女友

See also: 𡛀

Chinese

		female; woman; daughter	friend
trad. (女友)		女	友
simp. #(女友)		女	友

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): nǚyǒu

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄩˇ ㄧㄡˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): neoi⁵ jau⁵
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): lí-iú

  (Teochew, Peng'im): neng² iu²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: nǚyǒu [Phonetic: nǘyǒu]
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄩˇ ㄧㄡˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nyǔyǒu
    • Wade–Giles: nü³-yu³
    • Yale: nyǔ-yǒu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: neuyeou
    • Palladius: нюйю (njujju)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ny²¹⁴⁻³⁵ joʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: neoi⁵ jau⁵
    • Yale: néuih yáuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: noey⁵ jau⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: nêu⁵ yeo⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɵy̯¹³ jɐu̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lí-iú
    • Tâi-lô: lí-iú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lyiuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /li⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iu⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /li⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ iu⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /li⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iu⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /li⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iu⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /li⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ iu⁴¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: neng² iu²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: nṳ́ng iú
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɯŋ⁵²⁻³⁵ iu⁵²⁻²¹/

Noun

女友

1. girlfriend

   女友鬧分手／女友闹分手  ―  nǚyǒu nào fēnshǒu  ―  [the/my] girlfriend wants to break up

   約翰的女友發現了他的不忠並甩了他，原來他也有今天。 [MSC, trad.]
   约翰的女友发现了他的不忠并甩了他，原来他也有今天。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yuēhàn de nǚyǒu fāxiàn le tā de bùzhōng bìng shuǎi le tā, yuánlái tā yě yǒu jīntiān. [Pinyin]

   After discovering John's infidelity his girlfriend dumped him - in the end he really got his just deserts.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 女朋友 (“girlfriend”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		女朋友, 女友
Mandarin	Beijing	女朋友
	Taiwan	女朋友, 女友, 馬子 humorous or derogatory
	Chengdu	女娃子, 女娃娃, 女娃兒, 盤子
	Guilin	𧊅
	Xuzhou	女朋友
	Nanjing	女朋友, 攀西
	Singapore	女朋友
Cantonese	Guangzhou	女朋友, 女
	Hong Kong	女朋友, 女友, 女, 女女, 菜 derogatory
	Taishan	女朋友, 女
	Dongguan	皮油
	Singapore (Guangfu)	女朋友
Hakka	Meixian	女朋友
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	細妹朋友, 女朋友
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	細妹朋友, 女朋友
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	細妹朋友, 女朋友
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	細妹朋友, 女朋友
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	妹子朋友, 女朋友
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	女朋友
Southern Min	Xiamen	女朋友
	Shishi	女朋友
	Taipei	姼仔 GT
	Penang (Hokkien)	查某朋友
	Singapore (Hokkien)	查某朋友
	Manila (Hokkien)	女朋友, 查某朋友
	Chaozhou	女朋友
	Haifeng	女朋友
	Singapore (Teochew)	查某朋友
	Leizhou	女朋友
	Singapore (Hainanese)	女朋友
Wu	Shanghai	女朋友
	Suzhou	女朋友
	Hangzhou	女朋友
	Ningbo	女朋友
	Zhoushan	女朋友
Xiang	Changsha	妹子
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

See also

• 男友 (nányǒu)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
女	友
じょ Grade: 1	ゆう Grade: 2
kan’on

Etymology

Might be a borrowing from written Chinese 女友 (nǚyǒu, literally “woman + friend”), using the expected Japanese readings for the characters.

Not found in monolingual dictionaries.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) じょゆー [jòyúú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑo̞jɯ̟ᵝː]

Noun

女(じょ)友(ゆう) • (joyū) ^{←ぢよいう (dyoiu)?}

1. (dated, literary, rare) female friend

   Synonym: 女友達 (onna tomodachi)

   • 1912 [1881], Ishikawa Gian, Zangeroku‎^[1], translation of Les Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau, page 467:

     慕(した)はしい女(ぢよ)友(いう)はあつても、別(べつ)に愛(あい)人(じん)がなくてはならぬ。

     Shitawashii joyū wa atte mo, betsu ni aijin ga nakute wa naranu.

     Even if one has a beloved female companion, one must have also a mistress.

   • 1938 [1917], Kimura Kinji, Gēte‎^[2], translation of Goethe by Georg Simmel, page 50:

     ダルムシュタットの女(ぢよ)友(いう)は、或(あ)るものは死(し)し、或(あ)る者(もの)は結(けつ)婚(こん)して同(どう)地(ち)を去(さ)つた。

     Darumushutatto no joyū wa, aru mono wa shi shi, aru mono wa kekkon shite dōchi o satta.

     Regarding his Darmstadt ladies, some died, while some married and left the area.

   • 2011 July 31, “Kawashima Yoshiko no Chugoku Joyu wa Shō Kaiseki no supai [Chinese girlfriend of Yoshiko Kawashima was Chiang Kai-shek spy]”, in CNA‎^[3]:

     一(いっ)世(せい)を風(ふう)靡(び)した女(おんな)スパイの川(かわ)島(しま)芳(よし)子(こ)の女(じょ)友(ゆう)は上(シャン)海(ハイ)のダンシングクイーンの李(り)麗(れい)（リィリィ）で中(ちゅう)国(ごく)人(じん)のリィリィは蒋(ショウ)介(カイ)石(セキ)直(ちょく)属(ぞく)のスパイ機(き)関(かん)の総(そう)元(もと)締(じ)め戴(たい)笠(りゅう)の情(じょう)婦(ふ)であったことを中(ちゅう)国(ごく)時(じ)報(ほう)が今日(きょう)のフィチャーで明(あき)らかにした。

     Issei o fūbi shita onna supai no Kawashima Yoshiko no joyū wa Shanhai no danshingu kuīn no Ri Rei (Rī Rī) de Chūgokujin no Rī Rī wa Shō Kaiseki chokuzoku no supai kikan no sō motojime Tai Ryū no jōfu de atta koto o Chūgoku Jihō ga kyō no fichā de akiraka ni shita.

     In today's feature it is revealed that the female friend of world-dominating female spy Yoshiko Kawashima was Shanghai dancing queen Li Li, and that Li Li, who was Chinese, was a mistress of Chiang Kai-shek's direct subordinate, spy agency head Dai Li, according to China Times.