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爱女 (ài nǚ) — beloved daughter

Definition

A formal, almost literary way for a parent to refer to one's own daughter — warmer and more affectionate than 女儿 (neutral 'daughter'), like saying 'my beloved daughter'.

noun
beloved daughter

Examples

  • 爱女。
    Tā de ài nǚ fēi cháng cōng ming.
    His beloved daughter is very smart.
  • 爱女。
    Zhè wèi lǎo rén bǎ ài nǚ jià gěi le hǎo péng you de ér zi.
    This old man married his beloved daughter to his good friend's son.
  • 爱女。
    Tā de ài nǚ shì yì míng yōu xiù de yī shēng.
    Her beloved daughter is an excellent doctor.

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.

爱àilove
女nǚdaughter

爱 (love/beloved) describes 女 (daughter), giving the sense of a cherished daughter.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 愛; 爱 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
旡
旡jì愛ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For the traditional form 愛, an older shape paired 心 (heart) with 旡 as its sound part; later a foot-like 夊 was added below. The simplified 爱 is a later variant that replaces the lower part with 友.

Open 爱 →

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →
Appears in
Family & Kinship

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