盲女 (máng nǚ) — blind girl; blind woman

Definition

noun
blind girlblind woman
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 盲女。
    Nà ge máng nǚ cóng xiǎo jiù kàn bú jiàn dōng xī.
    That blind girl has been unable to see since childhood.
  • 盲女，。
    Tā shì yí wèi yǒng gǎn de máng nǚ, zì xué le gāng qín.
    She is a brave blind woman who taught herself piano.
  • 盲女。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō jiǎng shù le yí gè máng nǚ de gù shi.
    This novel tells the story of a blind girl.

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.

盲mángblind
女nǚwoman

盲 'blind' and 女 'woman' combine to mean a blind 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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
亡
亡wáng盲máng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

盲 is made from 目, meaning “eye”, plus 亡, which gives the sound. The eye part relates to the meaning of blindness.

Open 盲 →

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 →

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