妹
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Translingual
Han character
妹 (Kangxi radical 38, 女+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 女十木 (VJD), four-corner 45490, composition ⿰女未)
| Stroke order | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
References
- Kangxi Dictionary: page 257, character 28
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6138
- Dae Jaweon: page 522, character 23
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1034, character 6
- Unihan data for U+59B9
Chinese
| trad. | 妹 | |
|---|---|---|
| simp. # | 妹 | |
Glyph origin
| Historical forms of the character 妹 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Shang | Western Zhou | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) |
| Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Small seal script |
 |
 |
 |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, 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
- 乾妹妹／干妹妹
- 令妹 (lìngmèi)
- 伊妹 (yīmèi)
- 伊妹兒／伊妹儿 (yīmèir, “(humorous, obsolete) email”)
- 你妹 (nǐmèi, “(Mandarin) my arse”)
- 兄妹 (xiōngmèi)
- 兄弟姐妹 (xiōngdì jiěmèi, “brothers and sisters”)
- 內妹／内妹
- 十姊妹 (shízǐmèi)
- 嘉麗妹妹／嘉丽妹妹
- 堂妹 (tángmèi)
- 堂姊妹
- 大陸妹／大陆妹 (dàlùmèi)
- 太妹 (tàimèi)
- 女妹
- 妹丈 (mèizhàng)
- 妹仔
- 妹夫 (mèifū)
- 妹妹 (“younger sister”)
- 姊妹 (“sisters”)
- 姐妹 (jiěmèi, “sisters”)
- 妻姊妹婚
- 姊妹市 (zǐmèishì)
- 姊妹校
- 姊妹盟
- 姐妹花 (jiěmèihuā)
- 姊妹行
- 妹婿 (mèixù)
- 妹子 (mèizi)
- 妹紙／妹纸 (mèizhǐ)
- 姨妹 (yímèi)
- 學生妹／学生妹
- 小妹 (xiǎomèi, “(Min Nan) younger sister”)
- 師妹／师妹 (shīmèi)
- 弟妹 (dìmèi)
- 恐龍妹／恐龙妹 (kǒnglóngmèi)
- 手帕姊妹
- 把妹 (bǎmèi)
- 架妹
- 歸妹／归妹 (guīmèi)
- 祭妹文
- 細妹／细妹 (“(dialectal) younger sister”)
- 老姐妹兒／老姐妹儿
- 胞妹 (bāomèi)
- 胞姊妹
- 花小妹
- 蘇小妹／苏小妹
- 蜆妹／蚬妹
- 表妹 (biǎomèi)
- 表姐妹 (biǎojiěmèi)
- 辣妹 (làmèi, “hot babe”)
- 酷妹
- 鍾馗嫁妹／钟馗嫁妹
- 阿妹 (āmèi, “(Wu) younger sister”)
- 香火姊妹
- 鬼妹 (guǐmèi, “(Cantonese) a Caucasian girl”)
- 鹹水妹／咸水妹 (xiánshuǐmèi)
Descendants
- → Thai: หมวย (mǔai, “younger sister”) (said by Chinese ethnicity)
References
- “妹”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database), 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
Japanese
Readings
Compounds
Etymology 1
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 妹 |
| いも Grade: 2 |
| kun’yomi |
⟨imo1⟩ → */imʷo/ → /imo/
From Old Japanese 妹 (imo1). First cited in the Kojiki of 712.[1]
Speculatively, may be related to terms such as 女 (me1, womi1na, “woman”), 嫗 (omi1na, “elderly woman”), and 母 (omo1, “mother”), wherein the medial /-m-/ appears to signify woman, female.[1] However, the difference in vowel values presents a difficulty.
Noun
妹 • (imo)
- (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
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 妹 |
| いもうと Grade: 2 |
/imo ɸito/ → /imowito/ → */imowuto/ → /imoːto/
Originally a compound of 妹 (imo, “sister, close female companion”) + 人 (hito, “person”).[1][2][3][4] First cited in The Tales of Ise of the early 900s.[1]
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 • (imōto)
- one's own younger sister
- Antonym: 姉 (ane, “older sister”)
- 2005 January 10, Izawa, Hiroshi with Yamada, Kotaro, “第34話 復讐の槍”, 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‼
- 2014 January 17, Ōima Yoshitoki, “第14話 西宮結絃”, in 聲の形, volume 2 (fiction), Tokyo: Kodansha, →ISBN, page 60:
- 永束君 「少年」じゃない…西宮の妹だってよ
- Nagatsuka-kun “Shōnen” ja nai… Nishimiya no imōto da tte yo
- Nagatsuka-kun. That's not a "boy"… Nishimiya said that's her sister.
- 永束君 「少年」じゃない…西宮の妹だってよ
- 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, rōmaji imo')
- (Kagoshima) younger sister
Derived terms
Etymology 3
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 妹 |
| いもと Grade: 2 |
| irregular |
Analyzed as a shortening of imōto, itself a compound 妹 (imo, “sister, close female companion”) + 人 (hito, “person”).[1][3][4][6]
Appears in The Tale of Heiji, written around the mid-12th century.[3] May be much older, as this reading is also included in kun'yomi glosses for the Nihon Shoki of 720 (although the manuscripts with the glosses themselves are not as old).[1]
References
- “妹”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
- 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- “妹”, in デジタル大辞泉 (Dejitaru Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
- 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
- 1998, 広辞苑 (Kōjien), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
Old Japanese
Etymology 1
Speculatively, may be related to terms such as 女 (me1, womi1na, “woman”), 嫗 (omi1na, “elderly woman”), and 母 (omo1, “mother”), wherein the medial /-m-/ appears to signify woman, female.[1] However, the difference in vowel values presents a difficulty.
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 quotation)
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
Shortening of imo1,[1][2][3] due possibly to poetic reasons, haplology, or a reduction of vowel clusters to avoid hiatus, which was phonologically prohibited in Old Japanese. This hiatus avoidance is also seen in 吾妹 (wagi1mo1), which would otherwise have been wa ga imo1.
Noun
妹 (mo1 → mo) (kana も)
Etymology 3
Eastern dialectal variant of imo1.[1]
Noun
妹 (imu) (kana いむ)
References
- “妹”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
- “妹”, in デジタル大辞泉 (Dejitaru Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
- 1998, 広辞苑 (Kōjien), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN