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男左女右

Mandarin · pinyin nán zuǒ nǚ yòu

the left is for males, the right is for females (traditional saying)

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Characters in this entry

男: nán · male, man; son; baron; surname
左: zuǒ · left; east; unorthodox, improper
女: nǚ · woman, girl; feminine; Kangxi radical 38; 10th lunar mansion, determinative star ε Aquarii (Albali)
右: yòu · right; west; right-wing

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–3–3–4 · nan2 zuo3 nu:3 you4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

naam4 zo2 neoi5 jau6

Cantonese word readings for 男左女右. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) the left refers to males and the right to females; the left is for males, the right is for females; males and females are different (traditional saying)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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