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

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

  • 嘙, 𫾀, 𪳪, 𡼃, 蔢
  • Kangxi Dictionary: 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

trad. simp. #

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

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

  1. old woman
  2. grandmother
  3. mother-in-law (of a woman); husband’s mother 公gōng ― parents-in-law (of a woman) 媳 ― mother-in-law and daughter-in-law
  4. woman in a particular profession 媒méi ― female matchmaker
  5. pejorative suffix for a woman 肥féi ― fat woman
  6. (ACG, neologism) Short for 老婆 (lǎopo, “wife”)

In transcriptions of Buddhist terms, 婆 (MC ba) is often used to transcribe Sanskrit (ba), (bha) and (va), e.g. 濕婆 / 湿婆 (Shīpó, “Shiva”).

(Jōyō kanji)

  • Go-on: (ba, Jōyō)
  • Kan-on: (ha)
  • Tō-on: (ho)
  • Kun: ばあ (bā, )、ばば (baba, )

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

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

  • (Tokyo) ばば [báꜜbà] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
  • IPA(key): [ba̠ba̠]

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

Kanji in this term 婆 ばばあGrade: S irregular

/baba/ → /babaː/

Alteration of baba above.

  • (Tokyo) ばばあ [bàbáꜜà] (Nakadaka – [2])[1]
  • IPA(key): [ba̠ba̠ː]

婆(ばばあ) • (babā)

  1. an elderly woman, old woman Antonym: 爺 (jijī)
  2. (colloquial) a complaint, grumbling Synonym: 愚痴 (guchi)
  • 狸(たぬき)婆(ばばあ) (tanukibabā)
  • 祖母(ばば) (baba, “grandmother”)

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

From Middle Chinese 婆 (MC ba).

  • IPA(key): [ba̠]

婆(ば) • (ba)

  1. old woman, crone
  2. Used in Sanskrit transliterations
  • “△婆”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015-2026

From Middle Chinese 婆 (MC ba). Recorded as Middle Korean (pha) (Yale: pha) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

(eumhun 할머니 파 (halmeoni pa))

  1. hanja form? of (“old woman”)
  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전/電子字典. [2]

婆: Hán Việt readings: bà[1][2][3][4][5]

  1. chữ Hán form of (“grandmother; old woman; old lady”)