About
The character "娼" is a phono-semantic compound formed by the semantic radical 女, meaning woman, and the phonetic component 昌, which indicates its pronunciation. Etymologically, it originated from terms associated with female performers, often singers or entertainers, in earlier periods of Chinese history. Over time, the meaning of the character shifted from referring generally to such entertainers to specifically denoting a prostitute, reflecting a societal conflation of public performance with sexual commerce. This semantic narrowing occurred without significant alteration to the character's structure, maintaining its clear representation of both meaning and sound through its constituent parts.
Example Sentences Hide
这个人不是娼妓。
娼妓是非法的。
他反对卖娼行为。
这座城市有娼寮。
娼妓问题需要解决。
政府严厉打击娼妓活动。
历史书中记载了古代娼妓制度。
社会工作者帮助娼妓重建生活。