How to Write 囡 (nān) — Meaning “Little girl / Child (dialect)”

Picture a square room 囗 with a little girl 女 sitting safely inside it — the girl is "wrapped" by the room, like a hug. This helps you remember that 囡 means a little girl, especially a darling one. The shape visually shows a girl enclosed in a protective space.

Write the outer box 囗 first using three strokes: left vertical, then top horizontal plus right vertical as one stroke, and finally the bottom horizontal last after the inner part. The inner 女 is written with three strokes: left-slanting stroke, right-slanting stroke, then the horizontal crossing through the middle. A common mistake is to make the inner 女 too tall or to close the box before writing the inner part.

囚 (qiú) has a person 人 inside the box, meaning a prisoner, while 四 (sì) means the number four and has a different inner shape (like a box with two verticals). 囡 has a girl 女 inside and is used affectionately for a little girl, not for prisoners or numbers. Visually, 囚's inner part looks like a standing person, 四's has a flat top, and 囡's inner part is clearly the woman character with three strokes.

囡 is a dialect word, especially common in Wu Chinese (like Shanghainese) and other southern dialects, used endearingly for a little girl or a young child. In Mandarin, it is rarely used alone, but you often see the reduplicated form 囡囡 (nān nān) as a loving nickname for a daughter. It is typically spoken in family settings or in local stories and songs, not in formal writing.

Common words containing 囡 include: 囡囡 (nān nān) — Darling / Little girl (affectionate); 小囡 (xiǎo nān) — little girl / child (dialect); 乖囡 (guāi nān) — good girl; darling girl (affectionate).