About
The character "侬", whose traditional form is 儂, is composed of the person radical 亻 combined with the phonetic component 農, which originally pertained to agriculture. Its earliest usage was as a general noun meaning "person" in the ancient Wu dialects of the Jiangnan region. Over centuries, its application narrowed significantly within these dialects, undergoing a semantic shift from a generic term for a person to a personal pronoun. This evolution saw it specialize as a first-person pronoun meaning "I" in areas like Suzhou, while in Shanghai and other parts of Wu it became fixed as the familiar second-person pronoun "you". Thus, while its structure remained consistent, its core meaning transformed from a broad noun to an intimate pronoun, its specific interpretation largely defined by local linguistic practice.
Example Sentences Hide
侬从哪里来？
这是侬的书吗？
侬今天心情很好。
我知道侬的意思。
侬是否喜欢这里？
侬的家乡在哪里？
侬应该多注意身体。
如果侬觉得累，就休息一下。