婆 pó old woman
old woman; grandmother
怎么记住“婆”: 波 waves + 女 woman = old woman. Every morning the waves roll up to the feet of the same woman, a cheerful old woman who swims in the sea all year.
部件结构
形声 · Meaning + sound
One part gives the meaning, the other gives the sound.
婆 = 波 waves + 女 woman
- 波 waves sound
- 女 woman meaning
Every morning the waves roll up to the feet of the same woman, a cheerful old woman who swims in the sea all year.
How it came to be
The woman gives the meaning and the waves give the sound.
用法
- 婆婆 (pópo) refers to a husband's mother, mother-in-law, an important term given traditional in-law dynamics.
- 外婆 (wàipó), maternal grandmother, is the standard term in southern China and Taiwan, contrasting with northern 姥姥.
- 老婆 (lǎopo) is the casual, everyday word a husband uses for "my wife", warmer than the formal 妻子.
- The character on its own simply means "old woman", but it almost always appears bound in these kinship terms.