老爷爷 (lǎo yé ye) — great-grandfather; (polite address) grandpa, el…

Definition

A family term for 'great-grandfather' (father's or mother's grandfather), also used as a polite way to address any elderly man. Slightly more familiar than 老太爷 and more respectful than 爷爷 when addressing a stranger.

noun

great-grandfather(polite address) grandpaelderly man

Measure word · 位

Examples

老爷爷。
Wǒ de lǎo yé ye jīn nián jiǔ shí suì le.
My great-grandfather is ninety years old this year.
老爷爷。
Xiǎo qū lǐ de lǎo yé ye měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu zài gōng yuán sàn bù.
The elderly man in the neighborhood takes a walk in the park every morning.
，老爷爷。
Xiǎo péng yǒu, kuài gēn lǎo yé ye dǎ gè zhāo hu.
Little kid, quickly say hello to the grandpa.

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lǎoold

爷爷grandfather

爷yégrandfather爷yégrandfather

重叠Reduplication

It joins 老 meaning old and 爷爷 meaning grandfather, giving great-grandfather or an elderly grandpa.

Characters in this word

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

人人rénman
毛毛máohair
匕匕bǐcane

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 爺; 爷 is its simplified writing.

父耶爺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

父父fùfather

Sound part声符shēngfú

耶

耶yē爺yé

Same sound today

The traditional form 爺 combines 父, meaning father, with 耶 as a sound part; the simplified 爷 is a later shorthand, so its visible pieces do not carry that original role.

Open 爷 →