有喜 (yǒu xǐ) — (euphemistic) to be pregnant, expecting

Definition

有喜 (yǒu xǐ) is a polite, traditional euphemism for 'to be pregnant' — used when announcing or congratulating, not in medical contexts.

verb
(euphemistic) to be pregnantexpecting

Examples

  • 有喜。
    Tā yǒu xǐ le.
    She is pregnant.
  • ，。
    Tā yǒu le xǐ zhī hòu, jiù hěn shǎo chū mén le.
    After she got pregnant, she rarely goes out.
  • 有喜！
    Gōng xǐ nǐ yǒu xǐ le!
    Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

有yǒuhave
喜xǐjoy

有 means have and 喜 means joy, giving an old euphemism for pregnancy.

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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

喜 combines 壴, a drum, with 口, a mouth.

Open 喜 →

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