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

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/

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	/ɕiᴇu^H/	/ɳɨʌ^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕiɛu^H/	/ɳiɔ^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕjæu^H/	/niɔ^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕiaw^H/	/ɳɨə̆^X/
Li Rong	/ɕiɛu^H/	/niɔ^X/
Wang Li	/ɕĭɛu^H/	/nĭo^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɕi̯ɛu^H/	/ni̯wo^X/
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	‹ syew^H ›	‹ nrjo^X ›
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

young woman; girl
(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

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

少女

Wikipedia ^ja

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])^[1]
IPA^(key): [ɕo̞ːʑo̞]

Noun

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

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

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

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”).^[2]^[1] Compare 男 (otoko, “man”), originally meaning "young boy".

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) おとめ [òtóꜜmè] (Nakadaka – [2])^[1]
IPA^(key): [o̞to̞me̞]

Noun

少(おと)女(め) • (otome)

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

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

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
少	女

Noun

少女 • (sonyeo) (hangeul 소녀)

hanja form^? of 소녀 (“girl”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
少	女

Noun

少女

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

[DJR-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-2] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[1]

[2]

少女

Contents

Chinese

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Japanese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

See also

References

Korean

Noun

Vietnamese

Noun

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少女

Chinese

Pronunciation

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Japanese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

See also

References

Korean

Noun

Vietnamese

Noun

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