妹
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Translingual
Han character
妹 (radical 38, 女+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 女十木 (VJD), four-corner 45490, composition ⿰女未)
Stroke order | |||
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References
- KangXi: page 257, character 28
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6138
- Dae Jaweon: page 522, character 23
- Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1034, character 6
- Unihan data for U+59B9
Chinese
simp. and trad. |
妹 |
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Glyph origin
Historical forms of the character 妹 |
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Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) |
Small seal script |
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Characters in the same phonetic series (未) (Zhengzhang, 2003) | |
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Old Chinese | |
寐 | *mids |
魅 | *mrɯds |
鬽 | *mrɯds |
昧 | *mɯːds |
妹 | *mɯːds |
眛 | *maːds, *mɯːds |
沬 | *maːds, *hmɯːds, *mɯds |
未 | *mɯds |
味 | *mɯds |
鮇 | *mɯds |
菋 | *mɯds |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *mɯːds) : semantic 女 (“female, woman”) + phonetic 未 (OC *mɯds).
Etymology
Probably Sino-Tibetan. Proposed etymologies:
- STEDT relates it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *mi (“girl; female; feminine suffix”), whence Apatani nyimii (“girl; woman; female”), Proto-Loloish *C-mi² (“woman”), Proto-Karen *hmɨᴮ (“female; woman”).
- Schuessler (2007) compares it to Burmese မ (ma., “sister”) (whence အစ်မ (acma., “elder sister”), ညီမ (nyima., “younger sister”)), Miju ku-mai- (“woman”), Tibetan བུད་མེད (bud med, “woman”), and also Mizo hmei (“concubine”) (> Mizo hmei-chhia (“woman; wife”)), which STEDT relates to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-maj (“widow, widower”) instead.
Pronunciation
Synonyms
Compounds
Japanese
Readings
Compounds
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term |
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妹 |
いも Grade: 2 |
kun’yomi |
⟨imo1⟩ → */imʷo/ → /imo/
From Old Japanese.
The medial /-m-/ means "woman, female", found in a number of related terms such as 女 (me, onna, “woman”), 嫗 (omina, “elderly woman”), and 母 (omo, “mother”, archaic).
Noun
- (archaic, said from a male speaker) a close female companion
- one's sister regardless of age difference
- one's lover or sweetheart who is the subject of marriage or is already married
- 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 11, poem 485)
- かりごもの思ひ乱れて我恋ふといも知るらめや人し告げずは
- karigomo no omoimidarete ware kou to imo shirurame ya hito shi tsugezu wa
- (please add an English translation of this example)
- かりごもの思ひ乱れて我恋ふといも知るらめや人し告げずは
- 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 11, poem 485)
- (archaic, said from a female speaker) a close female companion
Derived terms
- 妹 (imōto, “one's younger sister”)
- 妹が績む (imo ga umu, pillow word)
- 妹姑 (imo-shūtome)
- 妹兄, 妹背 (imose)
- 妹山 (imoyama)
Etymology 2
/imo ɸito/ → /imowito/ → */imowuto/ → /imoːto/
Originally a compound of 妹 (imo, “sister, close female companion”) + 人 (hito, “person”).[2][3]
This is an instance of ウ音便 (u onbin, “u sound shift”), found in terms with bilabial consonants (/m/, /b/, /w/) followed by i; commonly seen in terms such as 玄人 (kurōto, “professional”), 素人 (shirōto, “amateur”), or possibly, 相撲 (sumō, “sumo”).
Noun
妹 (hiragana いもうと, rōmaji imōto)
- one's own younger sister
- 2005 January 10, Izawa, Hiroshi; Yamada, Kotaro, “
第 34話 復 讐 の槍 [Chapter 34: The Lance of Vengeance]”, in ファイアーエムブレム 覇者の剣 [Fire Emblem: Sword of Champions], volume 9 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN, page 60:- 妹の仇だ!何万人だろうが地獄へ送ってやる‼
- Imōto no kataki da! Nanmannin darō ga jigoku e okutte yaru‼
- This is for my sister! Keep coming, all of you! I’ll send you all straight to hell‼
- 妹の仇だ!何万人だろうが地獄へ送ってやる‼
- Antonym: 姉 (ane)
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- the wife of one's younger brother; one's sister-in-law
- Synonym: 義妹 (gimai)
- a younger female
- (archaic, said from a male speaker) one's sister regardless of age difference
- Antonym: 兄人 (shōto)
(alternative reading hiragana いもっ, romaji imo')
- (Kagoshima) younger sister
Derived terms
Etymology 3
Kanji in this term |
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妹 |
いもと Grade: 2 |
Irregular |
Appears in The Tale of Heiji, written around the mid-12th century.
Likely a variant shift from compound 妹 (imo, “sister, close female companion”) + 人 (hito, “person”) or a further shift from imōto above. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
References
- 1974, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Second Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
Korean
Hanja
妹 • (mae) (hangeul 매)
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text
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Old Japanese
Etymology 1
The medial /-m-/ means "woman, female", found in a number of related terms such as 女 (me1, womi1na, “woman”), 嫗 (omi1na, “elderly woman”), and 母 (omo1, “mother”).
Noun
妹 (imo1 → imo) (kana いも)
- said from a male speaker:
- one's sister regardless of age difference
- one's lover or sweetheart who is the subject of marriage or is already married
- said from a female speaker:
- a daughter
- 711–712, Kojiki (poem 51)
- ...母登弊波岐美袁淤母比傅須恵幣波伊毛袁淤母比傅...
- ...mo2to2pe1 pa ki1mi1 wo omo2pi1de suwepe1 pa imo1 wo omo2pi1de...
- (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- 711–712, Kojiki (poem 51)
Antonyms
- 兄 (se)
Derived terms
- 妹ら (imora)
- 妹が家に (imo ga ipe1 ni, pillow word)
- 妹が髪 (imo ga *kami, pillow word)
- 妹が着る (imo ga ki1ru, pillow word)
- 妹が袖 (imo ga so1de, pillow word)
- 妹が手を (imo ga te wo, pillow word)
- 妹が紐 (imo ga pi1mo, pillow word)
- 妹が目を (imo ga me2 wo, pillow word)
- 妹許 (imogari)
- 妹に恋ひ (imo ni ko1pi2, pillow word)
- 汝妹 (nanimo1)
- 継妹 (mamaimo1)
- 吾妹 (wagi1mo1)
Descendants
- Japanese: 妹 (imo)
Etymology 2
Shift from imo1 above, due to either for poetic reasons, haplology, or reduction of vowel clusters; the latter which seen in 吾妹 (wagi1mo1).
Noun
妹 (mo1 → mo) (kana も)
Vietnamese
Han character
妹 (muội)
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text
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