少女

Chinese

		young; few; little young; few; little; lack	female; woman; daughter
trad. (少女)		少	女
simp. #(少女)		少	女

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shàonǚ

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu³ neoi⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): seu-ńg
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siàu-lír / siàu-lú / siàu-lí

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shàonǚ
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shàonyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: shao⁴-nü³
    • Yale: shàu-nyǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shawneu
    • Palladius: шаонюй (šaonjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑʊ̯⁵¹ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu³ neoi⁵
    • Yale: siu néuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu³ noey⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu³ nêu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³³ nɵy̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: seu-ńg
    • Hakka Romanization System: seu ng^ˋ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: seu⁴ ng³
    • Sinological IPA: /seu̯⁵⁵ ŋ̍³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siàu-lír
    • Tâi-lô: siàu-lír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siau⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ lɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Taipei, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siàu-lú
    • Tâi-lô: siàu-lú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siaoluo
    • IPA (Taipei): /siau¹¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /siau²¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siàu-lí
    • Tâi-lô: siàu-lí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siaolie
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /siau²¹⁻⁵³ li⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /siau²¹⁻⁴¹ li⁴¹/

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• Middle Chinese: syewH nrjoX

Rime
Character	少	女
Reading #	2/2	1/2
Initial (聲)	書 (26)	娘 (12)
Final (韻)	宵 (91)	魚 (22)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	失照切	尼吕切
Baxter	syewH	nrjoX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕiᴇuH/	/ɳɨʌX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕiɛuH/	/ɳiɔX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕjæuH/	/niɔX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕiawH/	/ɳɨə̆X/
Li Rong	/ɕiɛuH/	/niɔX/
Wang Li	/ɕĭɛuH/	/nĭoX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ɕi̯ɛuH/	/ni̯woX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shào	nǚ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	siu3	neoi5

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[s-t]ewʔ-s  nraʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*hmjews  naʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	少	女
Reading #	2/2	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shào	nǚ
Middle Chinese	‹ syewH ›	‹ nrjoX ›
Old Chinese	/*[s-t]ewʔ-s/	/*nraʔ/
English	young	female
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	少	女
Reading #	2/2	1/2
No.	13708	9616
Phonetic component	小	女
Rime group	宵	魚
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	少
Old Chinese	/*hmjews/	/*naʔ/

Noun

少女

1. young woman; girl
2. (Classical) youngest daughter

Synonyms

• (young woman): 女郎 (nǚláng)

Derived terms

• 少女嫩婦／少女嫩妇 (shàonǚ nènfù)
• 少女情懷／少女情怀
• 少女時代／少女时代
• 少女風／少女风 (shàonǚfēng)
• 魔法少女 (mófǎ shàonǚ)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (少女):

• → Japanese: 少(しょう)女(じょ) (shōjo)
• → Korean: 소녀(少女) (sonyeo)
• → Vietnamese: thiếu nữ (少女)

Japanese

Etymology 1

少女 (shōjo): a girl holding a puppy.

Kanji in this term
少	女
しょう Grade: 2	じょ Grade: 1
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese compound 少女 (MC syewX|syewH nrjoX|nrjoH). Compare modern Mandarin 少女 (shàonǚ).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しょーじょ [shóꜜòjò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːʑo̞]

Noun

少(しょう)女(じょ) • (shōjo) ^{←せうぢよ (seudyo)?}

1. a (young, little) girl
2. (anime, manga) a style of anime and manga made for young women, shojo

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 少女歌劇(しょうじょかげき) (shōjo kageki): a kind of traditional Japanese light drama with no male actors and mostly young girls playing the parts
• 少女趣味(しょうじょしゅみ) (shōjo shumi): hobbies or interests common to young girls
• 少女時代(しょうじょじだい) (shōjo jidai): girlhood, one's girlhood

See also

See also

• 子供(こども) (kodomo): child
• 処女(しょじょ) (shojo): a female virgin, a maiden
• 女性(じょせい) (josei): the feminine gender; female; woman
• 少年(しょうねん) (shōnen): young boy
• 青年(せいねん) (seinen): young man
• 男性(だんせい) (dansei): the masculine gender; male; man

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
少	女
おと Grade: 2	め Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
乙女

From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of 乙 (oto, “young, little”) +‎ 女 (me, “female, girl”). Compare 男 (otoko, “man”), originally meaning "young boy".

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おとめ [òtóꜜmè] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [o̞to̞me̞]

Noun

少(おと)女(め) • (otome) 

1. a young woman, adult but unmarried: a maiden
2. a girl
3. a female virgin
4. (mythology) a celestial maiden, a fairy, a nymph
5. (Shinto) a young woman dancer performing at the 五節 (Gosechi) ceremony in the eleventh lunar month

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 少女(おとめ)さび (otomesabi): behavior appropriate to an adult unmarried woman
• 少女(おとめ)の頭(かしら) (otome no kashira): alternate term for 萱藻海苔, カヤモノリ (kayamonori), a type of sea vegetable in order Ectocarpales (syn. Scytosiphonales), of class Phaeophyceae (brown algae), used to make nori
• 少女子(おとめこ) (otomeko): an unmarried young woman; a girl or young woman who dances kagura at a shrine; a miko
• 少女心(おとめごころ) (otomegokoro): a girl's innocence, a girl's sensitive nature
• 少女文楽(おとめぶんらく) (otome bunraku): a kind of one-person puppet show performed by girls or young women
• 少女巫(おとめみこ) (otome miko): a female miko

See also

• 男(おとこ) (otoko): a man

Korean

Hanja in this term
少	女

Noun

少女 • (sonyeo) (hangeul 소녀)

1. hanja form^? of 소녀 (“girl”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
少	女

Noun

少女

1. chữ Hán form of thiếu nữ (“young woman; girl”).