姐 is a Chinese character with HSK 1 on the new exam.
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
姐 is a phono-semantic compound with 女 'woman' as semantic and 且 as phonetic. It is not attested in oracle-bone script; the component 且 on its own appears as a pictograph of an ancestral tablet in very old inscriptions, but its use as a phonetic in 姐 is a later development. The character was originally a regional or colloquial term for mother before shifting to its modern sense.
Form evolution
Seal-script forms of 姐 pair a rounded 女 on the left with 且 on the right, the latter drawn as stacked horizontal tablets. Clerical script regularised both components into the squared shape that standard 楷书 retains. No simplification has been applied; traditional and simplified forms are the same.
How the meaning evolved
In older Chinese 姐 could mean 'mother', a usage preserved in the Shuowen Jiezi gloss and in some southern topolects. The shift to 'elder sister' happened in the medieval period, possibly through kinship-term generalisation, and by the Ming dynasty the modern sense was dominant. Today the original 'mother' meaning survives only in fossilised regional speech.
Cultural note
姐 also functions as a polite address for any young or youngish woman, as in 小姐 and 空姐. The term 小姐 has shifted politeness register sharply in mainland usage over recent decades and can now be ambiguous or impolite depending on region, which often surprises learners.
Basic info
Example sentences
Words containing 姐
On the new HSK 1 exam
Studying for HSK 1? Keep 姐 with the rest of your level.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.