婆

婆 U+5A46, 婆 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5A46 ← 婅 [U+5A45] CJK Unified Ideographs 婇 → [U+5A47]

Translingual

Han character

婆 (radical 38, 女+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 水水女 (EEV), four-corner 3440₄, composition ⿱波女)

Derived characters

• 嘙, 𫾀, 𪳪, 𡼃, 蔢

References

• KangXi: page 264, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6390
• Dae Jaweon: page 530, character 26
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1061, character 11
• Unihan data for U+5A46

---

Chinese

simp. and trad.		婆

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (皮) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
陂	*pral, *prals
詖	*pral, *prals
彼	*pralʔ
柀	*pralʔ
佊	*pralʔ, *prals
貱	*prals
跛	*prals, *paːlʔ
披	*pʰral, *pʰralʔ
鈹	*pʰral
帔	*pʰral, *pʰrals
鮍	*pʰral
耚	*pʰral
狓	*pʰral
翍	*pʰral
旇	*pʰral, *brals
秛	*pʰral, *pʰrals
紴	*pʰralʔ, *paːl
皮	*bral
疲	*bral
被	*bralʔ, *brals
髲	*brals
鞁	*brals
骳	*mbralʔ
波	*paːl
碆	*paːl, *baːl
菠	*paːl
簸	*paːlʔ, *paːls
駊	*paːlʔ, *pʰaːlʔ
頗	*pʰaːl, *pʰaːlʔ, *pʰaːls
坡	*pʰaːl
玻	*pʰaːl
破	*pʰaːls
婆	*baːl
蔢	*baːl

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *baːl): phonetic 波 (OC *paːl) + semantic 女 (“woman”).

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *pʷa-n ~ *bʷa-n (“grandmother”). Cognate with Burmese ဘွာ (bhwa, “grandmother”) (STEDT).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): pó (po²)

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄛˊ

  (Chengdu, SP): po²

• Cantonese (Jyutping): po⁴, po^4-2
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): phò
• Jin (Wiktionary): pe¹
• Min Bei (KCR): bǒ̤
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): pô / pô͘

  (Teochew, Peng'im): pua⁵ / bo⁵

• Wu (Wiktionary): bu (T3)

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: pó
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄛˊ
    • Wade–Giles: pʻo2
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: por
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pó
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰwɔ³⁵/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: po²
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: po
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰo²¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: po⁴, po^4-2
    • Yale: pòh, pó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: po⁴, po^4-2
    • Guangdong Romanization: po⁴, po²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɔː²¹/, /pʰɔː²¹⁻³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: phò
    • Hakka Romanization System: poˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: po²
    • Sinological IPA: /pʰo¹¹/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: pe¹
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /pʰxɤ¹¹/
• Min Bei
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: bǒ̤
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɔ²¹/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pô
    • Tâi-lô: pô
    • Phofsit Daibuun: pooi
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /po¹³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /pɤ²³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei): /po²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pô͘
    • Tâi-lô: pôo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: poo
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pɔ²⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: pua⁵ / bo⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: phuâ / pô
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰua⁵⁵/, /po⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: bu (T3)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /b̻v̩ʷ²³/

---

• Dialectal data

Variety	Location	edit 婆
Mandarin	Beijing	/pʰo³⁵/
	Harbin	/pʰɤ²⁴/
	Tianjin	/pʰo⁴⁵/
	Jinan	/pʰə⁴²/
	Qingdao	/pʰə⁴²/
	Zhengzhou	/pʰo⁴²/
	Xi'an	/pʰo²⁴/ ～娘 /pʰo⁴⁴/ 丈夫母親
	Xining	/pʰɔ²⁴/
	Yinchuan	/pʰuə⁵³/
	Lanzhou	/pʰə⁵³/
	Ürümqi	/pʰɤ⁵¹/
	Wuhan	/pʰo²¹³/
	Chengdu	/pʰo³¹/
	Guiyang	/pʰo²¹/
	Kunming	/pʰo³¹/
	Nanjing	/pʰo²⁴/
	Hefei	/pʰʊ⁵⁵/
Jin	Taiyuan	/pʰɤ¹¹/
	Pingyao	/pʰɔ¹³/ /pei¹³/ 老～
	Hohhot	/pʰɤ³¹/
Wu	Shanghai	/bu²³/
	Suzhou	/bu¹³/
	Hangzhou	/bo²¹³/
	Wenzhou	/bøy³¹/
Hui	Shexian	/pʰo⁴⁴/
	Tunxi	/pʰo⁴⁴/
Xiang	Changsha	/po¹³/
	Xiangtan	/bo¹²/
Gan	Nanchang	/pʰo²⁴/
Hakka	Meixian	/pʰo¹¹/
	Taoyuan	/pʰo¹¹/
Cantonese	Guangzhou	/pʰɔ²¹/
	Nanning	/pʰɔ²¹/
	Hong Kong	/pʰɔ²¹/
Min	Xiamen (Min Nan)	/po³⁵/
	Fuzhou (Min Dong)	/po⁵³/
	Jian'ou (Min Bei)	/pɔ²¹/ /pɔ³³/ 賤
	Shantou (Min Nan)	/pʰua⁵⁵/ /po⁵⁵/
	Haikou (Min Nan)	/fo³¹/ /ʔbo³¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: /buɑ/

Rime
Character	婆
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)
Final (韻)	戈 (95)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	I
Fanqie	薄波切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/buɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/buɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/buɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/bwa/
Li Rong	/buɑ/
Wang Li	/buɑ/
Bernard Karlgren	/bʱuɑ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	pó

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[b]ˤa[j]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*baːl/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	婆
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	pó
Middle Chinese	‹ ba ›
Old Chinese	/*[b]ˁa[j]/
English	婆娑 saunter, dance
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	婆
Reading #	1/1
No.	9734
Phonetic component	皮
Rime group	歌
Rime subdivision	1
Corresponding MC rime	婆
Old Chinese	/*baːl/
Notes	爾雅用於婆娑， 廣韻老母乃如集韻同媻

Definitions

婆

1. old woman
2. grandmother
3. mother-in-law (of a woman); husband's mother
4. woman in a particular profession
5. pejorative suffix for a woman

Usage notes

In transcriptions of Buddhist terms, 婆 (MC buɑ) is often used to transcribe Sanskrit ब (ba), भ (bha) and व (va).

Compounds

Derived terms from 婆

• 一片婆心
• 三姑六婆 (sāngūliùpó)
• 三婆
• 三婆二婦／三婆二妇
• 丑婆子
• 主人婆
• 乞婆
• 事頭婆／事头婆
• 伯婆 (bópó)
• 伯爺婆／伯爷婆
• 偷婆娘
• 優婆塞／优婆塞 (yōupósè)
• 優婆夷／优婆夷
• 兩公婆／两公婆
• 八婆 (bāpó)
• 公公婆婆
• 公央婆
• 公婆 (gōngpó)
• 助產婆／助产婆
• 叔婆 (shūpó)
• 土地婆
• 坐婆
• 外婆 (wàipó)
• 夜叉婆
• 大嬸婆／大婶婆
• 大腳婆娘／大脚婆娘
• 太婆 (tàipó)
• 妹仔大過主人婆／妹仔大过主人婆
• 姑婆 (gūpó)
• 姑婆芋
• 姨婆 (yípó)
• 娑婆 (suōpó)
• 娑婆世界
• 娘婆
• 婆兒／婆儿
• 婆兒氣／婆儿气
• 婆姨 (póyí)
• 婆娑 (pósuō)
• 婆娑起舞

• 婆娘 (póniáng)
• 婆娘子
• 婆婆 (pópo)
• 婆婆媽媽／婆婆妈妈 (pópomāma)
• 婆婆慢慢
• 婆媳 (póxí)
• 婆媽／婆妈
• 婆子 (pózi)
• 婆子口舌
• 婆家 (pójiā)
• 婆心
• 婆羅／婆罗 (Póluó)
• 婆老
• 婆那娑
• 媒婆 (méipó)
• 媽祖婆／妈祖婆
• 嬸婆／婶婆 (shěnpó)
• 孟婆 (Mèngpó)
• 家主婆
• 小老婆子
• 岐婆
• 巫婆 (wūpó)
• 師婆／师婆 (shīpó)
• 床公床婆
• 後堯婆／后尧婆
• 接生婆 (jiēshēngpó)
• 攙扶婆／搀扶婆
• 支婆
• 收生婆 (shōushēngpó)
• 春夢婆／春梦婆
• 歹婆娘
• 毗婆尸佛
• 毗舍婆佛
• 毘婆沙部
• 活閃婆／活闪婆
• 浪婆
• 湯婆／汤婆 (tāngpó)
• 漁婆／渔婆
• 牙婆 (yápó)

• 產婆／产婆 (chǎnpó)
• 產婆術／产婆术
• 男人婆 (nánrénpó)
• 神婆 (shénpó)
• 穩婆／稳婆 (wěnpó)
• 管家婆
• 綽板婆／绰板婆
• 老令婆
• 老太婆 (lǎotàipó)
• 老婆 (lǎopo)
• 老子婆娑
• 老虔婆
• 肥婆
• 腳婆／脚婆
• 苦口婆心 (kǔkǒupóxīn)
• 蘋婆／苹婆 (píngpó)
• 虎姑婆
• 虔婆 (qiánpó)
• 虔婆勢／虔婆势
• 衰婆
• 豬婆龍／猪婆龙
• 賣婆／卖婆
• 跟婆
• 道婆
• 醫婆／医婆
• 阿婆 (āpó)
• 雞婆／鸡婆 (jīpó)
• 頻婆／频婆 (pínpó)
• 風婆婆／风婆婆
• 養婆娘／养婆娘
• 鬼婆 (guǐpó)
• 麻婆
• 麻婆豆腐 (mápó dòufu)
• 黃婆／黄婆
• 黃臉婆／黄脸婆 (huángliǎnpó)
• 黃道婆／黄道婆
• 鼙婆
• 龜婆／龟婆 (guīpó)

---

Japanese

Kanji

婆

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: ば (ba, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: は (ha)
• Tō-on: ほ (ho)
• Kun: ばあ (bā, 婆); ばば (baba, 婆)

Compounds

Compounds

• 婆(ば)伽(が)婆(ば) (bagaba), 婆(ば)伽(ぎゃ)婆(ば) (bagyaba)
• 婆(ば)娑(さ) (basa)
• 婆(ば)娑(さ)羅(ら) (basara), 婆(ば)娑(しゃ)羅(ら) (bashara)
• 婆(バ)婆(バ)鰈(ガレイ) (babagarei)
• 婆(バ)羅(ラ)門(モン) (baramon, “brahmin”)
• 悪(あく)婆(ば) (akuba)
• 産(さん)婆(ば) (sanba)
• 奪(だつ)衣(え)婆(ば), 脱(だつ)衣(え)婆(ば) (datsueba)
• 娑(しゃ)婆(ば) (shaba)
• 卒(そ)塔(と)婆(ば) (sotoba, “stupa”)
• 薩(そ)婆(わ)訶(か) (sowaka, “svāhā”)
• 転(てん)婆(ば) (tenba)
  • お転(てん)婆(ば), 御(お)転(てん)婆(ば) (otenba)
• 湯(ゆ)湯(たん)婆(ぽ) (yutanpo, “hot water bottle”)
• 老(ろう)婆(ば) (rōba)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
婆
ばば Grade: S
kun’yomi

Possibly a reduplication of 姥 (uba, “old woman”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) ば​ば [báꜜbà] (Atamadaka – [1])
  • IPA^(key): [ba̠ba̠]

Noun

婆(ばば) • (baba) 

1. an elderly woman, old woman

   Synonyms: 老女 (rōjo), 老婆 (rōba)

   Antonym: 爺 (jiji)

2. (card games) Old Maid

Derived terms

Derived terms

• お婆(ばあ)さん (obāsan)
• 悪(あく)婆(ばば) (akubaba)
• 梅(うめ)干(ぼし)婆(ばば) (umeboshi baba)
• 火(か)車(しゃ)婆(ばば) (kasha baba)
• 鎌(かま)婆(ばば) (kamababa)
• 子(こ)取(と)り婆(ばば) (kotoribaba)
• 狸(たぬき)婆(ばば) (tanukibaba)
• 猫(ねこ)股(また)婆(ばば) (nekomata baba)
• 灸(やいと)の婆(ばば) (yaito no baba)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
婆
ばばあ Grade: S
Irregular

/baba/ → /babaː/

Alteration of baba above.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
  • (Tokyo) ばば​あ [bàbáꜜà] (Nakadaka – [2])
  • IPA^(key): [ba̠ba̠ː]

Noun

婆(ばばあ) • (babā) 

1. an elderly woman, old woman

   Antonym: 爺 (jijī)

2. (colloquial) a complaint, grumbling

   Synonym: 愚痴 (guchi)

Derived terms

• 狸(たぬき)婆(ばばあ) (tanukibabā)

See also

• 祖母(ばば) (baba, “grandmother”)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
婆
ば Grade: S
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 婆 (MC buɑ).

Pronunciation

• On’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [ba̠]

Affix

婆(ば) • (ba) 

1. old woman, crone
2. Used in Sanskrit transliterations

---

Korean

Hanja

婆 • (pa) (hangeul 파, revised pa, McCune–Reischauer p'a)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

---

Vietnamese

Han character

婆 (bà)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.