
Wǒ sǎo sao duì wǒ tè bié hǎo, jiù xiàng qīn jiě jie yí yàng.
My elder brother's wife treats me really well, just like a real older sister.
嫂嫂，？
sǎo sao, Nín zhī dào cài shì chǎng zěn me zǒu ma?
Big sister, do you know how to get to the vegetable market?
嫂嫂，。
Wáng sǎo sao zhù zài gé bì, jīng cháng gěi wǒ men sòng hǎo chī de.
Sister Wang lives next door and often brings us delicious food.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

嫂sǎosister-in-law

The repeated 嫂 gives a familiar, respectful way to address a brother's wife or a married woman.

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.

女叟嫂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

叟

叟sǒu嫂sǎo

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

嫂 has 女, showing it refers to a woman, and 叟, which gives the pronunciation.