新娘 (xīn niáng) — bride | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

新娘 (xīnniáng) means 'the bride' — the woman getting married. It pairs naturally with 新郎 (the groom); together 新娘 + 新郎 = the bridal couple.

noun

bride

Measure word · 位

Examples

新娘。
xīn niáng Zài hūn lǐ shàng fēi cháng kāi xīn.
The bride is very happy at the wedding.
新娘。
xīn niáng Hé xīn láng yì qǐ qiè dàn gāo.
The bride and groom cut the cake together.
新娘。
xīn niáng De péng you wèi tā zhǔn bèi le jīng xǐ.
The bride's friends prepared a surprise for her.

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.

新xīnnew

娘niángwoman/young woman

新 (new) and 娘 (woman/young woman) combine to mean the newly 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.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

斤斤jīn

Sound part声符shēngfú

辛

辛xīn新xīn

Same sound today

The shape originally paired 斤, for chopping wood, with 辛 for sound. It was borrowed for its sound to write 新, so the chopping-wood parts are unrelated to 'new'.

Open 新 →

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

女良娘

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 →

Appears in