# 少女
## Chinese
### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): shàonǚ
    (Zhuyin): ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄩˇ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): siu$^3$ neoi$^5$
* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): seu-ńg
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siàu-lír / siàu-lú / siàu-lí
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: shàonǚ
*** Zhuyin: ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄩˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: shàonyǔ
*** Wade–Giles: shao$^4$-nü$^3$
*** Yale: shàu-nyǔ
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shawneu
*** Palladius: шаонюй (šaonjuj)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʂɑʊ̯⁵¹ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: siu$^3$ neoi$^5$
*** Yale: siu néuih
*** Cantonese Pinyin: siu$^3$ noey$^5$
*** Guangdong Romanization: xiu$^3$ nêu$^5$
*** Sinological IPA : /siːu̯³³ nɵy̯¹³/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: seu-ńg
*** Hakka Romanization System: seu ng$^ˋ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: seu$^4$ ng$^3$
*** Sinological IPA: /seu̯⁵⁵ ŋ̍³¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siàu-lír
*** Tâi-lô: siàu-lír
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /siau⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ lɯ⁵⁵⁴/
** (Hokkien: Taipei, Xiamen)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siàu-lú
*** Tâi-lô: siàu-lú
*** Phofsit Daibuun: siaoluo
*** IPA (Taipei): /siau¹¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
*** IPA (Xiamen): /siau²¹⁻⁵³ lu⁵³/
** (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siàu-lí
*** Tâi-lô: siàu-lí
*** Phofsit Daibuun: siaolie
*** IPA (Zhangzhou): /siau²¹⁻⁵³ li⁵³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /siau²¹⁻⁴¹ li⁴¹/
* Middle Chinese: syewH nrjoX
Rime :
| Character | 少 | 女 |
| Reading # | 2/2 | 1/2 |
| Initial (聲) | 書 (26) | 娘 (12) |
| Final (韻) | 宵 (91) | 魚 (22) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | III | III |
| Fanqie | 失照切 | 尼吕切 |
| Baxter | syewH | nrjoX |
| Reconstructions |||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ɕiᴇu$^H$/ | /ɳɨʌ$^X$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ɕiɛu$^H$/ | /ɳiɔ$^X$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ɕjæu$^H$/ | /niɔ$^X$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ɕiaw$^H$/ | /ɳɨə̆$^X$/ |
| Li Rong | /ɕiɛu$^H$/ | /niɔ$^X$/ |
| Wang Li | /ɕĭɛu$^H$/ | /nĭo$^X$/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /ɕi̯ɛu$^H$/ | /ni̯wo$^X$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | shào | nǚ |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | siu$^3$ | neoi$^5$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*[s-t]ewʔ-s nraʔ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*hmjews naʔ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 少 | 女 |
| Reading # | 2/2 | 1/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | shào | nǚ |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ syew$^H$ › | ‹ nrjo$^X$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*[s-t]ewʔ-s/ | /*nraʔ/ |
| English | young | female |
| 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 | 少 | 女 |
| Reading # | 2/2 | 1/2 |
| No. | 13708 | 9616 |
| Phonetic component | 小 | 女 |
| Rime group | 宵 | 魚 |
| Rime subdivision | 2 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 少 | |
| Old Chinese | /*hmjews/ | /*naʔ/ |

### Noun

少女
* young woman; girl
* (Classical) youngest daughter

#### Synonyms

* (young woman): 女郎 (nǚláng)

#### Derived terms

* 少女嫩婦 / 少女嫩妇 (shàonǚ nènfù)
* 少女情懷 / 少女情怀
* 少女時代 / 少女时代
* 少女風 / 少女风 (shàonǚfēng)
* 魔法少女 (mófǎ shàonǚ)

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: 少(しょう)女(じょ) (shōjo)
* → Korean: 소녀(少女) (sonyeo)
* → Vietnamese: thiếu nữ (少女)

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Kanji in this term :
| 少 | 女 |
| しょう Grade: 2 | じょ Grade: 1 |
| on'yomi ||
From Middle Chinese compound 少女 (MC syewX|syewH nrjoX|nrjoH). Compare modern Mandarin 少女 (shàonǚ).

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) しょーじょ [shóꜜòjò] (Atamadaka –)
* IPA: [ɕo̞ːʑo̞]

#### Noun

少(しょう)女(じょ) • (shōjo)
* a (young, little) girl
* (anime, manga) a style of anime and manga made for young women, shojo

##### Derived terms

* 少女歌劇(しょうじょかげき) (shōjo kageki): a kind of traditional Japanese light drama with no male actors and mostly young girls playing the parts
* 少女趣味(しょうじょしゅみ) (shōjo shumi): hobbies or interests common to young girls
* 少女時代(しょうじょじだい) (shōjo jidai): girlhood, one's girlhood

##### See also

* 子供(こども) (kodomo): child
* 処女(しょじょ) (shojo): a female virgin, a maiden
* 女性(じょせい) (josei): the feminine gender; female; woman
* 少年(しょうねん) (shōnen): young boy
* 青年(せいねん) (seinen): young man
* 男性(だんせい) (dansei): the masculine gender; male; man

### Etymology 2

Kanji in this term :
| 少 | 女 |
| おと Grade: 2 | め Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi ||
* Alternative spelling
* 乙女
From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of 乙 (oto, “young, little”) +‎ 女 (me, “female, girl”). Compare 男 (otoko, “man”), originally meaning "young boy".

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) おとめ [òtóꜜmè] (Nakadaka – [2])
* IPA: [o̞to̞me̞]

#### Noun

少(おと)女(め) • (otome)
* a young woman, adult but unmarried: a maiden
* a girl
* a female virgin
* (mythology) a celestial maiden, a fairy, a nymph
* (Shinto) a young woman dancer performing at the 五節 (Gosechi) ceremony in the eleventh lunar month

##### Derived terms

* 少女(おとめ)さび (otomesabi): behavior appropriate to an adult unmarried woman
* 少女(おとめ)の頭(かしら) (otome no kashira): alternate term for 萱藻海苔, カヤモノリ (kayamonori), a type of sea vegetable in order Ectocarpales (syn. Scytosiphonales), of class Phaeophyceae (brown algae), used to make nori
* 少女子(おとめこ) (otomeko): an unmarried young woman; a girl or young woman who dances kagura at a shrine; a miko
* 少女心(おとめごころ) (otomegokoro): a girl's innocence, a girl's sensitive nature
* 少女文楽(おとめぶんらく) (otome bunraku): a kind of one-person puppet show performed by girls or young women
* 少女巫(おとめみこ) (otome miko): a female miko

##### See also

* 男(おとこ) (otoko): a man

### References

* 1 2 3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

## Korean

Hanja in this term :
| 少 | 女 |

### Noun

少女 • (sonyeo) (hangeul 소녀)
* hanja form of 소녀 (“girl”)

## Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term :
| 少 | 女 |

### Noun

少女
* chữ Hán form of thiếu nữ (“young woman; girl”).