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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

您

/nin³⁵/
you (usually singular, may be plural)
  • Ideogrammatic compound 會意
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 心
  • 11 strokes

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Origin

您 is an ideogrammic compound formed from 你 (you) and 心 (heart). While 心 provides semantic meaning, it may also phonetically signify the original -m ending. The character was not listed in Sui or Tang rhyme books and was first attested in Jin/Yuan-era literature, where it was also written as 恁 and was probably pronounced as *nim.

This pronoun is generally thought to be a fusion of 你們 (nǐmen) or 你每 (nǐměi). Its honorific usage may be a development of this plural usage, similar to the relationship between English 'you' and French 'vous.' Other theories suggest it is a contraction of 你老 (/ni lau/ → /nil/ → /nin/) or that it derives from the honorific 仁 (nyin) used in Han dynasty Buddhist texts. In Cantonese and Hakka, the character is read as 你, while in Teochew, it is read as 汝.

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

「您」最早見於晉元時期的文獻，當時也寫作「恁」，當時的讀音可能為 *nim。這個代詞在當時可用於單數或複數。關於其複數來源，一般認為是「你們」或「你每」的融合，類似於「怹」是由「他們」演變而來。在粵語與客語中，此字直接讀作「你」；潮州話則讀作「汝」。

在用法上，「您」是第二人稱的敬稱，多用於長輩，有時也用於平輩，但不適用於晚輩，且可泛指「你們」。關於敬稱用法的起源，有幾種可能的說法：一種認為是從複數用法發展而來；另一種觀點認為它是「你老」的縮寫，由 /ni lau/ 演變為 /nil/ 再到 /nin/；也有學者建議它可能源自漢代佛教文獻中使用的敬稱「仁」（MC nyin）。

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

Lineage

  • ideaChinese你 “you (the person spoken to or written to)”
    • meaningChinese人 “man; person; people (Classifier: 個／个 m c; 隻／只 h)”
    • soundChinese尔 “you”
  • ideaChinese心 “heart (Classifier: 顆／颗 m; 個／个 c; 粒 mn)”
Wiktionary etymology text

Ideogrammic compound (會意 /会意): 你 (“you”) + 心 (“heart”). 心 (MC sim) may also phonetically signify the original -m ending (Yuan et al., 1996).

This character was not listed in Sui/Tang rhyme books. First attested in Jin/Yuan-era literature, when it was also written as 恁 and probably pronounced as *nim at the time (Lü, 1940; Norman, 1988). The pronoun was used both in the singular and the plural.

The pronoun used in Jin/Yuan-era literature is generally thought to be a fusion of 你們／你们 (nǐmen, “you (plural)”) or 你每 (nǐměi, “you (plural)”) (Lü, 1940; Norman, 1988). Compare 怹 (tān, “he, she (polite)”) ( < 他們／他们 (tāmen, “they”)).

The honorific usage may simply be a development of the plural usage (Norman, 1988); compare English you, French vous. However, others have argued for a different etymology for the honorific pronoun. Wang (1984) and Lü (1985) argue that it is a contraction of 你老 (“you (honorific for seniors)”): /ni lau/ → /nil/ → /nin/. Alternatively, Zhang (2001) suggests that it comes from 仁 (MC nyin), an honorific used in Buddhist texts from the Han dynasty.

In Cantonese and Hakka, this character is simply read as 你; in Teochew, it is read as 汝.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. you (usually singular, may be plural)
  2. you (plural)
  3. thou; you (singular)

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 第二人稱你的敬稱。多用於長輩，對平輩有時可用，對晚輩則不適用，亦泛指你們。 例：天冷了，您老人家要保重身體。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 您