Chinese

你

nǐ
you (the person spoken to or written to)
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 人
  • 7 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
React Flow

點擊節點放大 · Click a node to zoom in

Origin

The character 你 is a phono-semantic compound. It consists of the semantic component 人, meaning person, and the phonetic component 尔, meaning you. It is also described as an ideogrammic compound of these same two elements.

This form is a colloquial version of 爾, which has been attested since the Tang dynasty. The character is inherited from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *na-ŋ. In some contexts, it functions as a contraction of 你嘅 (ngi2 gê4, “your”).

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「你」是一個形聲字，由表示意義的「亻」（人）與表示聲音的「尔」組成。也有說法認為它是會意字，由「人」與「尔」構成。此字在唐代時已作為「爾」的口語形式出現。

從來源來看，「你」繼承自原始漢藏語的 *na-ŋ。此外，「你」也可以是「你嘅」（ngi2 gê4）的縮寫，意指「你的」。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • inherited (ultimately)Proto-Sino-Tibetan*na-ŋ “you”
  • meaningChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”
  • soundChinese尔 “you”

Words built on it: 您, 你們

Wiktionary etymology text
Etymology 1

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *nɯʔ): semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 尔 (OC *njelʔ). Alternatively, Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 人 (“person”) + 尔 (“you”)

Colloquial form of 爾 (OC *njelʔ, “you”) attested since the Tang dynasty. Ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *na-ŋ (“you”).

Etymology 2

Contraction of 你嘅 (ngi2 gê4, “your”).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources