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小妞 (xiǎo niū) — (colloquial) young girl; also used as a familiar or slightly teasing form of address

Definition

Colloquial, mildly playful term for a young girl; often used as a familiar or teasing form of address rather than a neutral label.

noun
(colloquial) young girlalso used as a familiar or slightly teasing form of address
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小妞？
    Nà ge xiǎo niū shì shuí?
    Who is that young girl?
  • 小妞，？
    xiǎo niū, Nǐ yí gè rén zài zhè lǐ gàn shén me?
    Missy, what are you doing here alone?
  • 小妞，。
    Tā kàn jiàn yí gè xiǎo niū zài lù biān kū, jiù guò qù wèn.
    He saw a little girl crying by the roadside and went over to ask.

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.

小xiǎolittle
妞niūgirl

小 and 妞 combine to mean a young girl.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 妞 →
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