(nī) - girl, lass (chiefly northern dialect) in Mandarin
nīTraditional: 妮
Translation
girl, lass (chiefly northern dialect)
Word origin
Phono-semantic: 女 (nǚ, woman) beside 尼 (ní, phonetic). The meaning has always been a girl or young maidservant.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- 女 (nǚ, woman) + 尼 (ní, phonetic)
Stroke order
妮
Examples
。
This little lass is really quick-witted.
。
In northern speech a little girl is called a 妮子.
。
The girl next door started university this year.
。
Her Chinese name has the character 妮 in it.
。
Annie is her favourite English name.
妮 (nī) means a girl, and it almost never stands alone. In northern speech it appears as 妮子, a warm and slightly rustic word for a young girl, roughly where lass sits in British English.
Its other life is purely phonetic. It supplies the ni sound in transcribed names, which is where most learners meet it first: 安妮 (Annie), 珍妮 (Jenny), 妮可 (Nicole). There it means nothing at all.
The trap is treating it as a general word for girl. It is not neutral: it is regional, affectionate and a bit folksy. For the everyday word use 女孩 or 姑娘, and keep 妮 for names and for northern colour.
Where this fits
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Go to my review queueMandarin · Free printables
妮: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "妮" (girl, lass (chiefly northern dialect)): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
Free for members
The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.
Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 56.