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老板娘 (lǎo bǎn niáng) — female shopkeeper; proprietress; wife of a male shopkeeper

Definition

Refers to the woman who runs a shop, or the wife of the male shopkeeper (老板). Both senses are used in everyday speech — context tells you which.

noun
female shopkeeperproprietresswife of a male shopkeeper
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 老板娘，？
    lǎo bǎn niáng, Zhè ge duō shǎo qián?
    Boss lady, how much is this?
  • 老板娘。
    Zhè jiā diàn de lǎo bǎn niáng hěn rè qíng.
    The proprietress of this shop is very warm.
  • 老板娘。
    Tīng shuō lǎo bǎn niáng shì běn dì rén.
    I heard the female boss is a local.

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.

老板shopkeeper
老lǎo板bǎn
前缀Prefix
娘niángwoman

老板 means shopkeeper, and 娘 means woman or wife, so the word names the shopkeeper's wife or female shopkeeper.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn板bǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

板 pairs 木 (tree) with 反 as a sound part.

Open 板 →

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
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
Business & CommerceProfessions & Jobs

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