姉

See also: 姊 and 姐

姉 U+59C9, 姉 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-59C9 ← 姈 [U+59C8] CJK Unified Ideographs 姊 → [U+59CA]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

姉 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 女十月 (VJB) or 女卜中月 (VYLB), composition ⿰女巿 (GH) or ⿰女市 (TJKV))

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 258, character 14
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6165
• Dae Jaweon: page 523, character 21
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1029, character 16
• Unihan data for U+59C9

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 姉
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : semantic 女 (“female”) + phonetic 市 (OC *djɯʔ). The character conveys the meaning of "older sister."

Definitions

For pronunciation and definitions of 姉 – see 姊 (“elder sister; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 姊).

Japanese

Kanji

姉

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. older sister

Readings

• Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kun: あね (ane, 姉, Jōyō)、あねえ (anē, 姉)、あんねえ (annē, 姉)、いね (ine, 姉)、ねえ (nē, 姉)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
姉
あね Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
姐 姊

From Old Japanese of unclear derivation:

• Probably originally a compound of 吾 (a, Eastern Old Japanese first-person pronoun) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 兄 (ye → e, “eldest sibling”):

  ⟨a no₂ ye⟩ → */anʉʲɨe/ → /ane/

This word is an apophonic form of 兄 (ani, “elder brother”).

• Several other theories have also been suggested.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あね [àné] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ne̞]

Coordinate terms

• 兄(あに) (ani, “elder brother”)
• 弟(おとうと) (otōto, “younger brother”)
• 妹(いもうと) (imōto, “younger sister”)

Noun

姉(あね) • (ane) 

1. elder sister

Usage notes

• This term conveys neither positive nor negative connotations and is often used in objective narrations. However, using it to describe someone the speaker knows personally is often considered lacking respect, where more polite forms like お姉(ねえ)さん (onēsan) are preferred.

Synonyms

• お姉(ねえ)さん (onēsan)
• お姉(ねえ)ちゃん (onēchan)

Coordinate terms

• 兄(あに) (ani, “elder brother”)
• 弟(おとうと) (otōto, “younger brother”)
• 妹(いもうと) (imōto, “younger sister”)

Korean

Hanja

姉 (eumhun 손윗누이 자 (sonwinnu'i ja))

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Compounds

• 姉妹學校(자매학교) (jamaehakgyo)
• 姉妹新聞(자매신문) (jamaesinmun)
• 姉妹會社(자매회사) (jamaehoesa)
• 姉妹校(자매교) (jamaegyo)
• 姉妹機關(자매기관) (jamaegigwan)
• 姉妹篇(자매편) (jamaepyeon)
• 姉妹結緣(자매결연) (jamaegyeoryeon)
• 姉妹船(자매선) (jamaeseon)
• 姉妹語(자매어) (jamaeeo)
• 姉妹(자매) (jamae)

 

References

• Naver Hanja Dictionary: 姉

Miyako

Kanji

姉

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

• Kun: あんが (anga, 姉)

Noun

姉(あんが) (anga) 

1. older sister

Vietnamese

Nom glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : semantic 女 (nữ, “woman”) + phonetic 市 (thị)

Han character

姉: Hán Việt readings: tỷ
姉: Nôm readings: chị

Noun

1. Nôm form of chị (“elder sister, corresponding pronoun”).
   • 1820, Nguyễn Du, Truyện Kiều (傳翹) [The Tale of Kieu], published 1870, line 16:

     翠(Thuý)翹(Kiều)羅(là)姉(chị)㛪(em)羅(là)翠(Thuý)雲(Vân)

     Kiều Thuý was the elder sister; Vân Thuý, the younger.

   • 18th–19th century, Hồ Xuân Hương (胡春香), “Đề tranh tố nữ (題幀素女) [On a Portrait of Two Beauties]”, in John Balaban, transl., Spring Essence: The Poetry of Hồ Xuân Hương, Copper Canyon Press (book), also hosted by Nôm Foundation (online), published 2000, pages 50-51:

     姉(Chị)拱(cũng)𦎡(xinh)𦓡(mà)㛪(em)拱(cũng)𦎡(xinh)

     Big and little sister, equally lovely.