娘

niáng
noun HSK 7-9 #1,481

Meanings

  1. 1 mother; young lady
  2. 2 woman

Examples

HSK 1
Xīnniáng hěn piàoliang.
The bride is very beautiful.
HSK 4
Nàge gūniang shì shéi?
Who is that young lady?

Tips

usage
娘 is mainly found in: 姑娘 (young lady/girl), 新娘 (bride), 娘家 (married woman's parents' home). In some dialects, 娘 means 'mother', but 妈妈 is more standard in Mandarin.

Components

radical
女 nǚ
woman
Woman radical on the left - also 娘's indexing radical (Kangxi #38). Direct semantic anchor: 娘 names women in family roles - 'ma' (姑娘 girl, 大娘 auntie, 老娘 mother). Same radical in 妈, 姐, 妹, 妻, 婚, 婆 - every female-keyed kinship term.
phonetic
良 liáng
fine; good
Right side 良 supplies the sound: liáng → niáng with l-/n- alternation, an old Chinese pattern still seen in 浪/朗 readings of dialects. Same phonetic in 浪 (làng), 郎 (láng), 廊 (láng), 朗 (lǎng) - the 良 cluster covers l-, n-, and r- readings across history. A faint semantic flavour ('a good/fine woman') is also present.

Stroke Order

娘 niáng